Troy Vincent: We’ll see if philosophy on taunting penalties has changed

[profootballtalk.nbcsports.com] Troy Vincent: We’ll see if philosophy on taunting penalties has changed
Posted by Josh Alper on February 28, 2022, 1:57 PM EST

Dallas Cowboys v Kansas City Chiefs
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The NFL made taunting a point of emphasis for officials heading into the 2021 season and the way officials handled that wound up being a subject for criticism at points over the course of the year.

Some clear cases of taunting went unpenalized, including when Tyreek Hill flashed a peace sign at the Bills while running for a touchdown. Hill, whose teammate Clyde Edwards-Helaire was penalized for the play in the photo to the right, was fined for the play during the week, but there were also cases of players being flagged for less obvious interactions with members of the opposing team.


PFT noted earlier this month that the league will be reviewing how the rule was enforced. NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said Monday that the league will continue to put sportsmanship “at the core of our game,” but confirmed that the way officials apply the rule will be discussed during the offseason.

“It was officiated based off of what was shared with us on how the [Competition Committee] and the coaches wanted officiating to officiate,” Vincent said, via Mark Maske of the Washington Post. “So we’ll see if that philosophy has changed. We will talk about: Are we where we want to be? Because the coaches really pushed us in this direction a year ago, in particular the Competition Committee. Did we officiate it from the beginning to the end based off of their direction?”

The taunting rule has been in place for some time, but the change in emphasis last year made it a bigger talking point than it had been in the past. The discussions that Vincent referenced will likely determine if that remains the case in 2022.