The NFL has reminded players, coaches and officials that taunting is a point of emphasis this season, which has led to some criticism that the NFL is the No Fun League. But Giants owner John Mara is standing by the taunting emphasis.
Mara, a member of the NFL’s Competition Committee, says there’s widespread agreement among the people who make the rules that a crackdown on taunting is appropriate.
“That’s something we discuss every year in the Competition Committee,” Mara said. “We get kind of sick and tired of the taunting that does go on from time to time on the field. We tried to balance the sportsmanship with allowing the players to have fun and there’s always a fine line there, but none of us like to see that. It’s just a question of whether you can have rules that can be enforced and without taking the fun out of the game too, but nobody wants to see a player taunting another player. I know, I certainly don’t. I think the rest of the members of the Competition Committee feel the same way, too.”
When it comes to taunting, there seems to be an age divide, with people like the 66-year-old Mara far more concerned about it than NFL players in their 20s. But it’s the owners who make the rules, and Mara and his fellow owners are sick and tired of the trash talking.
UPDATE 9:35 p.m. ET: Although the transcript of Mara’s comments published by the Giants quoted Mara as saying “sick and tired of the talking,” a review of the audio reveals that Mara actually said, “sick and tired of the taunting.”