With the NFL regular season now less than a month away, the league has released a video highlighting some of the rules and officiating changes for the 2021 season. And a big one will be a crackdown on taunting.
In April the league’s competition committee identified taunting as a point of emphasis for this season, and the video explains how strictly officials will call taunting.
“The NFL Players Association, coaches and competition committee have all made a strong statement regarding respect among everyone on the field,” the video says. “We saw an increase in actions that clearly are not within the spirit and intent of this rule and not representative of the respect due opponents and others on the field. Game officials have been instructed to strictly enforce the taunting rules, and players and coaches are reminded that two taunting penalties committed by an individual player will result in automatic disqualification. In addition, the taunting player may be fined and/or suspended depending on the severity of the actions.”
The league has made clear that it is not cracking down on touchdown celebrations but will penalize getting in opponents’ faces, pointing at them or standing over them on the ground.
