Back to the Top News Newsfeed

The NFL’s Taunting Crackdown Is Peak ‘No Fun League’

NFL players are going to have to be careful this year with where they direct their excitement on the field, otherwise they might be ejected or even suspended.

Every year, the NFL passes down “points of emphasis” to its officials. These aren’t rule changes as much as rule reminders, telling officials what they should be paying special attention to and how rules should be applied. Usually fans don’t have to pay attention to these things, but who can forget the disastrous focus on holding penalties that rendered games early in the 2019 season nearly unwatchable?

The league released its annual rule changes and points of emphasis video on Tuesday, explaining to players boring things like minor tweaks to the kickoff formation and illegal forward pass rules.