NFL emphasis on taunting penalties likely to remain for 2022 season

There was hope that the NFL's emphasis on taunting penalties throughout the 2021 season that was widely criticized by fans, players and media members could become a thing of the past when NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said on the final day of February that the topic would be discussed later this offseason. 

It seems the nightmare that haunted many supporters of the product throughout this past campaign won't be going anywhere. 

According to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, NFL competition committee head Rich McKay said Friday he's heard "no feedback" that would cause the league to reverse course regarding this controversial issue. 

"Sportsmanship is paramount to our game," McKay added about taunting penalties. 

For a piece published on March 1, ESPN's Kevin Seifert noted that "the league's internal review of 2021 film revealed a total of 61 taunting flags in 2021" and also that "56 were attributed to acts the NFL will continue to legislate, a list that includes standing over and/or pointing to opponents, as well as moving toward an opponent's bench." 

In other words, players had better spend some portion of the offseason reviewing how they can and cannot react to making big plays during games without costing their teams yards and, in some cases, possession of the ball.