'No Fun League' Trends Again After Fans Call out NFL for Taunting Penalties

By Brian Jones

NFL fans have had enough. 2021 season is just a couple of weeks in, and fans are tired of the taunting penalties being called. This has led to "No Fun League" trending on social media once again. As mentioned by Yahoo Sports, some of the examples of taunting of today's NFL are a player spinning a football while another flashes an incomplete sign.

But the one play that stood out the most happened between the Seattle Seahawks and the Tennessee Titans. Down 30-23, Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw an incomplete pass to A.J. Brown. Seahawks cornerback D.J. Reed flexed at Brown while walking away and was then penalized. The Seahawks still prevented the Titans from scoring on that series, but fans still didn't like the call. 

"That's something we discuss every year in the competition committee,"  Giants owner John Mara said in August about the new taunting rules. "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."  Here's a look at fans calling the NFL the "No Fun League."

Closer Look

Bucky Brooks wrote: "The NFL has shifted from promoting celebrations one year to penalizing players for competitive enthusiasm the next year (taunting). I understand eliminating the silly stuff but it appears the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. Common sense should apply."

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Time to Go

Nick Wright wrote: "Refs are going buck wild with the taunting penalties today… something precisely zero NFL fans were clamoring for but will undoubtedly swing a playoff game this year!"

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Ruining Football

Michael Wilbon tweeted: "The NFL has established a new level of arrogance today with its application of this taunting infraction. It's both obsessive and stupid…"

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Flags Everywhere

Rodger Sherman said: "The NFL took a big step forward when they let players start doing end zone dances, saw all the positive coverage and goodwill it generated, and decided to take 1,000 steps backwards by calling taunting penalties whenever any player gets excited about anything."

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Not Watching

Taylor Rooks said: "This taunting rule is outrageous. Not allowing players to react when they make big plays does absolutely nothing. Nobody cares. That personality is FUN."

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More to the Rule

Jim Rome wrote: "Way better to let 'em talk junk than jack it up with all these ridiculous taunting penalties."

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It's Back

Field Yates wrote: "There's virtually nothing we can all agree on on this app except that the NFL's new taunting rule STINKS."

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