What’s the issue with taunting?
By ALEKSEI PAVLOFF
Most of us have never seen the biggest stage, so why do we think we can tell others how to act when they get there?
The latest season of the National Football League has been a wild ride to say the least. From roster shake ups to upset wins, we’ve seen it all this year.
However, one aspect of this season has troubled me down to the core and has made a mockery of the game of football — one of the most passionate and emotional sports in the world.
Last Monday, audiences around the country saw the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the visiting Chicago Bears.
Chicago linebacker Cassius Marsh (59). [Photo courtesy of NFL.com]
Late in the game and down 20-23, the Bears bolstered on defense as an aging Ben Roethlisberger prepared for a third-down and eight-yard play. Taking the snap from a shotgun formation — with an empty backfield to boot — Chicago Linebacker Cassius Marsh stunted inside a vigilant offensive line.
It was clear Big Ben could not find anything down field, prompting Marsh to secure a coverage sack effectively holding a historically competitive Steelers team to a long fourth down.
On a Monday night prime time game, Marsh showed off his athleticism with a Tae Kwon Do-esq round-house kick after taking down a certified Hall of Fame quarterback. Shortly after his gesture, Marsh glanced at the Steelers bench holding his gaze on the team that cut him earlier this season.
Marsh was eventually picked up by Chicago after Pittsburgh let him go earlier this season, being a member of the Bears’ practice squad — he was upgraded late the previous week in order to play Monday night with starters such as Khalil Mack who would be out due to injury.
Staring at the opposing bench, Marsh said and did nothing, but his demeanor would be his ultimate demise.
Jogging back to his sideline after the stare-down, NFL official Tony Corrente had some feelings on the matter — at least that’s what it looked like. The two crossed paths with Corrente giving what looked like a hip check to Marsh as he went back to his team’s bench.
Following the contact, Corrente threw a flag, Chef-Curry style, penalizing the linebacker for taunting — a focal point of the League’s new officiating guidelines this season. That flag throw is going to look nice when NFL Films gets to editing after this season.
The call was a key moment of the game which gave Pittsburgh a fresh set of downs eventually extending the lead to 26-20 after converting an over 50-yard field goal. The Steelers ended up winning their 19th consecutive Monday Night Football game, 29-27, dating back to 1992.
In an article posted on nfl.com written by Around The NFL Writer Nick Shook, NFL Senior Vice President of Officiating Perry Fewell made his assessment on what happened Monday night.
"In Chicago versus Pittsburgh, Bears No. 59 (Marsh) is penalized for taunting," Fewell detailed in a Twitter video. "He takes several steps toward the Pittsburgh bench, posturing toward their sideline. Taunting is a point of emphasis to promote sportsmanship and respect for opponents. This was recommended by the competition committee and coaches."
Shook also wrote that Corrente commented how the flag was not issued due to the “incidental” contact.
"I saw the player, after he made a big play, run toward the bench area of the Pittsburgh Steelers and posture in such a way that I felt he was taunting them," he said after the game.
So far this season, NFL officials have given 27 taunting penalties in the first half of the 2021 season. There were 11 called in the entire 2020 season.
What are we doing here folks?
I made a comment about this on twitter after another user compiled clips of several taunting penalties saying how bad this kind of officiating is for the sport. A head high school football coach replied to my tweet, understandably, rebutted my claim commenting that players should celebrate with their team or “act like they’ve been there before.”
I’m sorry, but if I was cut by an NFL team and I had the chance to show them what they let go of, best believe I’d let them know.
From a high school and even college standpoint, taunting and excessive celebrations should be limited and corrected; even extinguished. At those levels you are a student not just academically, but of the game. Unlike the NFL, high schools and even most colleges don’t have a prime-time TV spots; those are reserved for the best and brightest programs like IMG Academy and Mount Union.
Students of the game should do their best to remain steadfast and focus on the task at hand whether that’s overcoming a loss or celebrating a win.
Even so, the NFL is the ultimate prize for players of all ages. But football is also an emotional game. For me, taunting is not as important as abusing your significant other — but that’s another conversation.
I do not gamble, but if I was betting on the Monday game, I would’ve been livid because the first thought I had at that moment was that maybe this game are fixed. Whenever you have millions, or just thousands of dollars in the mix, it opens the opportunity for corruption. I’ve been on the fence about gambling, but this game makes me less interested.
As a former player, rules are there for a reason. Players from all teams, as well as coaches, have had to adjust accordingly to align with the NFL. But even if rules are in place, you have the right to voice your distain or opinion on the matter.
"I think that one was just bad timing. I think it's pretty clear to everybody who saw it that I wasn't taunting. I've been doing that celebration my whole career and it's just sad to see stuff like that happen in a close game like that. It's just rough, man. I don't want to say too much 'cause y'all know how it is," Marsh said. "But the one thing that I will say is on my way to the sideline, I got hip-checked by the ref and it's pretty clear. If I were to do that to a ref or even touch the ref, we'd get kicked out of the game and possibly suspended and fined, so I just think that was incredibly inappropriate and that's all I'll say about that."
But I just don’t feel like we should be treating these athletes like they’re in high school. Think of it this way, less that 7 percent of high school players make the next step into college football. Of that population, roughly 1.2 percent are drafted into the NFL, according to leagueside.com.
I will never be an NFL player, sadly I’ve accepted that. But I don’t judge players for showing off what they can do — I admire them, even while I am also very jealous of them.
In the case of Marsh, if only 1.2 percent of the population gets to play in the NFL — how many get the chance to play a primetime game? How many get the chance to sack a HOF quarterback on a primetime game? How many get the chance to sack a HOF QB of a team that cut him earlier in the season on a prime-time game? Personally, I love this story.
Taunting, in small instances, changes the course of a game and a team’s mindset. Yes, celebrating a team’s failures is poor sportsmanship, but it’s always been a part of the game and for me it made me stronger mentally and physically.
At the end of the day, my opinion doesn’t matter much. I know this is a strong debate in the sports world. I’m just worried about what might happen next.
There are rules in place for a reason. This is a reality that fans and players alike have to deal with. Maybe, when the season ends, there will be discussions about how this rule can evolve or at least judged differently.
