Roger Goodell’s NFL has come under fire over the first six weeks of the 2016 season for referee’s stronger stances against taunting and celebrations.
Players have been flagged or fined for various things, including dances, jump-shotting a ball and even wearing unacceptable cleats, prompting some to celebrate like robots.
Goodell spoke recently about the bigger emphasis on these issues, according to CBS’ Matt Dolloff:
We have taunting, which is a significant issue, and taunting fouls are up this year. It’s probably a combination of making that a point of emphasis. But we look at that as sportsmanship. And that can lead to, in most cases when somebody taunts somebody else, somebody reacts and that can escalate quickly.
Not only does Goodell reason taunting could escalate into bigger issues, it’s also about his players being a role model for children:
We do believe that our players are role models and others look at that at the youth level. So that’s important for us to hold that standard up. And it’s part of being a professional. So that’s one element of it.
It’s funny, really, that the league has turned its attention to players being role models while the scary domestic violence issue involving New York Giants kicker Josh Brown continues to surge ahead. Right now, keeping players behaving well on the field seems secondary, to say the least.
Anyway, the NFL continues to make its bed here. The escalation tidbit makes sense, but the NFL has done just fine for years and years with guys like Chad Johnson and many more having fun with celebrations. The tightening on what is and isn’t allowed is just one of many reasons the league’s ratings continue to drop.
Goodell can continue to campaign for escalation prevention and role models all he wants, but it will be interesting to see if he loosens his grip if the ratings continue to tank.
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