The NFL is on a hypocritical rampage against something that has always been in the game and bothers nobody
The NFL is making itself look so, so dumb with their latest penalties and fines. The league has made 2024 the year of emphasizing "Unsportmanlike Conduct (violent gesture)". Through just 5 weeks, we've seen them penalize any and every reference to a weapon of any kind in the games, and then pile-on further the week […]
The NFL is making itself look so, so dumb with their latest penalties and fines.
The league has made 2024 the year of emphasizing "Unsportmanlike Conduct (violent gesture)". Through just 5 weeks, we've seen them penalize any and every reference to a weapon of any kind in the games, and then pile-on further the week after with hefty fines.
It's all in an attempt to make sure the players are avoiding controversy and setting a good example for viewers. This, on the surface, seems like a good initiative. And in certain instances, penalizing violent gestures on the football field are obviously necessary.
Take this moment from Saturday's South Carolina-Ole Miss game. A shotgun to the face? Can't do that!
This variety of explicitly, gratuitously violent "celebrating" is something we practically all agree on: it's a crazy thing to do, it's unnecessary taunting, and the officials shouldn't allow it.
But this isn't what the NFL has cracked down on in 2024. They're focusing on anything players do that could be interpreted as "violent", which has led to some outrageously stupid punishments being handed down.
Take a look at the heinous gesture CeeDee Lamb made here to earn a big fat $11K fine:
Or how about this NSFW motion from Allan Lazard that landed him a $14K fine this week:
Here's one final example for you: can you believe Jeremy McNichols put all of these innocent fans in danger with his imaginary bow and arrow celebration?!
Now at least the NFL has seemingly come to their senses on the bow and arrow ban, which won't be penalized any longer according to the Pat McAfee Show last week. Thank goodness they've been successfully bullied off of that decision.
But all of this is, of course, ridiculous. Football players have been signaling first downs and touchdowns with finger guns and imaginary arrows since the dawn of the sport. Almost all of this is nothing new. And nobody is harmed by a pair of finger guns pointing downfield in a moment of elation. In fact, nobody bats an eye at the use of finger guns in practically any walk of life! It's a universal, harmless thing except for in the most explicit and intentionally violent applications. This emphasis on eliminating the benign use of the gestures is objectively soft. The players know it's soft. The fans know it's soft. It reeks of pointless virtue signaling.
Again, the heart of the issue is well-intentioned: set a good example for all the impressionable minds watching at home, and avoid unnecessary controversy. But the execution this year has been completely misguided.
And what makes the situation even more infuriating (or hilarious?) is the hypocrisy of the league when it comes to weapons of war and violence. Is the league office aware that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers proudly fire off real cannons when they score?
Or do they know that the New England Patriots have a literal firing squad on the field who fire off celebratory muskets in their revolutionary garb?
Or, zooming out further, how about the decades of pregame pageantry centered around the flaunting of deadly military aircraft soaring over the stadium? You know, the ones armed with megatons of explosives, thousands of rounds of artillery, and are designed to inflict massive amounts of damage?
Now of course, nobody is bothered by these technically "violent' or "violence-adjacent" displays by the league. Because they're harmless. Just like firing an imaginary bow and arrow into the sky or pointing a pair of finger guns downfield.
The league needs to realize the error of their ways, implement common-sense rules regarding "violent gestures", and stop taking big chunks of cash out of the pockets of players guilty of harmless celebratory actions.
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