NFL appears unlikely to change emphasis on…

Getty Images

Taunting penalties are not going away.

That’s the impression left by NFL Competition Committee head Rich McKay, who said the league has received no feedback that would lead to any change from last year’s controversial emphasis on taunting.

“Sportsmanship is paramount to our game,” McKay said.

Many fans, players, coaches and members of the media complained about the taunting penalties called by officials last year, and particularly about how inconsistently taunting was called. But the NFL appears ready to keep the taunting emphasis in place, and hope only that the officials can get better at calling it the same way across the board.

Realistically, however, taunting is a hard thing to define precisely, and the officials aren’t going to get it right 100 percent of the time. So it’s safe to say we’re going to hear more complaints about taunting calls in 2022.