The NCAA is actually considering implementing a rule that if any player is caught taunting on a scoring play, officials can disallow a touchdown.
Citing an increasing concern over unsportsmanlike conduct, rules committee chairman Mike Bellotti said Wednesday that his group is considering “a major change” to the taunting rules.
Currently, “taunting, baiting or ridiculing an opponent verbally” is considered a dead-ball foul. Penalty yardage is assessed on the next kickoff. If the rule is changed, penalty yardage would be marked off from the spot of the foul and the touchdown would be nullified.
Simply explained: Think of an offensive player, headed toward the end zone, turning to show a defender the ball in a taunting manner before he crosses the goal line. That play would be considered a live-ball foul.
“It would be treated like a clip, for example,” said Rogers Redding, NCAA secretary-rules editor.
In a Statement on Sportsmanship released Wednesday after a three-day meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., the committee said adjusting the taunting rule, “is a viable option for possible rules changes in the future.”
They can’t be serious. I’m all for players turning around and handing the ball to the official after a touchdown ala Barry Sanders, but to wipe out an entire touchdown because a player celebrates is absolutely ludicrous.
A taunting penalty is essentially a judgment call by officials. So basically the NCAA wants to start wiping out touchdowns based on what officials deem inappropriate behavior. And what happens if/when a referee misses a taunt for one team but not another? You could change the momentum of the game in a blink of an eye and for what? A little taunting?
Leave the rule as is – penalize the team on a kickoff. The NCAA is treading down a bad path here.
