The controversial taunting penalty rule brought into the NFL has already been blasted by fans, players and pundits. Yet anyone claiming it is an attempt to ‘control black bodies’ is merely guilty of race-baiting.
American football, or just football depending on where you’re from, is one of the most complex sports, comparable to chess with the exception that it is played by men with an average weight of 245lbs and height of 6ft 2in.
It evolves every season tactically to mind-boggling levels, with the ruling body of its most elite championship, the NFL, bringing in new rule changes.
Penalties for taunting are 2021’s primary offering, and have already played their part in costing the Seattle Seahawks victory in their Week Two overtime loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Going against the thoughts of his former coach in the dynasty they built at the New England Patriots in Bill Belichick, who has dubbed taunting“poor sportsmanship”, the sport’s greatest ever player Tom Brady has joined the throng of voices against the alteration.
Yet instead of leading a movement to get the ruling scrapped, some parties such as USA Today’s Mike Freeman have argued that it is really about “control of black bodies”.
“Control of the player base, which is 70% Black, has long been the mantra of NFL ownership and some front office members,” opined the sports hack.
“Owners, mostly, don’t see the players as partners. They see them as something to dominate.
“They still see them as cattle, something stated blatantly by former Dallas Cowboys executive Tex Schramm.”
Firstly, let’s look at one of the main champions of introducing the rule: New York Giants owner John Mara.
“We get kind of sick and tired of the taunting that does go on from time to time on the field,” Mara said as his motive for getting behind the switch.
Rather than stamp out protest when taking the knee came to the forefront of the discourse thanks to Colin Kaepernick, Mara backed his players despite voicing a preference that they stand during the national anthem.
“I will support your right to do that because I believe in the first amendment and I believe in the right for people, especially players, to take a knee in silent protest,” Mara said.
“I understand the fact and accept the fact that that’s not going to be necessarily popular with certain segments of our fanbase, but I think it’s the right thing to do.”
So why then would he take such a stance that risked alienating supporters and would hit him in the pocket, only to then back a taunting penalty for supposed control of those same men he empathized with?
I partly blame John Mara for these taunting calls, just because your team has been out here getting smoked for the last 5 years and has been taunted against, doesn't mean you should take emotion out of the game for the players.
Perhaps his enthusiasm for the switch is more rooted in sore pettiness over the Giants’ dismal 18-48 record since 2017, which is the joint-worst in the NFL shared with their cross city rivals the Jets.
With just one playoff appearance since winning the Super Bowl in 2012, a first-round, Wild Card exit against the Green Bay Packers in 2016, there is certainly plenty for rival players to taunt the Giants about.
No wonder Mara is sick of it. But racism, really?
As for the Dallas Cowboys, their owner Jerry Jones even went as far as to take the knee with his players; hardly the plantation owners Freeman would have you think.
Bills have 39 wins since 2017
Jets & Giants have 36 combined wins since 2017
The Jets and Giants are tied for the worst record in the NFL since 2017 at 18-48. pic.twitter.com/aQnn8Q5zsD
One thing that plenty can agree on is that taunting is part of the sport as long as it doesn’t go over the top.
But to seemingly claim ownership of it on the behalf of the black community also doesn’t sit well.
Granted the NFL is 70% black, but taunting is carried out by players of all races, while Freeman has been pulled up on Twitter for overreaching in pushing others to conclude that white players won’t be flagged due to the color of their skin.
Known as ‘sledging’, taunting is just as much a key component of white-majority sports such as cricket, with the Ashes series played between an England team predominantly made up of posh private school boys and an Australian outfit composed of surfers, city slickers and country folk where it is most commonly found.
Jimmy Anderson laughs off reports that he hasn't received a knighthood yet due to concerns about sledging when England go to Australia for the Ashes. pic.twitter.com/HZPxi5maZe
Just like this past weekend’s #EmmysSoWhite campaign, Freeman seems to be race-baiting for the sake of it, finding problems where there aren’t any by bringing skin color into something that is a blanket rule for everyone.
Surely the energy of a race and inequality editor would be better spent on genuine issues, such as the lack of black coaches in the league and the poor execution of the Rooney Rule?
“One theory is that the league knew it might face potential backlash from conservatives over some of the social justice measures it planned to enact this season, and the taunting rule emphasis was a way to appease conservatives who don’t like the measures,” Freeman writes, before adding: “The taunting rule is a sort of social justice counterbalance.”
Nonsense, just like the overall point that somehow NFL players can be in any sense controlled.
Routinely the highest-paid players in the world of any profession, showered with endorsements, and with millions of followers on social media accounts where they often voice their views – for better or for worse – players also have the kind of financial freedom to sit out whole seasons if they wish.
Rather than make presumptions on their behalf, it might be an idea to ask them what they think about the rule.
You may well find that any criticism would be about its ridiculousness and how it hampers the balance and integrity of the game, as opposed to feeling controlled along the lines of race.
By Tom Sanderson
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
French star Kylian Mbappe has been told to tone down his ego by a rival coach after the striker goaded Metz goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja as Paris Saint-Germain snatched a late winner in their Ligue 1 clash.
PSG left it late at the Stade Municipal Saint-Symphorien on Wednesday night but maintained their 100% start to the Ligue 1 season thanks to a 95th-minute winner from Achraf Hakimi.
The goal was the summer signing’s second of the game, after he had given the visitors the lead in the fifth minute only for that to be cancelled out by Metz defender Boubakar Kouyate not long before half-time.
Metz saw Dylan Bronn sent off in injury time when he earned a second yellow card for timewasting, while manager Frederic Antonetti was also dismissed for protesting the decision.
Then came Hakimi’s late winner, which sparked more angry scenes when Mbappe approached Metz stopper Oukidja and appeared to taunt him before joining his teammates to celebrate.
Oukidja quickly scrambled to his feet to chase after the 22-year-old but was confronted by Neymar, who shoved him to the ground and later earned a yellow card.
Some fans were quick to pick up on Mbappe’s position behind his teammates as they formed a defensive wall around him, protecting the man who had initiated the ruckus.
“Yeah big brother, that’s the one who hit me,” one fan joked in French, sharing an image of a smiling Mbappe behind Neymar.
The Metz coach isn’t the first person to accuse World Cup wonderboy Mbappe of getting ahead of himself.
As France flopped at Euro 2020 in the summer – with Mbappe missing the decisive penalty in the shootout defeat to Switzerland – former Monaco and PSG star Jerome Rothen said the star had an “oversized ego.”
Elsewhere, French World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit claimed that Mbappe had become ‘Neymarised’ and was trying too hard to emulate the showboating Brazilian on the pitch.
The late drama on Wednesday night meant that Mauricio’s Pochettino’s team made it seven wins from seven league games this season – despite the absence on Wednesday night of the injured Lionel Messi.
MMA superstar Conor McGregor has launched into a social media rant after his ‘worst pitch ever’ at a baseball game, bizarrely taking aim at the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Roger Federer.
The Irishman has been the talk of the internet since his escapades at the iconic Wrigley Stadium.
Taking part in the ceremonial pitch before the first inning of a clash between the Chicago Cubs and the visiting Minnesota Twins, the former two-weight UFC champion sent his throw horribly wide of catcher Patrick Wisdom.
Immediately mocked online, there were also questions as to who threw out the worst pitch ever between Mystic Mac and rapper 50 Cent, who once embarrassed himself at a 2014 New York Mets vs Pittsburgh Pirates fixture at Citi Field in his home borough of Queens.
Most likely having his notifications ping all day long, McGregor caught wind of the comparison and took to Instagram to address the matter in a bizarre rant.
Sharing a photo of the pair lamely attempting to throw heat, McGregor started by blasting “the audacity to compare mine with this p*ss!”
“Picture to picture alone buries this,” he went on. “Mine, bar the accuracy, was the most powerful and fastest first pitch of any of these other athletes/ artists over the years. No comparison.”
“Smoke them up and down that Forbes I do,” he said, switching topics to his recent topping of the finance magazine’s Rich List for athletes.
“Put me in the Wrigley Hall of Fame for that rocket launch,” he demanded.
“Beside some of that nice red brick. Mahogany Oak Frame. Wimbledon lines in the grass. The great Wrigley Field reminds me of the grounds on my land in Ireland. Impeccable,” McGregor bragged.
“Venom. Composure. Balance! The gold bar of Patek almost came flying off me it was that fast and powerful,” he said of his watch, before outlining that he’d take the “rare” luxury item back for adjusting if it wasn’t “discontinued”.
“I bought [it] for 80k in Weir’s jeweler of Ireland, and today it is worth close to 500k. And going up. Fifty has a nice hublot too,” McGregor conceded, of Jackson’s own timepiece in the Mets shame still.
“Big Bang. Small bucks, 50cent. One has power. One is the director of media relations for some show called Power.
“You know what it is. The Mac in Chicago!” he signed off.
McGregor continued that last theme by sharing a short clip of him getting out of a vehicle in the Windy City and waving to a crowd.
“Wrigleyville, Chicago. Incredible,” he wrote, alongside a shamrock.
Over on Twitter, McGregor continued his rampage by attacking underground rapper and food travel show star Action Bronson.
Interviewed by pundit Ariel Helwani, the fight fan remarked, “He could probably throw the ball better than that. That’s f*cking staged,” which McGregor didn’t like at all.
.@ActionBronson gives his thoughts on Conor McGregor's disastrous first pitch at the Chicago Cubs game:
“He could probably throw the ball better than that. That's f*cking staged.”
Footage has emerged showing MMA fighter Dillon Danis being restrained on the ground before the Bellator star was arrested and reportedly hit with disorderly conduct charges at the weekend.
According to a report obtained by MMA Fighting, Danis was charged by police after he “created a disturbance” at the Beachcomber Bar and Grill in Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
A supposed mugshot also appeared online, while a spokesperson for the Seaside Heights court confirmed the charge, with Danis set to return there on October 19 as per a summons.
After posting a defiant “you need people like me” tweet, Conor McGregor training partner Danis became the target of more mockery after more footage showing the incident began to circulate on social media on Wednesday.
In the clip, the Bellator MMA fighter is seen being held to the ground and restrained by what seems to be a security guard, although the police appear in the proximity.
“This dude is down bad,” wrote another onlooker, who shared the footage that has already been seen more than 100,000 times.
“Any wonder why Conor still has zero ground game?” a separate party posed regarding Danis’ notorious Irish training partner.
But some did leap to the 2-0 Bellator fighter’s defense.
“Or dude is probably blacked out and doesn’t want to go jail for like five years plus for resisting arrest and get a felony assault on officer…,” one theorist concluded.
That’s what I thought. I don’t like the guy much, but it’s not like this was a cage fight and he could go all out against a cop
Deontay Wilder says that he will debut another theatrical outfit for his ring-walk ahead of the trilogy fight with Tyson Fury despite blaming his defeat in their rematch last year on a similar outfit which he said weighed 40lbs.
Wilder, 35, has long been known for wearing extravagant costumes to the ring throughout his ascent to the top of the heavyweight rankings but ‘The Bronze Bomber’ admitted after their fight in February 2020 that the weighty costume he wore to the ring which painted him as a sort of apocalyptic warrior complete with a horned helmet, glowing red eyes and human skulls adorning his armor – but it didn’t quite have the desired impact.
In the bout, which was the first defeat of the American’s 44-fight career, Wilder struggled to contain an aggressive Fury en route to being finished in the seventh round when his ex-trainer Mark Breland threw in the towel.
But despite Breland being run out of the camp shortly afterwards for this perceived indiscretion, Wilder says that he will again be adorned with some theatrical garb as he looks to score a measure of revenge against his British rival.
“All of my fights have – well, since I became champion, you know, nobody has come out with a better dress, better uniform than I have,” Wilder said to BoxingScene.
“And we’re going to continue with that. We’ll just have to see what I put on. It’s going to be something special. It’s going to be something that I dedicate to my people, my tribe. So you can look forward to seeing it.”
Some, though, see this as an unnecessary tempting of fate – particularly after Wilder’s excuses for his below par performance in his second fight with Fury.
In the days after their rematch last year, Wilder spoke of how he felt the 40lb outfit he wore to the ring wore him out and that he “didn’t have no legs” once the first bell rang.
“I didn’t have no legs from the beginning of the fight. In the third round, my legs were just shot all the way through,” Wilder opined. “But I’m a warrior and people know that I’m a warrior. It could easily be told that I didn’t have legs or anything.
“When I first tried it on, I saw it had some type of weight to it, but during that time you get so excited and you want people to see it. But we immediately started feeling, ‘Alright, we’re going to have to put this uniform on a certain amount of time before we go out,’ even if we had to delay it a little bit, before putting it on,” he explained.
“But our timing wasn’t perfect. We still had the uniform on about 10 to 15 minutes before walking out. And I was walking around with it. I just didn’t have the helmet on.
“And when I put the helmet on and started walking out, it was a long ring walk. Due to the circumstances I was under, it immediately just drained my legs. And then you’re talking about walking up the stairs [to the ring] with it on.
“It was almost like a workout. I didn’t think it would affect me that much. But it affected me more than what I expected. Then, by him coming and leaning his body on me and pushing me down and putting me in headlocks, that played a part in affecting my legs as well.”
While there is as of yet no indication if Wilder’s ring-walk costume will be quite as weighty this time around, fight fans have hit out at his decision to embrace pageantry when they say his full focus should be on extracting revenge from the unbeaten Fury.
Apparently Deontay Wilder is planning to wear “something special” to the ring again when he fights Tyson Fury.
He's obviously forgotten about the litany of costume-related excuses he produced last time they fought.
“Apparently Deontay Wilder is planning to wear ‘something special’ to the ring again when he fights Tyson Fury. He’s obviously forgotten about the litany of costume-related excuses he produced last time they fought,” said one fan in response to the news.
“Just wear you pyjamas because you’ll be going to sleep in the ring,” advised another.
“Might wanna put a little more into his actual boxing skill than ring-entrance outfits,” said a third.
