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Nolan Smith Taunting Penalty is this Year’s “Lowering of the Helmet,” Which Refs Will Completely Forget About in a Few Weeks
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One of the things the NFL wanted to focus on this season was sportsmanship, which manifested Thursday night in a penalty on Nolan Smith for flexing and sort of standing above/next to Miles Sanders after a tackle for loss:
From the department of “more than one thing can true,” it is indeed pathetic that this is now a 15-yard penalty. A little flexing never hurt anyone. At the same time, we all knew this was going to be a point of emphasis coming into the season, as explained in Rob Maaddi’s August story for the AP:
The unsportsmanlike conduct rule now states: “any violent gesture, which shall include but not be limited to a throat slash, simulating firing or brandishing a gun, or using the ‘nose wipe’ gesture, or an act that is sexually suggestive or offensive.
“There’s no place in the game to be standing over your opponent,” (Troy) Vincent said in a video that’s sent to teams. “There’s no place in the game to have violent gestures. That’s not the game of football. We just have to play by the rules, respect your opponent, respect your teammates and play the game in between the whistles.”
If we know anything about “point of emphasis” rule changes, it’s that they’re over-officiated in weeks one through four, then the refs seem to forget they exist after fans go justifiably apeshit over a handful of fugazi calls. That’s how the news cycle works.
It goes like this:
NFL changes rule –> guy flagged in the season opener –> viral fan and media complaints –> refs quietly seem to “forget” about these penalties by the time October rolls around
This is the “lowering of the helmet” for 2025. Remember when that was flagged nonstop the first 2-3 weeks after they installed the rule? But only on defensive players, never on ball carriers lowering their head. Then it just sort of disappeared and refs don’t call it anymore. These are always pointless changes because they’re over-whistled before disappearing entirely.
Anyway, the take away is that Nolan Smith just needs to be extra-restrained at least for a few more games. Then it’s all good.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com