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Darius Cooper’s “Taunting” Penalty Yet Another Shining Example of Why More than One Thing Can Be True
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Eagles receiver Darius Cooper was flagged for taunting on this Sunday night sequence, wiping out a gain that would have put the Birds on the goal line:
— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) January 4, 2026
Cooper gets up, looks at Jonathan Jones, spins the ball on the ground, and the ball hits Jones’ right foot. Then Cooper puts his hands together like he’s praying because he seems to realize almost immediately that he did something stupid.
Sure enough, out comes the flag.
So it was a dumb play. It’s one of those things where Cooper has barely played all year long, he makes a big reception and emotions seem to take over. Next thing you know, the Eagles are backed up and Tanner McKee is throwing an interception to end the drive.
The other thing that’s true is that this was mostly harmless. Cooper doesn’t exactly step over Jones and flex on top of him, or pull his pants down and moon the visiting crowd ala Randy Moss. There’s the briefest of glances and a ball spin before he’s ushered away by Grant Calcaterra. When you ask yourself if this was unsportsmanlike and not in the spirit of the game, it’s a borderline call. I can’t imagine any children were watching the game and permanently damaged by Cooper’s actions. He’s not exhibiting, as section 3, article 1D 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.” It’s really not a prolonged celebration (1F), or pulling a sharpie out of his sock (1G, props and foreign objects). He keeps his helmet on (1H) and his actions do not escalate any confrontation.
It’s funny because sports fans always argue about things in a binary kind of way. Things are either a hard yes or hard no, as you’ve probably heard in the continuing discussion of whether or not the Eagles should have rested the starters on Sunday. But things are rarely black and white, so why do we discuss them as if they are? Because it makes for good podcasting and radio? Probably. Pragmatism isn’t exactly a hot take, so it doesn’t always work in our media.
In this case, the discussion was whether this was a soft call or a dumb play. Obviously it’s both. The refs were lame, but Darius Cooper gave them the opportunity to be lame. The saying that “more than one thing can be true” is undefeated. Put it on my epitaph.
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