NFL officiating often faces scrutiny from the league’s fans, but there’s one infraction long-time New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan believes irks them more than others.
‘For the fans, I think it’s the excessive celebration,’ Jordan said when asked about the worst penalty in the NFL today at Fanatics Fest over the weekend.
Jordan spoke as a guest alongside comedian Keegan-Michael Key at the event’s ‘Why’s Draymond Green Talking About Football? With Jordan Schultz’ segment. The veteran explained he wants players on both sides of the ball to be able to celebrate after making big plays.
Jordan and Key noted just how hard it is to score a touchdown in the NFL in their argument for offensive player celebrations. Meanwhile, Jordan outlined exactly how he would like to celebrate racking up sacks, of which he has tallied 121.5 during his 14-year playing career.
‘I get a sack on a quarterback, give me five seconds. In fact, put the spotlight on me,’ Jordan said. ‘I’m gonna hit the levels, I’m gonna hit one of these, kick him while he’s down and go about my way.’
The NFL has emphasized penalizing excessive celebration in recent seasons. Taunting flags were a relatively rare occurrence in the league before the 2013 campaign, when officials called 30 penalties. By comparison, there were 27 combined taunting flags over the previous four seasons combined, per NFLPenalties.com.
Taunting calls peaked with 55 in 2021 amid another NFL crackdown on excessive celebration. There were 20 such flags in 2024, but Jordan still believes that is too many.
‘Let us celebrate. It’s OK to taunt,’ Jordan said. ‘Bring back taunting.’