Bengals QB Joe Burrow wants to see the NFL change this rule that currently results in a 15-yard penalty

Bengals QB Joe Burrow wants to see the NFL change this rule that currently results in a 15-yard penalty

Joe Burrow doesn’t do many public interviews during the offseason, but he did one on Wednesday night during a live recording of the “New Heights” podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce.

The show was filmed at the University of Cincinnati — where both Kelce brothers went to college — and the two were able to convince Burrow to make an appearance. During their interview with the Bengals quarterback, the subject of taunting came up and Burrow revealed that he would be all for the NFL getting rid of the taunting penalty.

“Yea, I’m pro taunting,” Burrow said, via WLWT’s Olivia Ray.

If a player gets flagged for taunting, it’s currently a 15-yard penalty, but Burrow doesn’t seem to think it should be penalized at all.

“We’re all grown adults that work really hard at what we do,” Burrow said. “And sometimes we’d like to show it. I’m not gonna get my feelings hurt if somebody sacks me and taunts me like you made a play. I get it. Like good for you.”

If you’re wondering why this subject even came up, it’s because Burrow first shared his opinion on the subject during the AFC Championship in January, a game where Travis Kelce and the Chiefs beat the Ravens 17-10. After a taunting flag in that game, Burrow headed straight to X to let everyone know his feelings about the call.

The NFL actually asked officials to emphasize taunting penalties in 2021, which led to 43 flags being thrown, but since then, the number has gone down dramatically. There were only 19 taunting penalties called in 2022, and the number went even lower last season with just 15 flags being thrown. The number was so low that maybe Burrow can convince the NFL to just finally do away with the penalty altogether.