Joe Burrow is calling for change on the highest level after Zay Flowers was called for taunting during Sunday’s AFC Championship. He wants the No Fun League to allow for more fun.
Baltimore trailed Kansas City by 10 with under a minute left in the third quarter. Lamar Jackson went deep on first down and connected with his rookie pass-catcher over the middle for a 50-yard gain.
It put the Ravens firmly into the red zone, inside the 10-yard-line. Until it didn’t.
L’Jarius Sneed held onto Flowers’ leg after making the tackle and would not let go. The latter pushed the former off of him, spun the ball on the turf, and stood atop of the Chiefs defender.
He was flagged for taunting. As result of the penalty, Baltimore received a 15-yard penalty and was pushed back to the 25-yard-line.
Although the officials had every right to call Zay Flowers for taunting by the rules, it was pretty weak that they called him for taunting. There was no need to kill the momentum because one of the players showed some emotion. Especially when both sides were allowed to get a little bit feisty all afternoon.
Joe Burrow agrees! He took to X, formerly known as Twitter, with his plea.
Will the NFL listen to one of the biggest names in football? Probably not, but we can dream!
Maybe one day, in a different life, athletes who make impressive plays will be able to celebrate their impressive plays by reminding the person who allowed them to make the impressive play that they made an impressive play. We just want them to be able to talk their talk— especially if it’s completely harmless and irrelevant to the outcome of the game, like Flowers’ gesture toward Sneed.
Is that too much to ask? Apparently so.