Say what you will about Golden Tate, but he seems to have a knack for moving the needle regarding hot-button issues in the NFL. Last year, it was his “Fail Mary” catch/non-catch the essentially ended the NFL referee lockout overnight. Now, in the wake of a taunting penalty assessed midway through his 80-yard touchdown catch on Monday night, the NFL is reportedly considering adopting an NCAA-style rule which would nullify touchdowns and tack on a 15-yard penalty from the spot of the foul:
“A lot of people felt that the touchdown shouldn’t have counted [but] a taunting foul is always treated as a dead-ball foul, meaning whatever happened during the play counts, and the foul is enforced on the next play, which would be the kickoff,” Blandino said. “In college, this action would take back the touchdown. Tate started taunting at the 25-yard line. The college rule, that’s enforced at the spot of the foul, so they’d go from a touchdown to first-and-10 at the 40, which would be a gigantic penalty. The NFL rule, it’s a dead-ball foul, it’s enforced on the kickoff. But I’m sure that’s something that the Competition Committee will look at in the offseason.”
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