The NFL has made its enforcement of sportsmanship rules a point of emphasis this season, and the league reminded the 14 teams in the playoffs about that this week heading into Wild Card Weekend.
Perry Fewell, the league's SVP of officiating administration, sent a memo to head coaches and general managers of teams in the postseason on Wednesday to reiterate "the importance of sportsmanship" in the game in the coming weeks.
"At this level of competition emotions will run high, but no amount of emotion should give way to demeaning and offensive words, taunting, or other non-football acts," Fewell writes in a memo obtained by CBS Sports. "No one wants a penalty, or a player ejection, to determine the outcome of a game."
The NFL has ejected at least 11 players from games this season, according to CBS Sports research. Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair was ejected after his hit to a sliding Trevor Lawrence, and Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones was ejected for fighting following that play. Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was ejected after two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against Washington last month. Rams receiver Puka Nacua and Lions defensive back Brian Branch were also ejected from games this year, among other players.
"This memo is a reminder that the NFL standard of Sportsmanship will be strictly enforced during the playoffs. Please assist Game Officials by encouraging sportsmanship, respect, and high standards of excellence as the competition escalates on the most visible platform in the world.
"Your active goodwill in emphasizing Sportsmanship and alerting your players and coaches to our position regarding non-football acts is greatly appreciated."
Players have been disqualified from playoff games in the past. San Francisco's Trent Williams and Philadelphia's K'Von Wallace were both ejected late in the 2022 NFC title game for fighting. Seattle's Bruce Irvin was ejected in the closing seconds of the Patriots' Super Bowl victory over the Seahawks after the Malcolm Butler interception. And Washington safety Sean Taylor was ejected from a 2005 wild-card game against the Buccaneers for allegedly spitting at an opponent. Washington won the game and Taylor played the next week.
Today, a player who gets two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties is ejected from the game. And if one act alone is deemed flagrant enough, the player can be disqualified for that.
Taunting and making violent gestures are also considered unsportsmanlike conduct by the league. CBS Sports previously reported in October on what one executive referred to as an "epidemic" of violent gestures, mostly related to pantomiming guns.
"It's a long-standing policy and we are going to enforce that," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in October about the league's policy on violent gestures. "[NFL EVP of football operations] Troy [Vincent] had a direct conversation with the union I think just last week about it. We're going to continue on that focus. We don't think it's appropriate in those circumstances and sends the wrong messages. So, we'll continue to do that."
The NFL has yet to announce the fines from the Week 18 regular-season finale, but there will be an uptick in fines for on-field acts stemming from the 2024 season.
Last year, the league issued a total of 419 fines for the regular season and postseason -- issuing a fine on 0.96% of all plays. This year, through just 17 weeks, the league has issued 484 fines -- a 1.17% rate.
In Weeks 16 and 17, the league issued 10 fines for taunting or violent gestures totaling $122,444. Week 17 saw three violent gesture fines that totaled $27,251.
Though post-hoc fines don't get players ejected, fineable actions could lead to future suspensions. Chargers defensive back Derwin James was suspended for a game earlier this year for what the league said was a "continued disregard for NFL playing rules."
Of course, the league would be loath to suspend a player in the postseason for a future game, which is a big reason why the memo was sent this week in the first place.