Saints’ Sean Payton criticizes inconsistent NFL administration, mocking: ‘We have to improve. Everyone deserves better’

Sean Payton is a supporter of the NFL’s new taunt rules, but he’s not pleased with how the league has implemented them so far.

Payton – who was a member of the NFL competition committee, which agreed on the mocking emphasis for 2021 – opened up about the rule in appeared on “The Dan Patrick Show.” Payton believes the rule isn’t popular because of the way NFL referees call it.

“I think it was over-processed,” Payton told Patrick. “I’ve been sitting in the discussions and I don’t think any of us who discussed it have seen it anywhere now.”

Payton’s vision for the rule involved having a firm line that players could not cross while on the field.

“It’s like anything else,” Payton said. “The line must finally be clear.”

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So what does Payton think should constitute a mocking flag? He’s specifically referring to players who “stand on top of the player” or “crawl over the player with their crotch,” but overall, his method is even simpler than that.

“If you and I watch a game and we say just sit next to each other and turn to each other and we say, ‘Mouse,’ that’s probably a mockery,” Payton said.

That’s exactly challenging the rule, though, in Payton’s mind. Calls are subjective and vary from person to person and formal.

“There’s the communication challenge, like, ‘Hey, this is I’m going to show you 50 clips and you tell me which one you think should be called mockery,'” Payton said. “It’s no different than passing a passerby roughly.”

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However, as Payton noted later in the interview, the rough handling of calls from passersby was another worm. There was a questionable question that was called against the Saints during their loss to the Titans, and that prompted Payton to express his frustration with the state of the NFL going on right now.

“We’ve seen it happen every weekend with the official,” Payton said. “That’s the hardest thing to get over is when they’re not up to speed.”

Payton also references what happened to the Bears against the Steelers, when Cassius Marsh was whistled for a mocking call which a few agree with. The NFL has doubled down on and backed Tony Corrente’s call, and Payton isn’t surprised.

Payton talks about suspicious calls. “We were like… paralyzed.”

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But Payton doesn’t blame officials for the problem. He thinks it’s more of a league problem.

“Those problems start at the top, not with individual teams,” he said.

Is there any way to fix the problem? Payton wants the NFL to hire full-time officials, but the league is reluctant to do so. Either way, Payton has one goal in mind: running the crew.

“We have to improve,” he said, “Everybody who watches and participates and participates in it deserves better.”