JUMP TO:
- Unsportsmanlike conduct rules
- What is considered unsportsmanlike conduct?
- New unsportsmanlike conduct rules for 2025
- Unsportsmanlike conduct penalty
- Unsportsmanlike conduct fines
- Unsportsmanlike conduct ejection
- Unsportsmanlike conduct signal
- How many unsportsmanlike penalties before ejection?
- Do NFL players get fined for unsportsmanlike conduct?
- Memorable unsportsmanlike conduct examples
- Unsportsmanlike conduct rule history
The NFL is often called a grown man's league, but the league office frequently signals how much it cares about setting good examples for younger generations.
Sportsmanship is top of mind for the NFL in 2025, with a new emphasis placed on enforcing rules against "unsportsmanlike" behavior and cracking down on actions such as taunting.
While some believe the rules make football softer than it was in the past, the NFL will readily defend its stance in favor of sportsmanship and player safety above all else — even if the rules have evolved over the years.
Here's a complete guide to the NFL's unsportsmanlike conduct policies and their consequences for players.
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Unsportsmanlike conduct rules
According to the NFL rulebook, the label of unsportsmanlike conduct "applies to any act which is contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship."
Unsportsmanlike conduct carries an in-game penalty but can also leave the offending player subject to a fine, ejection or even suspension.
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What is considered unsportsmanlike conduct?
The rules try to clear up some of the ambiguity surrounding that definition, listing the following actions as unsportsmanlike:
- Throwing a punch, forearm or kicking
- "Abusive, threatening, or insulting language or gestures"
- "Baiting or taunting acts or words"
- Violent gestures
- Unnecessary physical contact with an official
- Excessive celebrations
- Using objects as props
- Removal of helmet in the field of play
- Jumping or standing on a teammate to block a kick
The rulebook also lists additional but much less common acts as examples of unsportsmanlike conduct. Ultimately, the decision regarding whether an act meets the definition of unsportsmanlike conduct is a judgment call by the officials.
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New unsportsmanlike conduct rules for 2025
After unsportsmanlike conduct and inappropriate gestures both increased in 2024, per the league, the NFL decided to crack down on violations in 2025.
Banned gestures
Inappropriate gestures are now listed in the NFL rulebook as follows: "Any violent gesture, which shall include, but not be limited to, a throat slash, simulating firing or brandishing a gun, or using the 'nose wipe' gesture, or an act that is sexually suggestive or offensive." Those gestures are to be penalized as unsportsmanlike conduct.
Emphasis on sportsmanship
The NFL announced before the 2025 season that a greater emphasis would be placed on sportsmanship after unsportsmanlike conduct rose in 2024. A video sent to teams before the season included the following comments from NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent: "There's no place in the game to have violent gestures. That's not the game of football. We just have to play by the rules, respect your opponent, respect your teammates and play the game in between the whistles."
Enforcement began when Eagles DT Jalen Carter was immediately ejected for spitting on Cowboys QB Dak Prescott in the opening seconds of the NFL's kickoff game on Sept. 4.
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Unsportsmanlike conduct penalty
An unsportsmanlike conduct call carries a penalty of 15 yards. If the penalty occurred during a live play, the ball will be spotted 15 yards from the spot in which the play started. If the penalty occurs while the ball is dead, the ball will be spotted 15 yards from the current spot.
If the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty is against the defense, the offense receives an automatic first down even if the additional 15 yards doesn't trigger a first down on its own.
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Unsportsmanlike conduct fines
If the NFL deems a player's unsportsmanlike actions worthy of more than just a penalty, the player can be fined $14,491 for a first offense or $20,288 for a second offense. Fines are typically handed out the Friday after the weekend in which the offense occurred.
Taunting, meanwhile, can carry a fine of $11,593 for a first offense or $17,389 for a second offense.
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Unsportsmanlike conduct ejection
A player can be ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct if his actions are determined to be "flagrant," according to NFL rules. That leaves the decision in the hands of the officials, who must use their judgement and knowledge of the rules to determine whether an act meets the definition of "flagrant."
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Unsportsmanlike conduct signal
An official signals for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by stretching both arms outward with each hand flat and facing down. The signal can be seen in the early seconds of this clip from Jalen Carter's ejection against Dallas:
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How many unsportsmanlike penalties before ejection?
NFL rules mandate that a player must be ejected from a game if he receives two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for the following actions:
- Throwing a punch, or a forearm, or kicking at an opponent, even though no contact is made.
- Using abusive, threatening, or insulting language or gestures to opponents, teammates, officials, or representatives of the League.
- Using baiting or taunting acts or words that may engender ill will between teams.
That means a player isn't guaranteed to be ejected after two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, as long as at least one doesn't fit any of those descriptions.
Officials can, however, eject a player at their discretion even if the player has only incurred one penalty. For example, Jalen Carter was ejected for spitting on Dak Prescott despite it being his first penalty of the game (and the season).
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Do NFL players get fined for unsportsmanlike conduct?
The NFL reserves the right to fine players for unsportsmanlike conduct. If the league deems a player's unsportsmanlike actions worthy of more than just a penalty, the player can be fined $14,491 for a first offense or $20,288 for a second offense.
Players have the right to appeal any fine, with an appeals officer jointly appointed by the NFL and NFL Players Association making the final decision after a hearing.
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Memorable unsportsmanlike conduct examples
Not all egregious on-field incidents result unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, even if they are unsportsmanlike. Some, like Myles Garrett's helmet swing at Mason Rudolph, were called as personal fouls, while others, such as Ndamukong Suh's infamous stomp of Evan Dietrich-Smith, are called as unnecessary roughness.
Unsportsmanlike conduct penalties largely involve gestures or incidental contact.
Mike Tomlin interferes with Jacoby Jones' return
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin wasn't called for a penalty when he (either intentionally or unintentionally) stood too close to the field and disrupted a Jacoby Jones kickoff return that could have been destined for the end zone in 2013, but the NFL later admitted officials made a mistake by not penalizing Tomlin for unsportsmanlike conduct. In lieu of a penalty, Tomlin was fined $100,000.
"Any time a player or a coach from the sideline is in this white area, that's a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct," then-NFL VP of Officiating Dean Blandino said. "If they interfere with the play, it could be what's called a 'palpably unfair act.'"
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D.J. Moore costs Panthers after Hail Mary
The highlight of QB P.J. Walker's NFL career was a Hail Mary touchdown to D.J. Moore that should have been enough to beat the Falcons, but Moore was instead called for unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taking his helmet off immediately after the touchdown. The penalty backed up Eddy Pineiro's extra point to 48 yards rather than 33, and Pineiro missed to send the game to overtime where Carolina lost.
Tom Brady's only unsportsmanlike penalty
Tom Brady's one and only unsportsmanlike conduct penalty came at a critical juncture in what was nearly his final NFL game in the 2021 playoffs. After Brady took a hit from Von Miller in the divisional round that he believed was grounds for a roughing-the-passer penalty, he confronted an official and paid the price for it with an unsportsmanlike penalty.
"He got in my face in an aggressive manner and used abusive language," Shawn Hochuli said in the officials' pool report following the game.
Jalen Carter spits on Dak Prescott
The 2025 NFL season started with a bang — or a spit — when Eagles DT Jalen Carter spit on Cowboys QB Dak Prescott after the opening kickoff of the league's season-opener. Carter was called for unsportsmanlike conduct and ejected before even playing a snap.
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Unsportsmanlike conduct rule history
NFL rules regarding unsportsmanlike conduct have generally tightened over time. Removing a helmet in the field of play became part of the rule in 1997, and rules against taunting were expanded in 2001.
In 2016, the NFL revised the rule to ensure players would be ejected if called for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the same game as long as they each fell under a certain category of behavior.
The NFL placed a new emphasis on enforcing unsportsmanlike conduct violations in 2025, including the introduction of a specific list of inappropriate gestures that fall under the rule.
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