'Your mama' jokes are apparently off limits in the NFL, which the Lions learned the hard way

Who knew?

If you’re rooting against the Detroit Lions this year, you have no heart. Just opt out until January; this time of year is not for you.

Dan Campbell’s entirely over-matched team has valiantly found a way to stay in games this year and always plays hard. I guess if your coach opens his tenure with a rabid speech about biting knee-caps (and then hires a really impressive set of assistants) it’s easy to want to battle for the guy.

The Lions nearly got the better of the Browns on Sunday, despite playing Tim Boyle at QB. Tim Boyle is so bad. In college, he threw 12 touchdowns and 26 interceptions. So. Bad.

Yet here were the Lions, driving near the end of the third quarter, trailing 13-7. D’Andre Swift dashed 13 yards to get to the Cleveland 42-yard-line as the quarter ended and the game went to commercial.

But the 4th quarter began with the Lions facing 1st-and-25 from their own 43, after guard Jonah Jackson was whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during the break.

That’s not a situation you want to be in with Tim Boyle as your quarterback. The Lions would punt four plays later and muster only three more points.

After the game, Campbell revealed the cause of the call:

Dan Campbell said Jonah Jackson was penalized for saying something about someone’s mother. Costly penalty in between periods

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) November 21, 2021

Here’s Campbell’s full quote, also via Birkett:

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “It was something that is said. It was something about somebody’s mother, OK? And there was a lot of talking going on out there, but so it was a penalty.”

Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett didn’t hear what was said — and Jackson wouldn’t reveal it — but did say, “But a your mama joke will probably get you booked every time.”

Who knew! I always assumed players were jawing about stuff like constantly.

Mamas are off limits in the NFL. That’s fine. That works. That makes a whole lot more sense than penalizing guys for … taking a few steps toward the other team’s sideline.