Bears CB Kyler Gordon was flagged for taking his malfunctioning helmet off and NFL fans were irate

The Chicago Bears got one of the most baffling penalties of the season while playing the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football.

Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon was the victim of the horrible officiating, as his facemask got dislodged and dangled loose from his helmet.

As you’d expect, Gordon took his helmet off after the play was over since it was no longer safe for him to wear it. Rather than do nothing for a player making a sensible decision to remove a piece of faulty equipment, Gordon got called for taunting (?!) for removing the helmet.

On the sideline, Gordon seemed to be trying to show the referees that his helmet was temporarily broken, but to no avail. That seemed to have changed the penalty from taking the helmet off to the eventual taunting call, per The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain.

“If you can go in and replay something, I guess that would be the time to do it.”

Troy Aikman comments on Bears CB Kyler Gordon getting penalized for taking his helmet off. Gordon’s facemask was clearly broken and dangling off of the front of his helmet. pic.twitter.com/jCO88QyEmg

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 28, 2023

Officials flagged Bears CB Kyler Gordon for taking off his helmet. It looked like his helmet broke, and he was trying to show them that. Then they changed the penalty to taunting.

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) November 28, 2023

We’re going to be honest. This genuinely makes no sense whatsoever.

Calling someone for taunting for trying to show you they removed a malfunctioned piece of football gear so they could get it fixed is the kind of nonsense that gets sports officials so much flak from fans and analysts alike.

There was no reason to make this call since Gordon did nothing even remotely close to what the officiating crew alleged, and NFL fans just weren’t at all on the same page with how this call went.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.