Antoine Winfield Jr.’s taunting penalty in Super Bowl LV was actually cool as hell

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were minutes away from becoming Super Bowl LV champions when the Kansas City Chiefs decided to go for it on another fourth down with the clock running down. Patrick Mahomes tried to sling a pass to Tyreek Hill, but the play was successfully defended by Bucs rookie cornerback Antoine Winfield Jr.

After the play, Winfield Jr. taunted Hill by throwing up two fingers in his face and promptly drew a penalty. Announcers Jim Nantz and Tony Romo both criticized Winfield for taunting, and that makes sense because good sportsmanship is important. However, let me raise a counterpoint: Winfield taunting Hill was actually super cool.

When the Chiefs and Bucs played earlier this year, Hill burned Winfield for a touchdown and flashed him the deuces on the way to the end zone. Winfield didn’t forget, and he hit him right back with it as his team was on its way to winning the Super Bowl.

Now that’s impressive for a rookie.

The Bucs are Super Bowl champions and Winfield looks like he’s going to be a major part of an amazing defense for a long, long time.

Don’t let the penalty get you down, rook. That was kind of awesome.