Atlanta Under Investigation for Artificial Crowd Noise

[mabrowndog]

Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 15m15 minutes ago
NFL expected to suspend Falcons president Rich McKay from comp committee and take draft pick from ATL for piping in crowd noise, per sources

 

[mabrowndog]

And FWIW...
 
Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 18m18 minutes ago
Browns GM Ray Farmer also expected to be suspended for Text-gate role but Cleveland is not expected to lose a draft pick, per sources.

 

[Corsi]

Albert Breer ‏@AlbertBreer  38s38 seconds ago
NFL fines the Browns $250,000 and suspends GM Ray Farmer for the first four games of 2015 for the texting situation. No draft pick penalty.
 
Jason La Canfora ‏@JasonLaCanfora  32s32 seconds ago
Farmer can conduct no Browns business and prohibited from being involved in any team decisions during the suspension for 1st qtr of season

 

[Corsi]

vaughn mcclure ‏@vxmcclure23  1m1 minute ago
Falcons fifth-round draft pick will be taken away in 2016, NFL says. Will be the highest of multiple fifth-round picks

 

[theapportioner]

Lighter punishment than I expected.

 

[Ed Hillel]

A fifth rounder? Really?

 

[mpx42]

In 2016, too.
 
Also, the guy behind this was named Roddy White? That's awesome.

 

[Stitch01]

Seems reasonable to me.

 

[Ed Hillel]

I think the bigger issue is that McKay wasn't kicked off the Competition Committee completely. Kicked off for 6 months...do they even do anything over the next 6 months?

 

[mpx42]

There's a May meeting.

 

[Valek123]

I think the bigger issue is that McKay wasn't kicked off the Competition Committee completely. Kicked off for 6 months...do they even do anything over the next 6 months?

 
This to me is the most shocking part of this story... McKay sit's on the Competition Committee, was knowingly violating the "integrity of the game" by piping in sound and receives a 6 month gentlemans club slap on the wrist while the Pats run a LEGAL play that is immediately outlawed in the off-season.  Seems right, slap on the wrist for breaking the rules and welcome with open arms back to the club after 6 months, and change the rules to make perceived violations illegal for completely legal rules.
 
Is the NFL really this tone deaf?  I'm starting to agree with the others, when the BB era is over I'm not sure I'll have the stomach to watch the flag football league, its understandably changing due to injury lawsuits but the complete lack of organizational integrity is showing through. Protect the shield indeed...

 

[ivanvamp]

 
This to me is the most shocking part of this story... McKay sit's on the Competition Committee, was knowingly violating the "integrity of the game" by piping in sound and receives a 6 month gentlemans club slap on the wrist while the Pats run a LEGAL play that is immediately outlawed in the off-season.  Seems right, slap on the wrist for breaking the rules and welcome with open arms back to the club after 6 months, and change the rules to make perceived violations illegal for completely legal rules.
 
Is the NFL really this tone deaf?  I'm starting to agree with the others, when the BB era is over I'm not sure I'll have the stomach to watch the flag football league, its understandably changing due to injury lawsuits but the complete lack of organizational integrity is showing through. Protect the shield indeed...

 
You feel this way now?  Just wait until the Pats are actually punished for "deflate-gate" even though there will be no evidence they did anything wrong.  

 

[Valek123]

 
You feel this way now?  Just wait until the Pats are actually punished for "deflate-gate" even though there will be no evidence they did anything wrong.  

 
This will really do little to anything to further my feelings about the current state of the NFL.  Leadership has blown every possible event, incident and punishment in the past 2-3 years, it's a league of some extremely smart owners that seems to be run by the lowest common denominator and led by someone who needs to go back to PR 101 classes on how to deal with crisis management.  Every move made fans the flames of incompetence rather than deal with them in a professional and logical way, it's just so reactionary.  
 
I fully expect that with no evidence against the Patriots for them to lose their 1st round pick to protect the "integrity of the game", and Robert Kraft to find a way to sue the NFL as it's really the only way this could get any stranger.  AMURICA!!!!

 

[Tony C]

that does seem light. and how do you suspend a GM? is he forbidden all contact with any one, within the team structure and throughout the NFL -- put into a proverbial cone of silence?

 

[NortheasternPJ]

 
This to me is the most shocking part of this story... McKay sit's on the Competition Committee, was knowingly violating the "integrity of the game" by piping in sound and receives a 6 month gentlemans club slap on the wrist while the Pats run a LEGAL play that is immediately outlawed in the off-season.  Seems right, slap on the wrist for breaking the rules and welcome with open arms back to the club after 6 months, and change the rules to make perceived violations illegal for completely legal rules.
 
Is the NFL really this tone deaf?  I'm starting to agree with the others, when the BB era is over I'm not sure I'll have the stomach to watch the flag football league, its understandably changing due to injury lawsuits but the complete lack of organizational integrity is showing through. Protect the shield indeed...

 
He doesn't just sit on the Competition Committee, he's the f'ing Chairman. How do you not throw him off permanently?

 

[Valek123]

He doesn't just sit on the Competition Committee, he's the f'ing Chairman. How do you not throw him off permanently?

 
Because they have more important things to worry about like environmentally deflated footballs, tricky offensive sets and the all important "lets change extra points for fun" debates.  It's just incredibly hypocritical to have the Chair be implicated in a cheating scandal and do nothing, and just conclusively shows where the priorities are($$ not the BS mantra of "protecting the shield").

 

[DJnVa]

Mortenson said this morning that it was a "cheap shot" to throw him off committee because investigation showed he knew nothing about what was going on.
 
I think the phrase Mortenson was looking for was "institutional control". If he's in charge, he gets blame.

 

[pappymojo]

Seems like he is a perfect person to chair of the Competition Committee.
 
 
 
assuming that the Competition Committee is tasked with helping shitty teams maintain competitive balance with superior teams. 

 

[NortheasternPJ]

Mortenson said this morning that it was a "cheap shot" to throw him off committee because investigation showed he knew nothing about what was going on.
 
I think the phrase Mortenson was looking for was "institutional control". If he's in charge, he gets blame.

 
"Institutional Control" is such a joke. Capt. Goodell can't even keep control of his office in NY from receiving brutal videos of abuse or know that one of his deputies may have been running a sting operation that questioned the integrity of the AFC Championship.
 
I'm sure Mort didn't bring that up.

 

[Mugsy's Walk-Off Bunt]

I thought I heard Holley or Dale say something about it happening pre-McKay being in his current ATL position, which would explain the slap-on-the-wrist-ness. If ttrue. Is it?