Two of the NFL’s big four offseason investigations handed down verdicts Monday, with the Atlanta Falcons and Cleveland Browns getting hit for violating league rules last season.
The Browns got off the easiest with their punishment, with general manager Ray Farmer getting suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season and the team fined $250,000. The Browns were punished because Farmer sent playcalling “suggestions” to the team’s sideline, and specifically to former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, now, ironically, with the Falcons.
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The rogue texting came to light when Shanahan bolted in the postseason and Farmer confessed shortly afterward of being the culprit. Texting from the owner’s or press box to the sidelines is considered an unfair competitive advantage by the NFL and prohibited, though the idea of Farmer cluing Shanahan in on offensive playcalling and personnel changes is hilarious on its face. More than likely Farmer either texted owner Jimmy Haslem’s “suggestions” or fell on his sword for Haslem by confessing.
All that, of course, is speculation, but come on.
“I respect the league’s decision and understand that there are consequences for my actions,’” Farmer said in a statement. “Accountability is integral to what we are trying to build, and as a leader, I need to set the right example. I made a mistake and apologize to Jimmy Haslam, (Browns head coach ) Mike Pettine, our entire organization and our fans for the ramifications. Learning is a big part of who I am, and I will certainly be better from this situation.”
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Cleveland Browns notified of @nfl ruling.
READ: http://t.co/MWVvoVo1kO
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) March 30, 2015
Farmer’s punishment will officially begin on midnight Sunday morning before Cleveland’s season-opening game and end following their week four game.
The Falcons were hit harder than the Browns, though not significantly so. Atlanta will be forced to cough up $350,000 and will forfeit a fifth-round draft pick in 2016. If the Falcons end up with multiple fifth-rounders for some reason, the highest pick will be lost. Falcons president Rich McKay will also be suspended from the NFL Competition committee, of which he’s been a member for 22 years. He can apply for reinstatement on June 30.
Statement by NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent on Atlanta Falcons Matter
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 30, 2015
The punishment amounts to a slap on the wrist for the Falcons, who were sited for piping in fake crowd noise into the Georgia Dome for the last two seasons. Home field advantage is a real, tangible factor in NFL games and crowd noise is the biggest, game-changing aspect of it. For the Falcons to pump it in, boosting their own lackluster fanbase’s noise levels, should have cost them more than a late-round pick a year from now.
“What took place was wrong and nowhere near the standards by which we run our business,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in a statement. “Anytime there are actions that compromise the integrity of the NFL or threaten the culture of our franchise, as this issue did, they will be dealt with swiftly and strongly.”
Statement by Falcons owner and chairman Arthur Blank regarding crowd noise investigation: http://t.co/3A4LLfMxWu
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) March 30, 2015
It probably helps that the Blank cleaned house, firing everybody in the building after the season so the perpetrators are likely at home passed out in their basement, surrounded by 24 scattered Natural Ice empties right now.
#Falcons other Roddy White, the team’s director of event marketing, was fired. But he’s suspended the first 8 weeks of 2015 if he gets a job
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 30, 2015
The fake noise didn’t help the Falcons at all, as they went 3-4 last season (the played one “home game” in London) and were blown out 34-3 by the Carolina Panthers in Week 17 in a postseason play-in game. They were just as bad in 2013 going 3-5 at the Georgia Dome.
The two big cases left to be decided for the NFL are “Deflategate” and possible tampering chargers levied against either the New York Jets or New England Patriots, depending on which team, if any, has it’s charges hold up under scrutiny.
The Pats were first to file tampering charges against the Jets over free agent cornerback Darrelle Revis after New York owner Woody Johnson said, before the season was over, “I would love for Darrelle to come back.”
New England owner Bob Kraft delivered his own verbal faux pas on March 23, saying of Revis, “I speak as a fan of the New England Patriots, we wanted to keep him.”
Anything coming from either charge seems ridiculous, but what should be very exciting is the possible punishment, or lack thereof, for “Deflategate,” in which the Patriots are accused of purposefully under-inflating footballs in order to make them easier for quarterback Tom Brady to throw, their receivers to catch and their running backs to carry in poor weather. No time frame on a judgement on either the tampering charges or Deflategate has been given.
