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NFL Hands Down Penalties For Falcons, Browns, But Were Fines, Suspensions Enough?

The Falcons yesterday were fined $350,000 and "will forfeit a fifth-round pick" in the '16 NFL Draft for "violating the league's crowd noise rules," according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. Falcons President & CEO Rich McKay also was suspended by the NFL as co-Chair of the league's Competition Committee. Longtime Falcons Dir of Event Marketing Roddy White, whom the NFL deemed was "directly responsible for the violation," has been "terminated by the team." The timing of the penalties comes at a "bad time for the franchise, which is seeking to raise funds for the new stadium through a premium seat license program." The league was set to suspend White "without pay for the first eight weeks" of the '15 season. If he is employed by another team when the season begins, the league "may require him to serve some or all of this suspension" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 3/31). ESPN’s Phil Savage said by suspending McKay from the Competition Committee, the NFL “showed that it is willing to punish one of their own” (“NFL Insiders,” ESPN, 3/30). USA TODAY's Jarrett Bell writes the NFL "needed to pull McKay from the competition committee, just for the sake of appearance" (USA TODAY, 3/31). But ESPN's Chris Mortensen said it was a "little bit of a cheap shot" suspending McKay from the committee. Mortensen: "You say, ‘That’s no big deal, April to June,’ but it’s during a period -- May 18th -- they are going to make major decisions on the extra point that are probably going to change forever the NFL. The guy who has contributed to this Competition Committee in recent years more than anybody is Rich McKay and they even found that he was unaware of the crowd noise being piped in. ... For Rich McKay, isn’t that a stain on his reputation, even though he was found not to be aware and that they identified who did this?” (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 3/31).

NOT MUCH OF A PUNISHMENT: ESPN.com's Vaughn McClure noted the organization "might view the punishment as 'severe' but that would be far from the case," as the league "could have really crippled the Falcons by taking away their first-round draft pick." The Falcons "should be grateful that the league didn’t create much more noise with their disciplinary measures" (ESPN.com, 3/30). FS1's Kirk Morrison said the Falcons got "extremely lucky for this punishment." Morrison: "Guess what the Atlanta Falcons were doing? Trying to affect the play on the field. I thought it should have been a harsher penalty, probably go after a second- or a third-round pick. A fifth-round pick? That’s nothing to me” (“America’s Pregame, FS1, 3/30). Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio said, “If you’re a team that’s out there considering whether or not you’re going to use artificial crowd noise and you look at the consequences for getting caught, it’s really not that strong of a deterrence. I think some teams may say, ‘Hey, I’ll gladly give up a fifth-round pick in next year’s Draft because maybe I’ll get away with it after all’” (“PFT,” NBCSN, 3/30).

Farmer receives four-game suspension for
impermissible testing during games
BROWNS ALSO GET DISCIPLINED: In Cleveland, Mary Kay Cabot in a front-page piece reports the NFL suspended Browns GM Ray Farmer for the first four regular-season games of '15 and fined the team $250,000 for impermissible texting during games, but they "won't lose" a draft pick. The NFL originally "contemplated docking the Browns a mid-round pick," but the league gave the Browns a "break on that front, possibly because the texts to coaches were opinions and not designed to give the team a competitive advantage, and the fact that Farmer acted alone." Browns Owner Jimmy Haslam III, who "vowed last month to stand by Farmer, said in a statement that the Browns' will grow from the ordeal." The timing of the suspension "will enable Farmer to prepare for the NFL draft without interruption." If the Browns had "lost a fourth-rounder, it could've been costly" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 3/31). Also in Cleveland, Tom Reed notes the league in not taking picks away from the Browns "got it right and it's time for the Browns to make it right." It is "time for everyone in the organization to focus on his job and not worry about anyone else's." There has "simply been too much talk of organizational 'friction' and whispers of inter-department meddling." Reed: "Everybody take a deep breath, exhale a sigh of relief and do your own job" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 3/31).

ANOTHER LIGHT SENTENCE
: NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala noted there was a "big sigh of relief here at Browns headquarters." Kinkhabwala: "Everyone I spoke to uniformly said the expectation was for something much worse” ("NFL Total Access," NFL Network, 3/30). In Akron, Nate Ulrich writes the penalties were "a slap on the wrist," and the Browns "must be relieved." Farmer "will still be able to run the draft, sign free agents, make cuts throughout training camp and set the roster heading into the season in early September." Once the season begins, a GM’s responsibilities "scale back drastically." The discipline handed down by the league "suggests it doesn’t believe the Browns attained a competitive advantage from Farmer’s texts" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 3/31). ESPN.com's Jeremy Fowler wrote the Browns "can easily navigate" Farmer's four-game suspension, "especially since the punishment involves no loss of draft picks." Fowler: "Forget a hammer-drop. The league is using a chisel on the Browns. ... The suspension for Farmer is far from crippling" (ESPN.com, 3/30). In Cleveland, Terry Pluto writes the fine and suspension are "rather mild," and it was a "kind ruling by the NFL." Haslam also was "correct to stand by Farmer during all of this, because the last thing the Browns needed was another change" of GMs (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 3/31). Also in Cleveland, Bud Shaw writes the NFL "acted fairly" with its ruling. Shaw: "More difficult to assess is the residual damage to the Browns that comes with a front office executive second-guessing the coaching staff on game day" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 3/31).

MORE TO THE STORY? PFT's Florio said it feels like Farmer is "kind of taking the bullet for someone else." Florio: "Even if he did do it on his own, regardless of the outcome, suspending a general manager for the first four weeks of the regular season doesn’t feel like a significant punishment." NBCSN’s Ross Tucker added, “Every time you watch a Browns game, Ray Farmer is sitting right next to Jimmy Haslam. At no point did Jimmy Haslam not say to his GM, ‘Hey, Ray. Who do you text every game, all game?’ I find a lot of this hard to believe” (“PFT,” NBCSN, 3/30). ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser said Farmer is “taking a bullet for the owner.” ESPN's Michael Wilbon said Farmer might have "bought an extension, some more years on your contract, for taking the bullet" for Haslam (“PTI,” ESPN, 3/30).

DON'T DO THE CRIME...: In N.Y., Ken Belson writes the penalties are "mild compared with those for some other off-the-field infractions." Farmer will "still be with the Browns to help pick players in the coming NFL draft, and he will also be with the team during training camp and the preseason." The Falcons "will give up the late-round pick next season, but no member of their player personnel was penalized" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/31). NFL Network's Judy Battista noted the punishments are “certainly structured to cause minimal damage to the franchises” (“NFL Total Access,” NFL Network, 3/30). Meanwhile, in N.Y., Gary Myers writes it was "hardly worth it for the Browns and Falcons, who still didn't make the playoffs despite bending the rules" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/31). NFL Network’s Amber Theoharis said, “This all didn’t work. Even with the additional noise, the Falcons still only went 6-10 at home over those two seasons” (“NFL Total Access,” NFL Network, 3/30).

NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA: USA TODAY's Bell writes under the header, "Patriots Could Be Next Team To Be Hammered By NFL." If Ted Wells' investigation into Deflategate determines the Patriots "deliberately underinflated footballs during the AFC Championship, the Super Bowl champions better brace themselves for a big hit." Unlike the Falcons and Browns, the Patriots "have acknowledged no wrongdoing after being publicly implicated." At the "very least, however, the resolutions in the Falcons and Browns cases provide a template for future punishment" (USA TODAY, 3/31).

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