Integrity of the game! Goodell appoints cheating Falcons president to competition committee

Atlanta Falcons were caught cheating; why'd Roger Goodell put their president back on competition committee?

Roget Goodell, Rich McKay
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, right, stands next to Rich McKay, Atlanta Falcons president and CEO and co-chairman of the competition committee. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Nick O'Malley | [email protected] By Nick O'Malley | [email protected]
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on August 27, 2015 at 3:17 PM, updated August 27, 2015 at 3:46 PM





Two NFL teams were fined and docked a draft pick after allegations of cheating in 2014 emerged.

One of them is in the midst of an ongoing legal battle with the league with the legacy of its franchise quarterback on the line, leaving a black mark on their legacy and their fanbase in a perpetual uproar. The other just saw their team president re-instated as chairman of the league's Competition Committee.

While the New England Patriots are continuing to deal with the fallout of Deflategate, the Atlanta Falcons are moving along as per normal. This, after the NFL ruled in March that the Falcons had illegally piped in additional crowd noise through the PA system to gain an advantage over visiting offenses in both 2013 and 2014. For this, the team was fined $350,000 and docked a fifth-round draft pick.

The Patriots, meanwhile, were hit with a $1 million fine, were docked a first and fourth-round pick and saw their starting quarterback suspended for four games after the league ruled that Tom Brady had general awareness of a scheme to deflate game balls below regulation PSI.

Part of the punishment for the Falcons centered around team president and CEO Rich McKay, who was the chairman of the NFL's Competition Committee at the time of the penalty. The league ruled that McKay did not have any knowledge of a team employee's decision to play an audio file of crowd noise. Even so they moved to suspend McKay from the committee.

As of Wednesday, though, McKay is officially back as the chairman, five months after the suspension was handed down.

Commissioner Goodell met with Rich McKay in NY on Wednesday has reinstated McKay as chairman of the Competition Committee effective now

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 27, 2015
The Falcons, along with the Cleveland Browns, were the two teams besides the Patriots who were punished this past offseason for illegal activities during games. The NFL suspended Browns GM Ray Farmer four games for sending text messages to coaches during games. The team was also fined $250,000.

Why is McKay getting back in the Competition Committee saddle without issue? It seems like the league is content with the explanation that the team employee acted on his own. However, that reasoning hasn't worked in the past for the Patriots, and even the New Orleans Saints during the Bountygate scandal.

Back then, Goodell had punished the team as a whole even though they couldn't prove that head coach Sean Payton was aware of players receiving payment for injuring opponents. In the past the NFL has more or less held the team responsible for actions by individuals employed by the team. With McKay, the league more or less cited that argument again in a statement.

From NFL.com:

"Falcons ownership and senior executives, including team President Rich McKay, were unaware of Mr. White's use of an audio file with artificial crowd noise," the statement explained. "However, Mr. McKay, as the senior club executive overseeing game operations, bears some responsibility for ensuring that team employees comply with league rules."
Even so, McKay has his influential league post back after bearing "some responsibility" from March to August.

Goodell is already a villain in New England. So seeing other teams with similar infractions get relative slaps on the wrist from the league office for similarly back-handed moves is likely to rile up fans around New England even more.

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RIpats88 said:

http://blog.masslive.com/patriots/2015/08/atlanta_falcons_were_caught_ch.html



was he not generally aware of the piped in crowd noise?

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patfanken said:

Just a thought, but have you ever wondered why the man who knows more about the history of the league and the evolution of its rules has never to my knowledge been on the rules committee? Don't you think the league would be better off if the smartest man in the game was part of that process. You'd think, right?

My guess, and it's just pure supposition is that BB doesn't want to be part of the hypocrisy, politics, and blatant self interest that goes on in that little cesspool. I doubt he needs the aggravation and the loss of time to deal with those idiots. Besides I bet he believes that whatever changes they make to the rules that they THINK will benefit them, he will be able to work hard and smarter and turn them into HIS advantage.

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patfanken said:

Just a thought, but have you ever wondered why the man who knows more about the history of the league and the evolution of its rules has never, to my knowledge, been on the rules committee? Don't you think the league would be better off if the smartest man in the game was part of that process. You'd think, right?

My guess, and it's just pure supposition, is that BB doesn't want to be part of the hypocrisy, politics, and blatant self interest that goes along with being part of that little cesspool. I doubt he needs the aggravation or the loss of time to deal with those idiots. Besides I bet he believes that whatever changes they make to the rules that they THINK will benefit them, he will be able to work hard and smarter and turn them into HIS advantage.

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shmessy said:

I don't get the title.

The Seattle Seahawks or NBA's Atlanta Hawks?????

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