What the %@!# is going on right now?
Browns GM Ray
Farmer has been suspended for the first four regular-season games of 2015 for
violating the NFL’s electronic device policy. In what is now dubbed #TextGate,
Farmer texted down to the sideline during games, which is cheating. The Browns
were fined $250,000 as punishment.
Even more
shocking was what the Falcons did—they pumped crowd noise into their stadium. Unsurprisingly,
that is also cheating. The Falcons lost their fifth-round draft pick for 2016
and were fined $350,000.
 |
| Rich McKay |
Falcons President
Rich McKay is in trouble, and he should be. As the chairman of the NFL’s
Competition Committee, he is one of the most influential executives in the
entire league. This is really disappointing. It’s also hysterical because even
though the team pumped crowd noise, it still isn’t one of the loudest places toplay in the NFL. If you’re going to cheat, at least win, right Mr. Kraft?
The one bright
side in all of this is that the league is stepping up its penalties for these
horrifying offenses. The progress in this area has been outstanding in the past
few years.
Just recently in
2012, Mickey Loomis was suspended only eight games for his involvement in the
Saints’ bounty scandal. He definitely got off too easy, but not as easy as Jim
Irsay. The Colts’ owner was banned for only six games for his DUI in 2014. This
wasn’t just any ordinary DUI, however; Irsay reportedly had multiple
painkillers in his system and could barely keep his balance when he got out of
his car after being pulled over. I think those suspensions would be much longer today, which is necessary because these people are supposedly some of the most important leaders in professional football.
