Falcons lose a 2016 fifth-rounder, fined $350,000

Posted by Darin Gantt on March 30, 2015, 12:25 PM EDT
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A lot of the chatter around the Scouting Combine was that the Falcons were going to be hit hard for piping in artificial crowd noise.

Either the league successfully scared a bunch of people by their piping in of saber-rattling noises, or a lot of people define “hard” differently.

According to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com, the Falcons will lose a fifth-round pick in 2016 and be fined $350,000 for their admitted infraction.

I mean, that’s a lot of money to you and me. (I wonder how many fixed cameras $350,000 will buy?)

And to be certain, no team likes losing a pick.

But that’s hardly harsh justice, and hardly commensurate with the kind of hand-wringing folks were doing about it previously.

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61 responses to “Falcons lose a 2016 fifth-rounder, fined $350,000”

  3. Wow. That will discourage other teams from doing anything like that. The NFL again has proven that it is tough on those who commit violations and break rules. Next stop – New England.

  5. Honestly for that punishment – I think id keep doing it until I get caught again. No one would be looking for it anymore.

    And if you are another NFL team you know the punishment is just a slap on the wrist so you should start doing it.

  6. steelerben says: Mar 30, 2015 12:28 PM

    They should have just forced the franchise to move to LA instead.
    ***********************************************
    If some team doesn’t move there soon, I wouldn’t doubt it happens. 🙂

  7. Wow, I guess Goodell has favorites when it comes to dishing out punishment. A 2nd rounder this year would have been more just…this was just a slap on the wrist.

  9. This fan is pleased with that punishment and I don’t call that harsh I was expecting they would snatch a 2nd or 3rd THIS year.

  10. Wow. That will discourage other teams from doing anything like that. The NFL again has proven that it is tough on those who commit violations and break rules. Next stop – New England.

    Yes, this is sarcasm.

  15. Did they get a 5th round compensatory pick too? I would do it every year, even tho they are not winning a SB with Matty Ice Choker anyway

  17. When asked if he thought a fine and loss of a draft pick was a fair punishment of his team, Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff repeatedly blared a clip of angry crowd boo’s at 124 decibels right in the reporter’s ear.

  20. NFL sending a harsh message that if you purposely cheat in a tangible way, you’re going to be harshly punished with a late-round pick a year later and a fine of .00001% of your revenue.

    What a joke.

  22. Small price to pay for potentially altering the outcome of each game they pulled this crap.

    Goodell is pathetic.

  27. The Colts were doing this for years.

    The Patriots, and a few other teams, filed complaints, but after an exhaustive investigation that took literally a couple of hours, the league decided that the Colts had done nothing wrong.

    What a difference between how seriously the league treats charges made against the Patriots versus how they “investigated” the Colts.

    The Colts accuse the Patriots of deflating footballs and the league launches an exhaustive three-month long investigation that includes sending a team of investigators to Gillette and interviewing dozens of people, not to mention hiring scientists from Columbia University,

    In contrast, when the Patriots accused the Colts of piping in noise, the league’s “investigation” took literally a couple of hours. The Patriots filed their complaint in the morning and the league, without even visiting the Hoosier Dome, issued a finding that afternoon that the Colts were innocent.

    Apparently the league’s “investigation” of the Colts consisted of then commissioner Paul Tagliabue calling Jim Irsay and asking him…

    …”Jim, tell me the truth…are you guys piping noise into that stadium of yours? No? That’s good enough for me”.

  29. I guess Goodell didn’t want to alienate another supporter. I can hear it already … Arthur what do you think the penalty should be ?

    *2016 mid late draft pick
    *couple hundred grand in cash

    Pure and simple this gave the home team an advantage (one the Falcons couldn’t capitalize on). This penalty is trivial and embarrassing !!

    Just Saying

  30. Now Goodell can slap the Pats on the wrist and point to the Falcons as also getting off easy. It’s a set up for Massa Kraft, Goodell’s owner.

  31. Actually, this seams fair to me. The whole thing is stupid in general, but let’s see what happens in DeflateGate, as both the Falcons and Ray Farmer admitted and cooperated to wrong doing. The Patriots… Not so much. My guess is the NFL determines “inconclusive evidence” and then Kraft and Goodell gleefully head off to Lunch together holding hands and excited to watch recent Tom Brady Vacation Videos of him jumping off cliffs into the emerald seas.

  32. Wow, I was expecting them to lose a second or third rounder, but it could just be a warning penalty saying harsher consequences will come if it happens again.

  33. As further punishment, the Lombardi Trophy’s that the Falcons won in the affected years were forfeited to the Eagles so they would have some to display in their trophy case. WHAT? STILL EMPTY?

  34. Small punishment equates to small headlines.
    The NFL is obviously brushing this whole cheating era under the rug. They wouldn’t want to tarnish that shield with something as trivial as the truth…

    The draft has become a ratings driver, meant to derive money from networks for viewership. Taking a teams Draft Picks could affect viewership in specific markets…depleting revenue generated. The NFL is no longer on firm ground when it comes to ethics…that shield is turning dark grey with splashes of black.

  36. So we can expect piped in noise for all playoff games now? Every team in the NFL would give up a 5th (next year) and $350k to advance another round of the playoffs…

  39. That actually might be worth it. What’s more effective? …a rowdy 12th man for 8 games a year, or a 6th rd pick?

  40. But the Pats get framed. Falsely accused. Kind of interesting there hasn’t been a leak from the spectacularly porous NFL headquarters about forthcoming punishment in regards to the now totally debunked deflating of game balls issue. It seems clear there was no infraction committed by the Patriots. However the Colts might want to plan accordingly for the aftermath of the announcement their organization was involved in setting up another team. 5 o’clock this coming Friday can’t come soon enough.

  44. trading for Albert Haynesworth cost the Patriots a 5th round pick and a lot more money

  45. Truth is…..the NFL just wants teams to pump in fake noise but needs to look like they actually care. This fine/pick keeps the pitchforks at bay and teams can resume pumping in noise to make mundane games more exciting.

  47. I shouldn’t be surprised at the posters who still think Deflategate may nail the Patriots for wrongdoing but still, anyone who reads this site and other news about it should know that it’s the Colts that have the most to fear and that the “evidence” against the Patriots was almost certainly fabricated.

    As for the Falcons – they got off EASY and this is basically a green light for any team wanting to pump in extra noise.

  49. So, for bountygate, a common practice by more than just the Saints, Goodell slammed them to set an example, took away a second round pick, and suspended players and coaches because “ignorance is not an excuse.” But now the Falcons get off like this? Is this setting an example? And when Tagliabue came in and found Roger’s investigation was BS, did the Saints get that 2nd round pick back? Nope. Granted they would have wasted it, but still. This is a joke.

  50. With what just happened to Cleveland (texting), and this, one wonders what new edge other teams/execs will be trying to gain a miniscule advantage, if any.

    Ironically, this is exactly what every TV show does too, particularly today’s sorry excuses for comedies.

  51. It’s not like Atlanta was winning Super Bowls because of added crowd noise. $350K and a 5th a 3rd would have been better

  54. Considering the lack of punishment for the Patriots (and their nefarious activity), Seahawks & Colts (for the exact same thing).
    That is a pretty harsh penalty.

  56. This is a HUGE loss! With Dimitroff’s track record, the 5th rounder would be the only draft pick still in the league in 3 years.

  57. ratedgap says:
    Mar 30, 2015 1:55 PM

    So, for bountygate, a common practice by more than just the Saints, Goodell slammed them to set an example, took away a second round pick, and suspended players and coaches because “ignorance is not an excuse.” But now the Falcons get off like this? Is this setting an example? And when Tagliabue came in and found Roger’s investigation was BS, did the Saints get that 2nd round pick back? Nope. Granted they would have wasted it, but still. This is a joke.
    —————————————————–

    Sorry, but the ‘others teams were doing it’ defense apparently doesn’t work.

    Because we all know that if other teams weren’t actually caught doing it then there’s no possible way they could have been involved in something similar without us knowing about it.

    Yep, just like the only people that speed are the ones caught speeding.

  58. When they initially announced the punishment would be severe, I did come to wonder if they were saying that because it would be a 2nd or 3rd round pick, and actually severe.
    Or they were trying to define the penalties severity first, to help influence opinion, before letting the actual penalty out.

    Considering many Atlanta fans were hoping it would be “only” a $1mil fine and a 2015 4th round pick, this punishment is great news.
    Far better then that assumed best case scenario.

  60. This is how Goodell keeps his job. Everyone owner that kisses his backside can apparently blatantly cheat and just get a tap on the wrist.

    Honestly, this just proves how totally worthless Goodell is.

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