Chiefs appealing league penalties from tampering charges

AP

Robert Kraft isn’t the only one hoping to get a pick back this week.

According to Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said he was appealing the league’s tampering ruling, which cost them two draft picks as a result of the dealings that led to their signing of Jeremy Maclin.

“As we indicated in the [initial] statement, we intended to file and we have filed that appeal at this point,” Hunt said.

He declined to comment further, saying he was limited in what he could since during the appeal. If it’s in the process now, the third-rounder they lost this year hangs in the balance, and could potentially be back in his hands before the start of the NFL Draft on April 28.

“We’re in the very beginning process of that,” Hunt said. “We’ve not had a discussion with the league on the [timeline], but I’ll say from our standpoint, we would like it done by the draft.”

Hunt has insisted that coach Andy Reid and General Manager John Dorsey have his full support, which they should based on results on the field, tampering notwithstanding.

28 responses to “Chiefs appealing league penalties from tampering charges

  1. As much as I feel Chiefs got screwed over, if this gets overturned (by Goodell himself, yes he IS the one hearing the appeal) then Robert Kraft and the Pats will go berserk on the league, as they should.

  2. Well I’m sure with Goodell hearing the appeal, Chiefs fans have nothing to worry about. I’m sure he is just waiting to say that the league screwed up and give you guys your picks back. That sounds like the Roger we’ve come to love and respect. Integrity!!!

  3. Of course, another way to minimize the Chiefs penalty is to penalize EVERY OTHER NFL TEAM SINCE THEY ALL TAMPER WITH EACH OTHERS’ PLAYERS, but that would be too simple. Good luck, Clark.

  4. Jets tampered with Revis and got a $100,000 fine.

    Did I mention several former Jets employees work in the league office….which is in New York.

  5. Kansas City will not get lenience.

    Only new england and pittsburgh are allowed to cheat, tamper, and exhibit poor sportsmanship on/off-field.

  6. Unlike the Patriots request, this appeal was filed in a timely matter as per league rules. They should have their appeal heard and get a determination from the league in time for this year’s draft since a pick in this draft is part of their original penalty.

    Difference is that the Pats (through Kraft), decided at the time not to appeal the ruling from the league and stated they would accept the punishment. The acceptance of the league’s determinations and the punishments they accepted should stay in place.

    Maybe in the future, Kraft will let his legal advisors determine whether or not to appeal based on what the team did or didn’t do after they do their own investigation into any allegation of wrong doing..

  7. tim2200 says:
    Mar 21, 2016 2:31 PM

    Jets tampered with Revis and got a $100,000 fine.

    Did I mention several former Jets employees work in the league office….which is in New York.
    ————————–

    They got caught actually tampering with footballs and had to sit in the corner for a 5-minute time-out as well.

    What’s sad is that the Jets cheat all of the time, and still haven’t been relevant since before man first set foot on the moon.

    They can’t even do that right.

  8. The punishment was heavy handed and capricious. Before there was anything as precocious as a ‘legal tampering period’ the Niners tampered with Briggs and only lost a 5th and had to swap 3rds with Chicago. The idea of deterrence being it’s purpose was completely undermined by not imposing it prior to this year’s open season on pending FA’s.

    Hunt has a much stronger case than Kraft simply because he didn’t go along to get along out of the gate. By acting in such a hamfisted manner towards a team that didn’t slug it out the league office can now expect push back whenever they inflict unprecedented levels of discipline. Looks like framegate wasn’t a total loss, at least one owner learned something. There’s nothing to be gained from going quietly

  9. the standard modus operandi with NFL teams and players is ridiculous

    – deny deny deny
    – PR
    – appeal
    – PR
    – bring court action
    – PR
    – expect to get less than half the penalty

    and fans have to explain to their kids that people have to be responsible or bear the consequences… I wish people would just play the game according to the rules then accept punishments when they don’t

  10. This should only go to show just how blantanently corrupt the league office is. Clearly certain teams are literally above any laws (Jets, Steelers, Indy, and Baltimore), while other teams have to pay the price for the rest.

    This is not just a Patriots thing, as much as we Pats fans would like to think it is. There is a pervasive toxicity that runs threw this league that goes far beyond deflategate, concussions, and the PSI protocalls that suddenly aren’t protocalls any longer.

    The NFL is much like Congress. Now only self interests rather than caring about the common good matters

  11. Remember, the Jets didn’t just tamper, they turned around and filed a complaint that the Patriots had tampered by saying they wished they still had the player the Jets stole. This is why they are Goodell’s favorite team, they combine pretzel logic with epic collapses just like he does.

  12. @jah1959 True but there’s no way in heck Goodell’s going to overturn himself. Unless, you know, he’s lost his mind. Or he wants to screw w/ the Pats even more.
    In that scenario, the question becomes does Hunt have the guts to actually sue the league? I personally doubt it, but I’d be really interested if he proved me wrong.

  13. If the league has a brain (which is debatable), they will wipe out the draft pick penalties. What did the Chiefs do that is any different from the entire league.

  14. I have no horse in this race, but the rules last year said that teams were “prohibited from contacting players directly”. Before they punished the Chiefs, it was written on this site that the league had access to all of the Chiefs’ phone records including the cell phone records of Reid, Maclin etc. Macline walked over 500K–this is after he set a career high in almost everything in what was then Chip Kelly’s offense. You’d think he’d want to stay in an offense like that.

  15. randomguy9999 says:
    …and fans have to explain to their kids that people have to be responsible or bear the consequences… I wish people would just play the game according to the rules then accept punishments when they don’t
    ________________

    I would like to think that most most people in addition to teaching their kids to act responsibly also teach their kids that unequal punishment is an injustice. Unjust punishment towards anyone is an injustice to everyone.

    BTW, I’m a Giants guy so no dog in either fight. I am, however, a lifelong football fan so like a lot of folks taking the time to comment here I have an interest in the game’s integrity. Unlike the denizens of 345 Park Ave

  16. jag1959 says:
    Mar 21, 2016 4:16 PM
    randomguy9999 says:
    …and fans have to explain to their kids that people have to be responsible or bear the consequences… I wish people would just play the game according to the rules then accept punishments when they don’t
    ________________

    I would like to think that most people in addition to teaching their kids to take responsibility also teach their kids that unequal punishment is an injustice. Unjust punishment towards anyone is an injustice to everyone.

    BTW, I’m a Giants guy so no dog in either fight. I am, however, a lifelong football fan so like a lot of folks taking the time to comment here I have an interest in the game’s integrity. Unlike the denizens of 345 Park Ave

  17. Just hope the Chiefs owner wasnt one of the owners telling the Patriots to accept there punishment. Hows it feel when the shoes are on the other foot. I don’t wanna hear every team does it. Every team hasn’t been caught so if Patriots can’t use that excuse I don’t wanna hear it. People such hypocrits when there team gets caught doing something.

  18. Keep in mind Goodell is merely carrying out the orders of 31 owners, his bosses, who think Clark Hunt is a punk who was gifted a team that his Dad built from scratch. Just a little reminder that Clark is and will always be small market potatoes.

  19. doctorrustbelt says: Mar 21, 2016 2:37 PM

    Kansas City will not get lenience.

    Only new england and pittsburgh are allowed to cheat, tamper, and exhibit poor sportsmanship on/off-field

    …..

    wrong…what about teams like Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, Baltimore, Dallas?

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