NFL docks Falcons three days of OTAs for violating no-contact rules

Posted by Michael David Smith on October 6, 2016, 12:23 PM EDT
AP

The Falcons are the latest team to get in trouble for violating league rules about non-contact practices.

The NFL announced today that the Falcons will forfeit three days of Organized Team Activities in 2017 for violating work rules prohibiting excessive contact in offseason workouts. Falcons players will still be paid for those three days.

“We take player safety very seriously and work hard to ensure that we are in compliance with league rules,” the Falcons said in a statement. “Although we are disappointed in the penalty, we respect the league’s decision and will make the necessary adjustments moving forward.”

This is the Falcons’ first violation of practice rules, although head coach Dan Quinn was Seattle’s defensive coordinator when the Seahawks committed one of their three recent violations of non-contact practice rules.

The Falcons’ violation took place in May. It had not been previously disclosed that the team was under investigation for violating practice rules.

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41 responses to “NFL docks Falcons three days of OTAs for violating no-contact rules”

  4. Wait a minute…the armchair critics claimed only Pete Carroll allowed his practice to be more than a walk through…they were wrong again.

  6. Refreshing, a team actually taking responsibility when they get caught doing something wrong. Don’t they know that in todays society its best blame someone else and play victim?

  7. .
    Repeat offender…..

    1. Plead guilty to pumping in artificial crowds noise

    2. Found guilty by the league of violating non contact rules during OTA’s.

    Where’s the loss of draft picks? Where’s the million dollar fine? Where’s Falcons owner, Arthur Blank, lecturing Patriots fans about the difference between right and wrong? There seems to be a new brand of industrial justice at work here.
    .

  11. RegisHawk says:
    Notice how they didn’t take it to the Supreme Court?
    ——————
    Why, do you know of a team that took something to the Supreme Court?

  12. RegisHawk says:
    Oct 6, 2016 12:31 PM
    Notice how they didn’t take it to the Supreme Court?

    ———————

    Notice how they didn’t really get punished?

  14. There will probably be comments about how silly the rule is but violating it while others adhere to it is still attempting to gain an advantage. If it were not for the other teams that have been punished for it Atlanta probably would have skated. Quinn knew the policy well enough and could fairly have been viewed as a repeat offender. The Falcons certainly do get off lighter than some other teams, pumping in noise (a 5th rounder) is a far more egregious cheat than the Chiefs lightweight version of tampering (3rd & a 6th).
    Being one of Roger’s rubber stamp owners has it’s benefits.
    As a Giants fan I freely acknowledge it has served Mara well.

  15. steviaquinn says:
    Refreshing, a team actually taking responsibility when they get caught doing something wrong. Don’t they know that in todays society its best blame someone else and play victim?
    ——————————
    Yeah, when a team, or player, IS actually CAUGHT doing something wrong, they SHOULD take responsibility for their actions.

    However, when someone is falsely accused, they should fight it to their last breath.

    When a talking head like Kensil thinks PSI equals actual POUNDS of WEIGHT, “we WEIGHED the footballs”, it shows exactly how clueless they are. The fact someone that clueless was put in such a high ranking position does not bode well for those who put him in that position.

    Thankfully he isn’t in a position anywhere near as powerful these days. Currently his only task now is trying to get a football game played in China, yet it has recently been reported that with ONLY 2 years to get it done, it is all but a lost cause. That simply isn’t enough time to organise everything necessary to play ONE game.

    Boy he’s earning every penny. LOL

  19. Slap on the wrist for players safety. 3 times for Seattle and they get nothing, the Ravens nothing… get accused of letting air out of balls and get taken to the wood shed. #integrity

  21. in other news, eye gouging idiot talib is guilty of conduct violations, at a minimum.. yet he is set to play on sunday.

    WWNFL. The fix is in!

  22. Not a Patriots fan by any means, but to all the Patriots haters out there: Your team is almost certainly cheating, whether it be crowd noise, PEDs, non-contact practice violations, equipment violations, salary-cap violations, pay-for-performance schemes (even Green Bay was found to be doing this a few years back), etc.

    Yes, your team cheats, I guarantee it.

    Meanwhile, the Patriots are scrutinized worse than any other team because of their success and don’t really cheat much at all, and deflategate was really just a case of them agreeing to follow the laws of physics. And even when they are penalized worse than any other team just because Goodell likes to pander to the other owners, the Patriots are still more successful, and it’s not even close.

  23. Hey, the Falcons needed those 3 days! They need the FULL environment, knowing how to communicate over top of the pumped-in crowd noise! You can’t do that in shorts!

    #WorstSportsTownInAmerica

  26. Not a story about the Patriots, yet the fans have to chime in on how their team was thrown under the bus and the penalty was so much worse. Look the fact of the matter is that wasn’t the first time TB had been accused of having soft squishy balls. Just let it go. He’s back now, so you can cheer for your annual playoff birth and Super Bowl run.

  28. Let’s see….(holding out both hands) player contact in off season…..ball boy nicknamed the deflator known for years taking bag of balls into a bathroom after ref check and before start of game. Hmmmm which one effects the game more??

  30. metalup666 says:

    Look the fact of the matter is that wasn’t the first time TB had been accused of having soft squishy balls.
    ====================================

    so if it is a fact, you can tell us when he was previously accused of having soft squishy balls.

    we all wait….

  31. For those whining about the Patriots fans … BWA HA HA HA

    You can bet your last dollar every Pats fan will be there to rub it in your face when your team cheats. There to point out the hypocrisy. There to point out the inconsistency. There to point out every slight advantage regardless if it is nominal or not. There to point out the fact that even the slightest breaking of the rule means you cheated.

    Everything Pats fans have had to endure for over a decade. If you need popcorn we’ll happily provide it.

  34. Kubiak got away with this in Houston. A player was inured, got cut and came back to sue the Texans for his pay and won. It was settled out of court.

    Different rules for different teams.

  35. Just one question; when the Pats / Brady were framed for so-called #DeflateGate (i.e. no proof, no evidence, just trumpted up lies against them by Goodell and his crew) were there any Falcons fans that posted this comment about Brady or the Pats:

    “Cheatahs gonna cheat!”

  37. when the NFL releases the air pressure results from last season, AND the results show the air pressure of the ball DOES NOT change as the temperature changes, then and only then will Patriot fans admit that the balls in the AFCCG were set too low.

    Until then…

  39. Take away Atlanta’s Super Bowl-wait, that won’t work. Put an asterisk on, on…nope, hold on a second.

    Alright. Since there is nothing to tarnish, as an additional penalty, the only song that can be played at Falcons home games for the 2017 season is “2 Legit 2 Quit.”

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