What’s the story?
The NFL have slapped a small draft penalty against the New York Giants for illegally using walkie-talkies in a regular season game. The New York Daily News reported that “the NFL has dropped the Giants’ fourth-round draft pick 10 spots, from 130th overall to 140th.” In addition, the Giants and coach Ben McAdoo were fined $150,000 and $50,000 respectively.
In case you didn’t know...
The incident happened in a December 11 game between the Giants and the Dallas Cowboys, where the Giants prevailed 10-7. In the fourth quarter, McAdoo was spotted using a walkie-talkie to communicate with Eli Manning.
This is illegal because it allowed McAdoo and Manning to communicate with each other when there was less than 15 seconds on the play clock, giving them an unfair advantage over a coach using a normal headset. The Cowboys filed a formal complaint a few days after the game.
McAdoo, meanwhile, said that he used the walkie-talkie because the headset was malfunctioning, but stated that he deserves to be held accountable for his actions.
The heart of the matter
While McAdoo accepts the penalty, the reality is that the Giants were barely penalised. Moving down ten spots in the fourth round of the NFL draft will hardly impact them, and it is possible that the player the Giants want at 130 will still be available at 140.
Given that McAdoo’s decision appears to have been a mental slip rather than an intentional subversion of the rules, it is hardly surprising that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell chose to give the Giants a slap on the wrist.
However, other fan bases are irritated, claiming that Goodell’s punishment was excessively light, given the penalties he has inflicted on other teams for gaining such advantages.
This criticism is all the more relevant because the New York side were not the only team to receive a penalty in this draft. The New England Patriots lost their fourth round pick as a result of the 2015 Deflategate scandal.
The Patriots also lost their 2016 first round pick and had Tom Brady suspended for the first four games of last season.
What’s next?
From the perspective of some sports analysts including Frank Schwab with Yahoo Sports, the huge disparity between the Patriots and Giants’ penalties is strange. Both teams used anti-competitive measures in the middle of a football game – McAdoo unquestionably used a walkie-talkie while there remain disputes about whether the Patriots deflated the ball or not. So why are the Giants so lucky?
As noted in a Sammy Sosa biography, it may be because the Giants had a justified reason to use the walkie-talkies as their headset equipment did not work and they stopped using the walkie-talkies the minute the headsets were fixed. But to those who find Roger Goodell’s rule to be arbitrary, this decision will do little to convince them otherwise.
McAdoo, meanwhile, has stated that he will not be appealing the fine and will accept his punishment fully.
The 2017 NFL draft will start on April 27. The Cleveland Browns will have the first pick.
Sportskeeda’s Take
The Giants might have gotten off lightly due to the fact that they had a justified reason to use the walkie-talkies. But to those who find Roger Goodell’s rule to be arbitrary, this decision will do little to convince them otherwise.
