Falcons Punished by NFL For Pumping In Crowd Noise

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The National Football League has handed down its punishment to the Atlanta Falcons for using artificial crowd noise during its home games during the last two seasons.

According to WSB-TV, the Falcons must pay a $350,000 fine and must forfeit their highest fifth-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. Additionally, Falcons President Rich McKay will be suspended from the NFL Competition Committee, a committee which McKay chairs, until at least June 30.

McKay was unaware of the actions of director of event marketing Roddy White (a different person than the Pro Bowl receiver Roddy White), who was responsible for pumping crowd noise into the stadium while opposing teams were in their huddles. Despite McKay’s ignorance of White’s actions, he was still punished because he was responsible for ensuring employees adhered to league rules, WSB-TV said.

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White was fired after the scandal came to light, but The New York Times says he was still suspended without pay for eight weeks; the suspension could come into effect in part or in full if White is hired by another NFL franchise.

ESPN reports that the Competition Committee’s work was mostly completed before last week’s owners’ meeting; if the NFL had announced the punishment sooner, McKay would have been barred from participating in the committee while it was making crucial decisions about the future of the game.

According to ESPN, an NFL investigation determined that artificial crowd noise was pumped into the Georgia Dome throughout the 2013 season and in to the 2014 season. The NFL notified the Falcons in November of 2014 that they had identified the infraction.

Other franchises are also feeling the heat from the NFL for rules violations; The New York Times reports that Cleveland Browns GM Ray Farmer has been suspended without pay for the first four games of the season for text messaging his coaches during games last year. The Browns must also pay a fine of $250,000.