Atlanta Falcons Cheating History

30
ATL
TL;DR:

• the FALCONS are AVERAGE NFL cheaters!

• they have a CheatScore of 30?

• they've executed 6 real cheats! ?

• share page: http://YourTeamCheats.com/ATL?

 

All Atlanta Falcons Cheats:

Noisegate (2013-14) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Atlanta Falcons

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: In 2014, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank admitted that the Falcons pumped in artificial crowd noise to the Georgia Dome. Blank said that he had seen enough of the NFL's investigation and told The Associated Press, "It's not really a fine line, I think what we've done in 2013 and 2014 was wrong. Anything that affects the competitive balance and fairness on the field, we're opposed to, as a league, as a club and as an owner. It's obviously embarrassing but beyond embarrassing it doesn't represent our culture and what we're about."

In March of 2015, the NFL punished the Falcons, fining them $350,000, stripping them of their fifth-round draft pick in the 2016 draft and suspending team president Rich McKay for at least 3-months from the NFL's competition committee.

The league also said Roddy White -- the team's former director of event marketing, not the four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver -- was directly responsible for the violation and would have been suspended without pay for the first eight weeks of the 2015 regular season had he still been with the club. The Falcons fired him.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: The owner confessed to it and a slap on the wrist came: a $350,000 fine, the loss of their fifth-round pick in the 2016 draft and suspension of team president Rich McKay from the league's competition committee for at least three whole months.

NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Roger Goodell and his league office, in yet another display of their exceptional leadership, judgment and fairness, determined that pumping in artificial crowd noise while opponents were huddling with the intention of disrupting their play calling -- for two entire seasons -- was much less significant than filming part of a single game from the wrong location.

The actual punishment ended up being in line with what Goodell's team had strategically leaked to the media earlier. ESPN had previously reported that the Falcons would lose a draft pick, receive a fine and have team president Rich McKay suspended from the competition committee.

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AWARDS EARNED: Champs of the Cheat!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 10.0

PEDSgate (7x since 1997) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Atlanta Falcons

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) are used by players to illegally improve athletic performance above what legal training and preparation can do.

Players who illegally improve their performance unfairly penalize players who follow the rules. They not only put those players at risk for physical injury, but they also affect their economic livelihood by impacting their perceived value and their ability to secure appropriately-valued playing contracts.

SEVERITY = 0.5 video cameras per punished incident. Includes all documented infractions from 1960 to present with this Wikipedia page as the primary source.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: Each player was suspended for four games for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy.

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AWARDS EARNED: Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 7.0

Cellphonegate (2005) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Atlanta Falcons

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: In 2006, former Atlanta Falcons coach Jim Mora was fined $25,000 for using a cell phone during a 2005 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

With the Falcons and Buccaneers tied 24-24 late in overtime on Dec. 24, 2005, Mora knew Dallas had won at Carolina and that Washington was leading the Giants by 15 points. Victories by the Cowboys and Redskins earlier that day would mean that an Atlanta loss would eliminate the Falcons from the NFC playoff race, but Mora was unsure if they could remain in contention by tying Tampa Bay.

He used a cell phone in an attempt to contact team officials and seek clarification on Atlanta's status and determine how a tie would impact Atlanta's playoff chances. The NFL fined Mora under a rule adopted in 2005, stating that cell phones and other forms of communication not sanctioned by the league were banned on the field during games.

VICTIM: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: Mora was fined $25,000 by the lead for using a cell phone on the sidelines during an overtime loss at Tampa Bay in 2006.

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CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 3.0

Practicegate (2016) flagto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: The Atlanta Falcons

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: The NFL announced on October 6, 2016 that the Falcons ran an illegal practice and forced them to forfeit three days of Organized Team Activities in 2017 for violating work rules prohibiting excessive contact in offseason workouts. 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.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? Yes

PUNISHMENT: The Falcons were forced to forfeit three days of organized team activities in 2017.

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CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 2.0

 

Leaguewide Cheats:

Tampergate (ongoing) flagsto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Tampering with free agents is rampant, it's laughable and it is against the rules (PDF). It's so bad across every team in the league that the NFL had to create a three-day legal tampering period. However, tampering still regularly occurs long before that annual three-day window opens. On March 9, 2015 the league once again felt compelled to warn all 32 teams about not tampering.

Why is tampering considered a problem? Because tampering with players still under contract makes it difficult for clubs to re-sign their own talent. It also puts those few teams that actually follow NFL guidelines at a distinct disadvantage. In many cases, contract agreements are in place days before any negotiations are allowed to begin.

This isn't fair, it isn't legal, and it is blatant cheating by the teams who engage in the practice.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No but...

PUNISHMENT: NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Roger Goodell is doing all he can to curtail and punish the "commonplace" practice, although it admits that there is so much tampering that it is hard to police it all.

The CheatPoints earned for this leaguewide cheat is for all of this team's tampering incidents that have gone undiscovered or unproven. If specific instances are discovered, they are punished on top of this leaguewide penalty.

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AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0

Headsetgate (ongoing) flagsto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: it's a common complaint around the NFL. In late, close games, the helmet communicators of visiting teams suddenly "malfunction" and stop working. It has been accepted as standard practice in the league. Are you on the road and the game is close? Then you are going to have problems with your headset.

In recent years, the Patriots have accused the Colts of doing it and the Jaguars have made the same charge of the Patriots. The Redskins accused the Buccaneers of disabling their headsets, and Tampa Bay accused Dallas. The Giants openly bragged about doing it way back in 1956. The charges go on and on and on.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

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CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 4.0

Spygate (until 2006) flagsto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Stealing your opponent's signals has always been common and never been illegal.

Said former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, "We had people that always tried to steal signals. Stealing someone's signals was a part of the game, and everyone attempted to do that." Admitted former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson: "When I came into the NFL, back in 1989, I talked to a Kansas City scout and he said, 'Here's what we do, we videotape the opposing team's signals and then we sync it up with the game film.' So I did it." Bragged, former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan: "Our guy keeps a pair of binoculars on their signal-callers every game, with any luck, we have their defensive signals figured out by halftime. Sometimes, by the end of the first quarter."

NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Rodger Goodell confirmed this himself in 2008, saying that the issue was not stealing signals, that is allowed "and it is done quite widely." The issue is where and how you record them. If you chose to videotape them, then (after 2006) you have to do that from a league approved location. If you hire lip readers, they can do it from your coaches lap, if you want.

After 2006, examples of allowed videotaping locations are: the luxury boxes, media booths and other enclosed spaces. Expressly prohibited locations are the sidelines, the field, locker rooms, the coaches booth or any other place accessible to team coaches and staff. The point of the rule is to not allow the footage to be useful in the current game.

Prior to the September 6, 2006 memo and, 2007 follow up, from NFL head of football operations Ray Anderson, there was no league restriction on filming location, which is the reason the memo was sent.

Many NFL head coaches have downplayed the significance of the practice, saying that attempting to decipher opponent's signals was a long standing practice and entirely common throughout the league.

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

PUNISHMENT: NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Rodger Goodell suggested that the responsibility was on teams to conceal their messages, not on the ones trying to steal them. During his news conference before the 2007 Super Bowl he said that any coach who did not expect signals to be stolen was "stupid."

Prior to 2006, every NFL team is assumed to have done it, but none of them broke a rule. You can't punish something that is not prohibited. Filming from the sidelines was not prohibited until 2006 and filming your opponent's signals from approved locations has never been prohibited, even today.

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AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0

Scrapsgate (ongoing) flagsto top ⤴home ⇐awards ⤵

TEAM: All 32 NFL Teams

SEVERITY:scale

SUMMARY: Sign an opponent's recently-cut player to your practice squad to get intel on their plays, signals and tactics. This is not illegal and is a leaguewide practice.

Said one player, who chose to remain anonymous as he was still in the league as of 2015, "If teams have an opening at a certain position, they might not be looking for perhaps the best player to fill it on their practice squad. Instead, they might go for someone who has access to the opposing team’s playbook."

“Let’s say we’re playing the Jaguars in seven days and you want to know more about their playbook. From time to time teams will sign people off of practice squads. You don’t have to put them on active roster so if there’s a need for more depth at linebacker and you’re playing Jacksonville, there would be more of a chance to sign a linebacker off the team you’re about to play’s practice squad and hoping that the person you’re about to sign will divulge information about the playbook.”

VICTIM: The entire league

PUNISHED? No

PUNISHMENT: Not illegal.

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AWARDS EARNED:Everyone Was Doing It!

CHEATPOINTS EARNED:+ 0.0

awardEARNED: "Champs of the Cheat!"

CRITERIA: Show, through consistency or creative flourish, that your team is the best at a particular type of cheat!
EARNED FOR:Noisegate (2013-14) 

awardEARNED: "Everyone Was Doing It!"

CRITERIA: Successfully "cheat" in a way that many other teams have (bonus points for not getting caught)!
EARNED FOR:Spygate (until 2006)  Tampergate (ongoing)  Scrapsgate (ongoing)  PEDSgate (7x since 1997) 

Is there an Atlanta Falcons cheating scandal that I'm missing? Do I have a fact wrong? A broken link? Email me with your comment and supporting link and I'll fix or add it.

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