NFL Investigating Giants' Use of Walkie-Talkies on the Sideline

December 15, 2016
Peter Solari, Contributing Editor  Follow @4PeteSakeNY  
 

The New York Post's Paul Schwartz is reporting that the New York Giants are currently being investigated by the NFL for coach Ben McAdoo's use of a two-way radio, after the team's headsets malfunctioned during their 10-7 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night.

According to ESPN's Jordan Raanan, who later confirmed the Post's report, NFL head coaches are not allowed to hold walkie-talkies during a game. More from Raanan:

"Another source told ESPN the Cowboys have not filed a formal complaint with the league, but that the NFL had already begun its own investigation of the Giants' use of handheld, two-way radios.

Stephen Jones, the Cowboys' chief operating officer and executive vice president/director of player personnel, wouldn't confirm Thursday that his team has contacted the NFL.

'We don't comment on things like that,' he said, referring to whether they called the NFL, 'but it's obvious to everybody what happened, and my understanding is it's being looked into and handled.'

Jones said the team believes the use of the walkie-talkies did not play a part in the outcome of the game.

The rule is in place because walkie-talkies provide nonstop access to the quarterback's headset and cannot be cut off by the league's "cutoff switch operator." League rules state that communication between the quarterback and the sideline must be cut off when 15 seconds remain on the play clock.

A backup quarterback is allowed to hold a two-way radio, but he's not permitted to speak into it.

The Giants declined to comment Thursday."

All of this is mind boggling! Earlier, The Monday Morning Quarterback reported on the NFL's shrugging off allegations of the Pittsburgh Steelers using deflated footballs, and now we know why. They were too busy probing the Giants for a far more sever offense: playing with a child's toy on the sidelines.

It's astonishing how shameless Roger Goodell's NFL has become. They don't even seem to care how ridiculous they look in all of this. 

When the Giants alerted the league to the Steelers' use of deflated balls after their week 13 contest, the league and Goodell continually reiterated that New York had never filed a formal complaint, as if that were reason enough for them to not inquire more about the incident. But as Raanan reported, Dallas never filed a complaint against the Giants for their use of walkie-talkies either. And the league had already opened their investigation, before the Cowboys even notified them to the possible infraction! Can anybody explain the NFL's logic here?

This isn't to say the Giants are in the right. If they broke the rules, then the NFL should get to the bottom of it. But that same rationale should apply to the Steelers and deflated footballs, too. Probably even more so. After all, the league wasted 18 months, a ton of money, and went to the ends of the earth to crucify Tom Brady for the exact same offense. So it's baffling to see them pursue a trivial matter like walkie-talkies, with more veracity than they did for the worst sin imaginable.

Roger Goodell's NFL is more closely resembling a dictatorial regime, with each passing day.