Football Browns face possible suspension, fine and loss of draft pick - Page 7

**The Franchise** · 02-04-2015, 11:44 AM

Cleveland Browns and GM Ray Farmer facing possible suspension, fine, loss of draft pick for 'Textgate'

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/inde...medium=twitter

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns and general manager Ray Farmer are facing possible sanctions from the NFL for "Textgate," including a multigame suspension for Farmer, and a fine and loss of draft pick for the Browns, league sources told Northeast Ohio Media Group.

The investigation -- one of three "integrity of the game" probes currently underway in the NFL -- is expected to be wrapped up soon, as early this week or next week.

NEOMG reported on Jan. 6 that a Browns "high-ranking personnel member texted from the press box to the sidelines about playcalls'' during a game, which was one of the reasons former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, now with the Falcons, felt that working for the Browns had become dysfunctional for him.

Multiple league sources have told NEOMG that Farmer was the high-ranking personnel member who violated the NFL's electronic use policy by the impermissible texting. Those messages were then apparently relayed to the coaches.

The NFL investigated the improper texts, and are prepared to announce sanctions within the next couple of weeks. A resolution could come as early as this week, but probably no later than three weeks.

Farmer is facing a multigame suspension -- as many as three or four games -- and the Browns are facing the loss of a draft pick if the probe, conducted by in-house NFL executives, shows that Farmer acted improperly.

Farmer, asked by NEOMG at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 21 if he texted from the press level during a game, said "I can't comment on that. The league is investigating.''

A Browns spokesman reiterated Wednesday that the club has done everything the league has asked and is awaiting results of the probe.

The Browns have never denied that such texts occurred, and coach Mike Pettine revealed during a press conference on Jan. 22 that investigators had already come to Cleveland to question members of the organization.

At the Greater Cleveland Sports Award ceremony later that night, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam stressed that the club was cooperating fully.

"I know that Ray and Pett and Sashi Brown, our general counselor, are cooperating fully with the NFL, and if we did anything wrong I'm sure we'll correct it and make whatever amends,'' he said. "I know we've cooperated fully with the NFL."

"Textgate'' was the first of three scandals that have erupted over the past month that impact the integrity of the game, and the NFL is taking all three very seriously.

The second was "Deflategate,'' the controversy over the Patriots deflating footballs during their AFC Championship Game victory over the Colts. And the third was the Falcons pumping artificial crowd noise into the Georgia Dome over the past two seasons, which owner Arthur Blank admitted to on Tuesday.

The NFL is likely to wrap up all three investigations within the next three weeks.

"It's not really a fine line," Blank told The Associated Press. "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."

Blank told the AP that he knew enough about the investigation to own up to the allegations.

"We've gotten some information from the league but until we read the full report and until they publish their findings, we can't be totally clear. We've talked to a lot of people and we've cooperated and we'll be anxious to read the report."

During his Super Bowl press conference last week, Commissioner Roger Goodell stressed the importance of protecting the game's integrity.

"This is my job," Goodell said in response to a question about Deflate-gate. "This is my responsibility to protect the integrity of the game. I represent 32 teams. All of us want to make sure that the rules are being followed. And if we have any information where the potential is that those rules were violated, I have to pursue that. And I have to pursue that aggressively.

"So this is my job. This is the job of the league office. It is what all 32 clubs expect and I believe our partners and fans expect. We will do it vigorously and it is important for it to be thorough and fair."

The Browns' Textgate investigation comes at a difficult time for the club. Their first-round quarterback, Johnny Manziel, checked himself into a rehab facility last Wednesday for a possible dependence on alcohol; and their All-Pro receiver, Josh Gordon, was suspended for a minimum of a year.

Pasta Little Brioni · 03-30-2015, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cmd'r&Chief

Oh no, you're not sending me on a wild goose chase. You obviously have very reliable and conclusive data, I'd like a link to this data please. Otherwise you're just spewing shit out of your mouth.

It was posted in an earlier thread. Do some work ya lazy bastige. I don't lie.

Cmd'r&Chief · 03-30-2015, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pasta Giant Meatball

It was posted in an earlier thread. Do some work ya lazy bastige. I don't lie.

The link doesn't exist dude. Just come clean.

Pasta Little Brioni · 03-30-2015, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cmd'r&Chief

The link doesn't exist dude. Just come clean.

It definitely exists brah. They have fumbled less than every team in the league by a considerable amount....starting in the exact year teams were in charge of their own footballs.

Cmd'r&Chief · 03-30-2015, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pasta Giant Meatball

It definitely exists brah. They have fumbled less than every team in the league by a considerable amount....starting in the exact year teams were in charge of their own footballs.

Then provide the link

chiefzilla1501 · 03-30-2015, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sully

Unless I'm wrong, he was already here when Pioli got here. It's picking nits, but I don't see him as from the Pioli tree so much as just a guy who crossed career paths with him.

Pioli canned pretty much the entire front office. Farmer was one of the few he kept. Under the few years he worked with pioli, there isn't a shadow of a doubt he learned the pioli way.
. He is a Pioli guy. We know how much of a control freak pioli was. If Farmer didn't put up, he would have been canned. He had more than enough time in the system to know how pioli operates.

Pasta Little Brioni · 03-31-2015, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cmd'r&Chief

Then provide the link

That's up to you. You don't have enough posts to ask this. We have already discussed this enough already. They stuck their heads in the sand even with the damning evidence.

**The Franchise** · 03-31-2015, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cmd'r&Chief

Then provide the link

Now shut the **** up.

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports...f_fumbles.html

Pasta Little Brioni · 03-31-2015, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dicky McElephant

Now shut the **** up.

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports...f_fumbles.html

Cmd'r&Chief · 03-31-2015, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dicky McElephant

Now shut the **** up.

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports...f_fumbles.html

This is a very interesting theory. It has numbers and charts to support the theory... But it's still just that. A theory. The league has done their own investigation on a similar deflated football theory and the league came to the conclusion there wasn't enough solid evidence to declare said theory as fact.

I'm not a fan of the Patriots, but I'm not about to jump on this conspiracy theory bandwagon, just because "**** the Patriots". We live in 'murica and in 'murica it's "innocent until proven guilty". I have to trust that the NFL did their due diligence when it came to investigating deflate gate. They're the experts. Not you, and certainly not I. So, case closed. Move on to something else... Or don't and be bitter, no matters to me. I really just wanted to burst your bubble in an unnecessarily drawn out fashion.

Now if the Chiefs ever lose to the Patriots in the post-season, expect me to reverse my opinion on this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pasta Giant Meatball

MagicHef · 03-31-2015, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cmd'r&Chief

The league has done their own investigation on a similar deflated football theory and the league came to the conclusion there wasn't enough solid evidence to declare said theory as fact.

Link?

Cmd'r&Chief · 03-31-2015, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MagicHef

Link?

LoL, I see what you did there... Smooth, like botox.

MagicHef · 03-31-2015, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cmd'r&Chief

LoL, I see what you did there... Smooth, like botox.

So... no link? Was there an investigation like you claimed?

Just Passin' By · 03-31-2015, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cmd'r&Chief

This is a very interesting theory. It has numbers and charts to support the theory... But it's still just that. A theory. The league has done their own investigation on a similar deflated football theory and the league came to the conclusion there wasn't enough solid evidence to declare said theory as fact.

I'm not a fan of the Patriots, but I'm not about to jump on this conspiracy theory bandwagon, just because "**** the Patriots". We live in 'murica and in 'murica it's "innocent until proven guilty". I have to trust that the NFL did their due diligence when it came to investigating deflate gate. They're the experts. Not you, and certainly not I. So, case closed. Move on to something else... Or don't and be bitter, no matters to me. I really just wanted to burst your bubble in an unnecessarily drawn out fashion.

Now if the Chiefs ever lose to the Patriots in the post-season, expect me to reverse my opinion on this.

That crap was discredited in about a million ways. It was so embarrassing that the guy changed it multiple times. It still doesn't hold water.

Cmd'r&Chief · 03-31-2015, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MagicHef

So... no link? Was there an investigation like you claimed?

http://www.purepwnage.com/images/link.jpg

Cmd'r&Chief · 03-31-2015, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MagicHef

So... no link? Was there an investigation like you claimed?

My news source is that of watching the NFL network. So unless you're aware of a way to link my visual memory to the Internet, I have no link other than the one that has been provided in my previous post.

02-04-2015, 11:44 AM
The Franchise Most Valuable Villain Join Date: Dec 2006 Casino cash: $2745047	Browns face possible suspension, fine and loss of draft pick Cleveland Browns and GM Ray Farmer facing possible suspension, fine, loss of draft pick for 'Textgate' http://www.cleveland.com/browns/inde...medium=twitter CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns and general manager Ray Farmer are facing possible sanctions from the NFL for "Textgate," including a multigame suspension for Farmer, and a fine and loss of draft pick for the Browns, league sources told Northeast Ohio Media Group. The investigation -- one of three "integrity of the game" probes currently underway in the NFL -- is expected to be wrapped up soon, as early this week or next week. NEOMG reported on Jan. 6 that a Browns "high-ranking personnel member texted from the press box to the sidelines about playcalls'' during a game, which was one of the reasons former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, now with the Falcons, felt that working for the Browns had become dysfunctional for him. Multiple league sources have told NEOMG that Farmer was the high-ranking personnel member who violated the NFL's electronic use policy by the impermissible texting. Those messages were then apparently relayed to the coaches. The NFL investigated the improper texts, and are prepared to announce sanctions within the next couple of weeks. A resolution could come as early as this week, but probably no later than three weeks. Farmer is facing a multigame suspension -- as many as three or four games -- and the Browns are facing the loss of a draft pick if the probe, conducted by in-house NFL executives, shows that Farmer acted improperly. Farmer, asked by NEOMG at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 21 if he texted from the press level during a game, said "I can't comment on that. The league is investigating.'' A Browns spokesman reiterated Wednesday that the club has done everything the league has asked and is awaiting results of the probe. The Browns have never denied that such texts occurred, and coach Mike Pettine revealed during a press conference on Jan. 22 that investigators had already come to Cleveland to question members of the organization. At the Greater Cleveland Sports Award ceremony later that night, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam stressed that the club was cooperating fully. "I know that Ray and Pett and Sashi Brown, our general counselor, are cooperating fully with the NFL, and if we did anything wrong I'm sure we'll correct it and make whatever amends,'' he said. "I know we've cooperated fully with the NFL." "Textgate'' was the first of three scandals that have erupted over the past month that impact the integrity of the game, and the NFL is taking all three very seriously. The second was "Deflategate,'' the controversy over the Patriots deflating footballs during their AFC Championship Game victory over the Colts. And the third was the Falcons pumping artificial crowd noise into the Georgia Dome over the past two seasons, which owner Arthur Blank admitted to on Tuesday. The NFL is likely to wrap up all three investigations within the next three weeks. "It's not really a fine line," Blank told The Associated Press. "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." Blank told the AP that he knew enough about the investigation to own up to the allegations. "We've gotten some information from the league but until we read the full report and until they publish their findings, we can't be totally clear. We've talked to a lot of people and we've cooperated and we'll be anxious to read the report." During his Super Bowl press conference last week, Commissioner Roger Goodell stressed the importance of protecting the game's integrity. "This is my job," Goodell said in response to a question about Deflate-gate. "This is my responsibility to protect the integrity of the game. I represent 32 teams. All of us want to make sure that the rules are being followed. And if we have any information where the potential is that those rules were violated, I have to pursue that. And I have to pursue that aggressively. "So this is my job. This is the job of the league office. It is what all 32 clubs expect and I believe our partners and fans expect. We will do it vigorously and it is important for it to be thorough and fair." The Browns' Textgate investigation comes at a difficult time for the club. Their first-round quarterback, Johnny Manziel, checked himself into a rehab facility last Wednesday for a possible dependence on alcohol; and their All-Pro receiver, Josh Gordon, was suspended for a minimum of a year.
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