Cleveland Browns: ‘Textgate’ Punishment a Slap on the Wrist

By CJ Oliver | Mar 31, 2015

The “Textgate scandal” has been one of the silliest issues of the 2015 off season, and finally this storyline can be put to rest.

The NFL announced on Monday morning that the Cleveland Browns will be fined $250,000 and general manager Ray Farmer will be suspended without pay for four games (Dan Hanzus of NFL.com had the original report). The punishment comes after an investigation revealed someone from the Browns’ front office had illegally contacted personnel on the team’s sidelines during games. Farmer openly admitted it was his error during the NFL Combine.

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The Browns will not appeal the ruling, with owner Jimmy Haslam stating in the official team statement, “Ray made a mistake and takes full responsibility for his role in violating the policy. It is critical that we make better decisions. Ray has tremendous integrity and I know has great remorse for what occurred. We are all committed to learning from this and making the Browns a stronger and better organization.”

The announcement of the punishment ends the weeks of speculation on what might happen. Rumors had included the loss of draft picks. The Browns escaped that fate. The less fortunate Atlanta Falcons were docked a fifth-round draft pick the same day, as punishment for three years of illegally piping in crowd noise during games, (reported originally by NFL.com’s Kevin Patra).

In the Falcons’ case, adding to the noise on the field during opposing teams’ offensive drives could have a tangible effect on the outcome of games. Of course, the Falcons’ record over the last three seasons is 23-25, so the extra noise doesn’t appear to have made much of a difference.

Nov 2, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine, owner Jimmy Haslam and general manager Ray Farmer before a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports

Ray Farmer texting the sideline likely has even less impact on the game. Farmer admitted texting “team personnel” on the sidelines during games last season but it’s unclear what the content of his texts was, who he sent them to, or what actual impact they may have had on the direction of the team.

I would imagine most NFL coaches would consider a message from the owner’s box an irritation and something to be ignored,Â although any first-year coach, especially one with no prior head coaching experience, has to be highly conscious of their relationship with the front office.

Mike Pettine is not the type of coach who appears to be cowed by ownership demands. He resisted putting an unprepared Johnny Manziel on the field as long as he reasonably could, despite demand from the public to see the college star and presumably pressure from ownership to reap rewards from acquiring him.

At the same time, Jimmy Haslam did fire Pettine’s predecessor, Rob Chudzinski, after only one season. So there is a precedent for caution and handling ownership with kid gloves.

Ultimately, whatever impact those texts (if they were even read and disseminated to others on the sideline) may have had, the Browns still wound up 7-9 and outside the playoffs looking in. This violaiton didn’t deserve any more of a reaction from the NFL than it got.

In the multi-billion dollar organization that is football, $250,000 is chump change. It’s a big enough fine to deter other teams from doing the same thing, but it won’t really hurt anything.

Farmer will not be allowed contact with the team for the first four games of the year, but by that time most of his work is done. He will still be able to participate in the draft and roster assembly as we head into the 2015 season.

Overall, the punishment fit the crime and now we can turn our full focus back to more important issues within the sport. Deflategate anyone?

Just kidding…

Next: Browns Could Reap Benefits from Hard Knocks

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