First Deflategate, Now NFL Deals With Walkie-Talkiegate
We’ve already dealt with one controversy in the NFL this week – NFL insider Jay Glazer spilled the beans on the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants being involved in a possible Deflategate Part II – but apparently that wasn’t enough.
According to the New York Post, the NFL is expected to fine the Giants in the coming days over the use of a walkie-talkie during their victory against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Allegedly, the radio transmitter in Eli Manning’s helmet stopped working for a number of plays at the start of the fourth quarter, so Giants head coach Ben McAdoo proceeded to whip out a walkie-talkie to stay in contact with his quarterback.
The problem is that the NFL believes McAdoo’s actions could’ve given the Giants an unfair advantage since league rules stipulate that communication between coaches and quarterback is to end when there are 15 seconds or less on the play clock. By using walkie-talkies, there’s no way of knowing if the Giants were in Manning’s ear longer than they should’ve been. Also, to make matters more complicated, coaches aren’t even allowed to use two-way radios during games.
“I don’t know when [McAdoo] was on the walkie-talkie or not,” Manning said when told they could’ve broken the rules. “I just knew it was back in my ear, and we were going.”
A source told ESPN that the NFL had began its own investigation on the matter despite not receiving a formal complaint from the Cowboys. Cowboys executive vice president said the walkie-talkies did not impact the end result of the game.