This past weekend, the New York Giants were suspecting the Pittsburgh Steelers of under-inflating a couple of their footballs. Now, the Dallas Cowboys has accused the Giants of foul play.
The New York Post is reporting that the NFL is looking into whether it was legal for Giants head coach Ben McAdoo to use a walkie-talkie when the teams headset malfunctioned and stopped working.
During their 10-7 win on Sunday night, New York’s audio system wasn’t working between McAdoo and quarterback Eli Manning. Thus, McAdoo was given a walkie-talkie to relay plays to Manning. The Dallas Cowboys — and the league — aren’t sure about the legality of this practice.
The Cowboys filed a formal request with the league to investigate. NFL officials cannot ensure that teams using a walkie-talkie are in compliance with league rules, which stipulate the communication between the sideline and the quarterback shut off when 15 seconds remain on the play clock.
The league is acting on the Cowboys’ request to look into the matter.
Using the walkie-talkie appears to be unprecedented for the NFL. Here’s how Manning described the situation.
“I’m kind of sitting there waiting for the play, and it was a TV timeout. I went to the sideline, ‘Hey, you got a play for me?’ ’’ Manning told The Post on Thursday after practice. “He was going and I’m not hearing it. We had another minute, and then it popped on right before we were gonna start.’’
Early in the fourth quarter, the system shut down entirely.
“I just wasn’t getting anything, so I had to run to the sideline to get the plays,’’ Manning said. “Four plays maybe, we don’t have signals for stuff. It happened to be all run plays. If it’s pass plays, [backup quarterback Ryan] Nassib or somebody could signal them to me. I had to run to the sideline, sometimes he was giving it to Odell [Beckham Jr.] right there, and Odell would run to me and get the play in. Like high school.’’
On the Giants sideline, McAdoo was handed a walkie-talkie, and he again was able to communicate with Manning.
“I don’t know when he was on the walkie-talkie or not,’’ Manning said. “I just knew it was back in my ear, and we were going.’’
Informed that using a walkie-talkie might not be legal, Manning said: “I don’t know if we did or didn’t or what happened there.’’
Looking at this situation, it seems like the NFL is caught flat-footed and doesn’t really have a way to handle this situation. But knowing how this league works, Roger Goodell and company will probably just make up a rule to handle this situation.
