The Denver Broncos were fined $50,000 and Coach Josh McDaniels was fined $50,000 for their actions relating to an incident in which six minutes of the San Francisco 49ers walkthrough at Wembley was recorded before the game in London.
The NFL issued a statement and also sent a letter to the Broncos in which it oulined the reasons for its decision. A significant reason that the penalties were dramatically less harsh than those imposed upon the New England Patriots was the lack of involvement of any club personnel outside of the Steve Scarnecchia, the Broncos video director.
Scarnecchia has been terminated for cause by the Broncos. He taped the walthrough without instructions from any in the organization and McDaniels declined to view the tape of the walkthrough.
The Broncos fully cooperated with investigation in all respects and the stories remained consistent throughout NFL Security’s investigation and interviews.
The NFL found that the Broncos were proactive once the matter was brought to their attention but that McDaniels failed to act immediately in reporting the violation.
It is interesting to see that Scarnecchia was involved in the taping in New England as well (and McDaniels was on that staff too). Apparently McDaniels learned his lesson and did not get involved here but Scarnecchia will face further discipline. In addition to being terminated for cause, Scarnecchia is going to be subject to a hearing as to whether he should be barred from working in the NFL given his repeated violations.
