49ers forfeit fifth round pick

By Mike Young  |   Tuesday, March 25, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

San Francisco 49ers
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It was announced Monday the 49ers will forfeit their fifth-round choice in the 2008 draft as punishment for tampering with Bears linebacker Lance Briggs. San Francisco will also be forced to swap their seventh pick in the third round for Chicago’s 12th in the same round.

"This was not a malicious act; we believe that our intent was within the NFL guidelines. Going forward, we will take the necessary steps to ensure we are in compliance with the NFL's interpretation," 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan said in a statement.

The quote is similar to something Patriots coach Bill Belichick spouted last month about his NFL rules violation.

“Even though I felt there was a gray area in the rule and I misinterpreted the rule, that was my mistake and we've been penalized for it,” Belichick said. “I misinterpreted the rule. The commissioner made his ruling and we've been penalized for it and tried to move on."

After searching for a copy of the NFL Constitution and Bylaws on the internet and coming up empty, I can only hope San Francisco’s violation wasn’t as blatant as Belichick’s. If you read the rule on taping its obvious what the Patriots did was illegal.

As reported in the Boston Globe the NFL Bylaws state, “Any use by any club at any time, from the start to the finish of any game in which such club is a participant, of any communications or information-gathering equipment, other than Polaroid-type cameras or field telephones, shall be prohibited, including without limitation videotape machines, telephone tapping, or bugging devices, or any other form of electronic devices that might aid a team during the playing of a game.”

It seems the NFL rules are clear and well written.

That recent history makes it hard to take McCloughan’s words at face value. The rule above makes it blatantly obvious videotaping is not allowed. I can’t help but think McCloughan and Nolan knew they were trying to skirt the rules when they contacted Briggs’ agent Drew Rosenhaus during last season.

The whole thing stinks of Nolan’s influence, who was still general manager at the time of the violation, but the 49ers let their new GM take the public hit on this one. At least they’ve learned to keep Nolan away from microphones after he proved last year he has no idea how to handle the media.

The Niners have now had three 2008 draft picks negatively affected due to incompetence and gambling by the front office. Nolan gambled on Joe Staley and a winning 2007 season and McCloughan helped him roll the dice on acquiring Briggs by making contact during the year. Fans can only hope the remaining picks the dynamic duo actually get to make don’t end up busting as well.



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