McDaniels, Broncos get slap on wrist

So let's get this straight: Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison(notes) makes a split-second move in a game that results in a $75,000 fine (and more fines after that). Meanwhile, the Denver Broncos, a team with repeat violations of the NFL's salary cap, and coach Josh McDaniels, who was a member of the last team to commit a major off-field violation of competitive rules, get docked $50,000 each after the team fails to report a violation for more than a week.

Harrison has to be wondering, "What's up with that?"

The NFL blew a wonderful chance to send a message around the league that integrity trumps all. Instead, the league sent a rather tepid response. Sure, Broncos video director Steve Scarnecchia lost his job. He probably will be banned for life from the NFL, which is sad considering that his respected father Dante has spent 40 years, including the past 28 with the Patriots, in coaching football.

But Scarnecchia is only a poor player in this story. Yeah, he was the one who was dumb enough to secretly record part of San Francisco's walkthrough practice on Oct. 30 at Wembley Stadium in London, the day before the team played in the league's annual overseas game. Further, he's a repeat offender, having been part of the Spygate scandal in New England.

You can only imagine how happy Patriots coach Bill Belichick is to be reminded of that whole deal on a weekend where he doesn't have to play.

Scarnecchia is a forgettable character who has obviously lost touch with his past. (His Linkedin.com profile, which has been pulled, included the fact he was a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society and the Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Fraternity. Looks like he can cross those conventions off his calendar, along with the rest of Denver's season schedule.) The real issue here isn't about Scarnecchia, a relatively low-paid staffer who fell prey to the temptation to please his boss (McDaniels).

The NFL concluded that Scarnecchia acted alone in taping the 49ers after the rest of the Broncos had left. Even if we accept that at face value, there are still unanswered questions:

• Why is the league allowing a situation where a staff member of one team can be in an area where another team is practicing? League attorney Jeff Pash explained this was an odd situation because the game was played overseas.

"This was sort of a unique instance perhaps associated in part with being in a different stadium and getting equipment set up," Pash said. "But I think your broader point is a fair one, and perhaps that's something we need to look at. But my understanding is that for most of our games, the opposing clubs are not represented in the stadium at the same time."

• How is it OK for McDaniels to not report the violation as soon as he found out? What was he thinking?

In a series of statements about the case, both the Broncos and the NFL said that while McDaniels declined to look at the tape Scarnecchia made, no one from the team reported the matter to the league until Nov. 8. That's more than a week after McDaniels first found out.

Pash and Broncos chief operating officer Joe Ellis both declined to say which member of the team ultimately reported the violation, citing the confidentiality clause regarding the reporting of such matters. That's logical since snitches don't get stitches, but they also don't stay employed in the NFL.

Ellis also said he and Broncos owner Pat Bowlen accepted McDaniels' explanation that he didn't grasp the full extent of his ignorance in this matter.

Really? You mean to say that a man who was with the Patriots in 2007 and suffered through the glare of that mighty investigation thought it was OK to look the other way this time?

• What was McDaniels thinking?

McDaniels may have been trying to protect a friend. He and Scarnecchia have known each other for a decade and essentially grew up in the NFL with the Patriots. Moreover, could you imagine how difficult it would be to sell out a guy who is the son of someone you worked with?

But there is a point where personal issues are outweighed by professional commitment. The NFL is a league that depends upon the perception that it is above reproach, particularly in the aftermath of Spygate. Every moment that McDaniels waited to come forward has a direct correlation on how much trust was eroded in this episode.

Or as one reporter put it during Saturday's league conference call, "Eight days is a long time."

Eight days is also the kind of gap that can diminish trust in McDaniels, who is at a crossroads in Denver. Over the past 20 games, the Broncos are 5-15, the worst run the team has had since the 1971-72 seasons. Worse, the Broncos are often times uncompetitive, as they were Monday night in San Diego.

It's fair to wonder if someone who can't recognize the depth of this incident is the kind of person you want running your team. For his part, Ellis gave McDaniels a lukewarm endorsement.

"He's made a mistake, he's acknowledged that," Ellis said. "He did an important thing here when he chose not to look at [the recording of the 49ers practice], made it clear to the employee that he was not going to look at that, and that was not how we were conducting business, as I've said previously. He's got to continue to work hard and get the team better on the field.

"I believe that the evidence that's come forward here is truthful. There's been a tremendous amount of investigating that's been done. Obviously it took a long time. The evidence suggests that, yes, he made a mistake, but he did the right thing to turn away from it, not allow the employee to show him, told the employee the team's philosophy.

"Hopefully the fans will understand that and we'll do better on the field, and from there we'll begin to earn back their trust."

This moment, however, was more important for the entire league, not just the Broncos. It was time to reinforce the message that any premeditated act is unacceptable in any way. When the Patriots did this, it cost Belichick $500,000, the team $250,000 and a first-round draft pick. At the time, many people thought those penalties weren't enough.

Pash explained that McDaniels and the Broncos got off easy in this situation because the scope of the violations weren't close to what happened in Spygate.

"As best we can conclude, a single incident as opposed to, in New England, years of activity," Pash said. "You had an incident that, as best we could identify, was carried out by a single employee without direction from the coaching staff or anyone else at the club. That's obviously different from what we saw in New England where the head coach was actively supervising the activity.

"And you had, I think in many respects, from the commissioner's standpoint, the most important point was that as soon as senior management and ownership was aware of it, they came forward and reported it to our office and cooperated fully in the investigation.

"I think that combination of factors resulted in the commissioner's decision."

OK, but this time everybody should have known better.

A lot better.