Broncos, McDaniels Fined $50,000 Each For Filming Incident

The NFL has fined both the Denver Broncos and head coach Josh McDaniels $50,000 each for an incident stemming from a Broncos employee filming the practice of the San Francisco 49ers in London. The person who did the actual filming, Steve Scarnecchia,

had been initially been placed on a “personal leave of absence” by the Broncos for making the video, but has now been fired “for cause.”

In a statement released by the Broncos’ owner, Pat Bowlen mentioned that neither head coach Josh McDaniels nor anyone else in the organization told Scarnecchia to videotape the 49ers.

Upon learning of the video, Josh McDaniels informed Scarnecchia that he would not use the tape and had it deleted off the computer’s hard drive it was on. Under league rules, though, McDaniels had to inform the league offices of the incident, which he did not do so.

In a separate statement, McDaniels apologized for not following the proper guidelines concerning the incident. He and the Broncos accept full responsibility for the incident and the actions taken by the league.

Spygate, Part II? Denver Broncos Investigated By NFL For Filming Violation

According to the Denver Post's Jeff Legwold and Dave Krieger, the NFL is looking into the possibility that the Denver Broncos violated league rules against videotaping an opponent's practice:

In an echo of the New England Patriots' "Spygate" scandal, the NFL is investigating whether a Broncos employee videotaped a San Francisco 49ers walk-through at London's Wembley Stadium four weeks ago.

The specific allegation is that Steve Scarnecchia, director of video operations, filmed the 49ers' walk-through on Saturday, Oct. 30, the day before the game, which is a major violation of league rules. What makes this storyline even more intriguing is that Scarnecchia and Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels were both part of the New England Patriots in 2007 when that team was found violating the league's rules against videotaping an opponent during a game. The incident became known as "Spygate."

The New England Patriots lost their 2008 first-round choice and head coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000 dollars. It will be interesting to see if these allegations turn out to be true and if the Broncos will receive a punishment anywhere near as harsh as the Patriots did.

This isn't a situation where someone like Allen Iverson can say, "We're just talking about practice." If true, the Broncos have violated the spirit of sportsmanship under a coach who was part of a staff that was involved in a similar situation and the backlash against McDaniels would likely only increase.

The Denver Broncos lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 24-16.