The NFL is investigating the New York Giants for using a walkie-talkie during the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s game against the Dallas Cowboys in order to communicate plays.
The Giants had trouble communicating after their headsets went out in the fourth quarter for about four plays. During that span, Giants head coach Ben McAdoo used a walkie-talkie to communicate with quarterback Eli Manning, the New York Post reports.
Using a walkie-talkie could be considered illegal because communication between the sideline and players on the field is supposed to cut off with 15 seconds left on the play clock, and officials would not be able to monitor communication via walkie-talkie.
“I don’t know when he was on the walkie-talkie or not,” Manning said Thursday. “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.”
The Giants beat the Cowboys 10-7 and have been the only team to defeat Dallas this season, something they’ve done twice. If both teams’ headsets went out and only the Giants used a walkie-talkie to communicate, that would be considered an advantage over their opponent.
