Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who sometimes sits with New England owner Robert Kraft, at league functions, says that there was a "general feeling" that the Patriots' failure to acknowledge mistakes added to their punishment.
Blank spoke to the Associated Press while at a community improvement event on Friday and pointed out that that he had no direct knowledge of the Patriots' case.
The Falcons received league penalties on March 30 for pumping in fake crowd noise during games. The Patriots were hit with more severe penalties last week.
Blank admitted to comparing the two sets of penalties.
"Of course you think about it," said Blank, who along with Falcons coach Dan Quinn and other employees painted houses on the Westside of Atlanta near the Georgia Dome.
"The league feels a tremendous sense of responsibility, as do all the owners, in reinforcing the culture of the NFL, the shield and make sure the game remains as balanced and as pure and as true to its integrity and its ethics as can be done,” Blank said. “When they find any organization or any individual has gotten off those tracks it's their job to remind them of that and bring them back on the tracks and do it in a way that really reinforces what the league is about.
"I think in the case of New England they have done that."
Blank and the Falcons were fined $350,000, lost their fifth-round pick in the 2015 draft and team president Rich McKay was suspended from the league's powerful Competition Committee.
New England quarterback Tom Brady was suspended for four games and the franchise was fined $1 million and loss first-round draft pick next year and a fourth-rounder in 2017. Brady is appealing the suspension.
Blank said the Falcons are dealing with their reality of the penalty situation which he called "a little difficult" but "reasonable."
"I mean, nobody likes to write big checks, nobody likes to lose a draft pick and nobody likes to have an important person in our organization, our team president, suspended from a committee he has led for many years," Blank said.
The Patriots' penalties were more than "a little difficult," perhaps in part because of their “deny, deny, deny” strategy and the refusal to make and admission that most reasonable minds have reached.
"That seems to be the general feeling, that some of the frustration whether on an individual basis or organizational basis, was the failure to acknowledge," Blank said.
Blank and Kraft took different approaches when faced with allegations.
Blank admitted to the mistakes early after they were discovered in late November. The NFL said the Falcons cooperated fully in the investigation.
The Patriots and Brady were not fully cooperative, according to the league’s appointed investigator, Ted Wells. Their lack of cooperation likely led to stiffer penalties.
The Wells Report was released May 6 and the NFL issued its punishments against New England on May 11.
Blank still holds Kraft in high regard. He praised Kraft as "one of the great owners." He believes that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Kraft will protect their relationship.
"Putting aside my personal relationship with him, he's one of ... a handful of owners, when they stand up in that room and they talk, everybody else listens, because they have a history of putting the league ahead of their own franchise," Blank said. "Robert has done that, has demonstrated that.
"I think after things are processed, Robert will be in a good place, I think the commissioner will be in a good place, I think their relationship will be a good one and they will continue to work for the benefit of the National Football League for a long time."
ROOKIE MINICAMP VIDEOS
VIDEO: Meet Falcons 2nd round pick CB Jalen Collins
VIDEO: Meet Falcons 3rd round pick RB Tevin Coleman
VIDEO: Meet Falcons 4th round pick WR Justin Hardy
VIDEO: Meet Falcons 5th round pick DT Grady Jarrett
VIDEO: Meet Falcons 7th round pick OT Jake Rodgers
VIDEO: Meet Falcons 7th round pick CB Akeem King
AJC's 2015 NFL DRAFT COVERAGE
Falcons pick Vic Beasley, pass on Todd Gurley
Scouting report: Vic Beasley the next DeMarcus Ware or a one-trick pony?
Grady Jarrett escapes fire before Falcons draft him
MARK BRADLEY COLUMN: Vic Beasley: The right pick at the right time
JEFF SCHULTZ COLUMN: Falcons' Quinn determined to fix pass rush in draft
STEVE HUMMER feature on first-round pick Vic Beasley
Falcons add CB Jalen Collins in the second round
Falcons add RB Tevin Coleman in the third round
Falcons' draft bios round 2 through 7
PHOTO GALLERY: Meet the Falcons draft class
VIDEO
Vic Beasley plans to be a double-digit sack guy
Thomas Dimitroff and Dan Quinn on the first round of the draft
Falcons coach Dan Quinn on 4th round pick WR Justin Hardy
Dimitroff and Quinn on 5th round pick DT Grady Jarrett
Quinn on 7th round pick OT Jake Rodgers
