Cardinals director of college scouting Ryan Gold, who has been suspended indefinitely for violating the NFL’s gambling policy, calls the allegations “blatantly false.” He plans to appeal.
And, like anyone else accused of wrongdoing, he’s entitled to due process aimed at ensuring a fair hearing. (It’s unlikely it’ll happen, but it should.)
His lawyer, Mike Caspino, has given a preview of the defense to ESPN, claiming that only Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill and G.M. Monti Ossenfort knew the picks before they were made.
As a source with extensive knowledge of how the draft works explained it to PFT, Gold would have had a pretty good idea as to the next pick. Unless Ossenfort kept the draft board hidden from the executive who ran the team’s college scouting efforts (which culminates in, you know, drafting the players), Gold would have known the top players on the board as each pick approached.
That information easily could have been shared, with anyone.
If, for example, the Cardinals were four picks away from being on the clock, Gold would have known the top four players on the Arizona board. If the four names had been shared and the other three players were the next three players picked, Gold wouldn’t have needed Bidwill or Ossenfort to tell him who the next pick would be.
When it comes to round one, where the Cardinals had the third overall pick, the pre-draft process would have included plenty of meetings and discussions about how the top of the board will play out. Everyone knew the Raiders would select quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick. The draft started with the Jets at No. 2. And the Cardinals would have had a plan in place for what to do at No. 3 based on the various potential players the Jets would have taken at No. 2.
Even that wasn’t much of a mystery. It was David Bailey or Arvell Reese. (The Jets took Bailey.)
Again, it’s possible the Ossenfort went full Belichick and told no one that Ossenfort was planning to take running back Jeremiyah Love if the draft started with Mendoza and Bailey. Still, unless Ossenfort ran a full-blown misdirection on the top executive responsible for college scouting, Gold would have known which way the wind was blowing. Ossenfort, at a minimum, would have asked enough questions about Love for Gold to conclude, “I think he’s gonna take Love.”
That said, Gold is indeed entitled to a full and fair hearing. Those who made the decision to suspend him shouldn’t be the ones handling the appeal.
But even with the NFL’s ability to divert lawsuits into the secret, rigged, kangaroo court of arbitration now damaged if not destroyed, current employees continue to have no option other than to submit to the existing procedures.
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