Following a review and a hearing, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell determined Friday that the Detroit Lions violated the league's anti-tampering policy by publicly commenting about their desire to acquire players then under contract to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Lions also were cited for impermissible contact with a player (or his agent) then under contract to the Chiefs. According to the *Detroit Free Press*, the player in question was safety Jarrad Page, whom the Chiefs traded to the New England Patriots last year.
Goodell decided on the following disciplinary action to resolve the matter:
» The Lions will forfeit their seventh-round selection (acquired from the Denver Broncos) in the 2011 NFL Draft.
» Either team may appeal the decision by advising Goodell in writing of its desire to do so by Feb. 28.
The violations occurred in 2010 and center around Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, who served as the Chiefs' coordinator from 1995 to 2000. He told the Free Press that he wouldn't mind signing players the Chiefs might release.
"(Kansas City) keeps wanting to dump their players. I would like to be there to catch a lot of them because I know a couple of those guys," Cunningham told the newspaper in February 2010.
