Falcons lose draft pick for piping in crowd noise

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The Falcons will lose a fifth-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and be fined $350,000 by the NFL for using artificial crowd noise at the Georgia Dome. 

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General manager Thomas Dimitroff, who'll be suspended from the competition committe beginning Wednesday, was reportedly not aware of the infraction, but because he oversees game-day operations, he was held ultimately responsible.

The investigation determined that Roddy White, the team's former director of event marketing, was directly responsible for the violation. Had he still been with the organization, he would have been suspended without pay for the first eight weeks of the 2015 season. If he is employed by another team, he could still be subject to the punishment. 

The original report said the league was investigating Atlanta for using artificial crowd noise over the past two seasons. The team reportedly used the noise while opposing teams were trying to huddle and call a play. The Falcons were notified in November that the violation had been identified.

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Jordan Heck is a social media producer at Sporting News