The Sports Xchange

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — President Rich McKay of the Atlanta Falcons met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in New York last week and was advised of the league’s decision that he could be re-instated as chairman of the league’s powerful competition committee, effective immediately.

McKay was suspended from the NFL competition committee as part of the Falcons’ penalty for pumping fake noise into the Georgia Dome during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

The decision makes him eligible to apply for reinstatement.

“Rich has been a valued member of the NFL’s competition committee for 22 years, and he is recognized as a key contributor throughout the league,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in a statement released by the team. “I fully support his reinstatement to the committee.”

McKay was suspended effective April 1 and was eligible to apply for reinstatement after June 30.

“I have always enjoyed my service on the competition committee and appreciate commissioner Goodell”s confidence,” McKay said in a statement released by the Falcons. “I look forward to continuing to work with the committee and all of our teams to further improve our great game.”

The NFL fined the Falcons $350,000 and took away its fifth-round pick in the 2016 as part of the punishment.

NFL rules state that “at no point during the game can artificial crowd noise or amplified crowd noise be played in the stadium.”

McKay, an attorney, had been a longstanding member of the committee and served as the chairman.

The NFL concluded McKay was unaware of the artificial crowd noise but bore “some responsibility for ensuring that team employees comply with league rules.”

A league investigation found that Roddy White, formerly the Falcons’ director of event marketing, was directly responsible for the noise. The NFL said White would have been suspended for eight games without pay had he still been a member of the Falcons.