Last week the NBA decided to get tough on officials who may want to cheat. Now the NFL is taking a similar step to prevent another 'spygate.'

The NBA hired Ronald L. Johnson as senior vice president of referee. Johnson is retired Army major general.

Today, the NFL announced the hiring of Col. Jeffrey Miller for the new position of director of strategic security. Miller, 45, has been commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police since 2003. He begins work Aug. 18.

In this job he'll have wide-ranging responsibilities from pregame security screenings to ensuring that team signals are not intercepted by opponents through electronic bugging or other devices.

Of course all this comes after the New England Patriots taped the New York Jets signals during the season opener.

Both moves show the leagues are at least making serious efforts to prevent cheating and then punish those who do.

It really doesn't get much more intimidating than an Army general and state police chief.

For more read the full story on Miller's hiring and my blog post about Johnson from last week.

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