Posts tagged Patriotgate at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

It's been well established that senator Arlen Specter had ulterior motives for pursuing the NFL and the whole (not really) sordid Spygate saga: money. Specifically, helping the senator's biggest contributor, Comcast, get their greedy little mitts on a piece of the NFL Sunday Ticket pie.

Now that Matt Walsh has finally spilled the beans, Specter is calling for a Mitchell report-like investigation of the Patriots under the guise of doing the people's business. Problem is, nobody can find these "people" outside of Comcast headquarters. So while the rest of us are ready to get on with our lives, Specter continues his crusade against ... well, something.

Which, apparently, is enough to move Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy into action.

"With the war in Iraq raging on, gasoline prices closing in on $4 a gallon, and Americans losing their homes at record rates to foreclosure, the United States Senate should be focusing on the real problems that Americans are struggling with," Kennedy said through a spokesman in response to a question posed by a Globe reporter. "I'm looking forward to another great Patriots season where they can let their play on the field speak for itself."

Save that last sentence, Kennedy's views echo those of just about every other rational person who has commented on the alleged scandal in the last three months.

This doesn't take away from the fact that the Patriots were caught cheating, and that Bill Belichick might've misled Goodell. And while Goodell certainly has reasons for wanting Spygate to go away (for the children, of course), I'm pretty sure we don't need the U.S. Congress to help sort things out. Even if they had absolutely nothing else to do.

A day after the Boston Herald apologized for its February 2 article saying the New England Patriots taped the St. Louis Rams' final practice before the 2002 Super Bowl, the paper's editor is both reiterating the apology and standing by the reporter who wrote the story.

In an editor's note in today's paper, Kevin R. Convey says he won't throw reporter John Tomase under the bus:

Nevertheless, I continue to stand behind the work of the Herald sports department and John Tomase, a talented journalist who has dealt with this difficult matter professionally while continuing to do his job under intense pressure.

In the end, as editor in chief of the Herald, I take full responsibility for the publication of this story, and I offer my own apology to our readers and our staff.

That statement would seem to indicate that the Herald plans to keep Tomase on the Patriots beat. I would expect the Patriots to make life difficult on him this year.

Boston Herald reporter John Tomase, who wrote the since-retracted February 2 article saying the Patriots taped the Rams' final practice before the 2002 Super Bowl, has been curiously silent as others have questioned his journalistic integrity.

In a post on the Herald's Patriots blog, Tomase finally broke his silence today, and he vowed to say more soon:

Readers of this space have probably been asking themselves, "Where the hell is Tomase?" over the last couple of days and it's a fair query. Right now I'm just landing from Washington and working on a story about Arlen Specter's press conference regarding his interview with Matt Walsh.

While that is going to have me tied up for the rest of the night, I just wanted to make one thing clear - I know I screwed up on the Rams taping story and I don't intend to hide behind today's apology or an editor's note. In Friday's Herald I will explain as clearly as I can where that story went wrong and begin the journey of restoring your trust in my reporting.

I cannot in good conscience demand accountability of the people I cover and then not provide it myself. So it's coming on Friday. Just be patient.

John

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter said today that an independent investigation is needed of the New England Patriots' practice of spying on their opponents.

"There ought to be an impartial investigation, an outside investigation, like the investigation that baseball had with Senator George Mitchell," Specter said.

Specter said he first became interested in the Patriotgate story in November, when he first heard that the NFL had destroyed the tapes the Patriots turned in to the league. He said the NFL was not responsive to his requests for more information, and he suggested that the league is trying to sweep the issue under the rug.

Whether Specter gets his Mitchell Commission or not, there's no question that despite the talk this morning that the Spygate story is over, Specter doesn't think it should be -- and U.S. senators have a way of keeping stories alive.

In a terrific interview entitled "Jay Glazer Owns the NFL," Deadspin's AJ Daulerio finds out how FOX reporter Glazer gets the NFL scoops. Lots of great stuff in the interview, but perhaps the best is Glazer talking about the Spygate videos. He shows them at home to his buddies because he says they are hilarious:

JG: Because it's not just football...it's classic. The tapes go back and forth between... Well, the first part of the tape, the guy recording it , all he's focusing in on are the butts of the Jet City Dancers. He's going from chick, to chick, to chick, and then you see, like, Tom Brady step in and then he'll [the dude taping it] hit the coaches a little bit, but when there's a break? He goes into the stands and then focuses on T and A. It is classsssic. It is like Spygate meets "Girls Gone Wild."

And that's what's on the tapes that everyone's getting upset about? Does that damage the credibility of those tapes at all?

JG: Oh, no, no, no,no - because the rest of it, is damaging. Because they go the coaches, to the down and distance, back up to the coaches, back to the down and distance - it couldn't be anymore clear. They focus in on three guys the entire time, it is soooo brazen it's incredible.

I could see why NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell destroyed the NFL's copies of the Patriot tapes after Glazer was able to obtain leaked tapes. It's embarrassing enough to receive cheat tapes from your repeat Super Bowl champion without the added bonus of minor video perversion. Obviously, I don't have the Spygate tapes, so the YouTube above is just of the Jets cheerleaders.

At FanHouse, one man's trash is another man's treasure. But only the few raise to the level of Notable Moments in FanHouse Commenting.

Ex-Patriots employee Matt Walsh has finally agreed to spill everything he knows to the NFL about Spygate, and eventually we will know the scoop. In the months since Walsh's name first emerged, there's been tons of speculation about what he knows. Is Walsh going to drop the hammer on the Patriots or is this just ridiculously overblown?

And though all thoughtful comments at FanHouse are appreciated, I feel that this comment from Bob deserves special recognition. It is his theory about the delay in working out an agreement with Walsh:

Here's the hold up. Walsh has several tapes that Goodell wants to see. The first shows the Rams Super Bowl walkthrough, including the play where Kurt Warner fumbles in the end zone. Interestingly, the tape also shows Willie Gary wearing Ty Law's jersey when they practice the play where Law intercepts Warner and takes it in for a touchdown. Another tape shows Bill Belichick in Dallas on November 23, 1963. He's just a kid, but the tape clearly shows him holding a high powered rifle running from the grassy knoll. The third tape proves that Tom Brady and Gisele are both aliens sent here to bred and take over the world. The fourth tape is the biggest problem. It shows that Elvis is alive and well and works at a Stuckies off of I-40 in Tennessee. Goodell isn't sure he wants to see this tape, but I think he should. Who knows what they put into all of those peanut logs?

In a meeting with AP Sports Editors today, NFL disciplinarian commissioner Roger Goodell claimed he is keeping an open mind about what ex-Patriot employee Matt Walsh might tell him about the Spygate video scandal. When asked about if there would be further punishment if it is shown that the Patriots taped the Rams walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl, he responded:

"Taping a walkthrough is much different from what I punished them for."

He has already severely sanctioned the Patriots, fining them $250,000 for taping the Jets opener and taking away one of their first round picks in 2008. Patriots coach Bill Belichick received a half-million dollar fine.

So, if Walsh has videotape evidence, what more punishment will the Patriots receive from the commish for taping a pre-Super Bowl walkthrough? There's really no predicting because Goodell seems to be making it up as he goes along.

I would think that the punishment the Patriots already received is deterrent enough from doing more bad stuff. I'm guessing Goodell wouldn't be pleased if it is proven that the Patriots hid stuff from him after the original investigation because well, it makes him look bad.

(This entry is dedicated to KGar to try to explain why Walsh talking matters to NFL fans, particularly Patriot fans).

Yesterday, ex-Patriot Matt Walsh and the NFL reached an agreement that will encourage Walsh to fess up everything he knows about Spygate to the league. I generally prefer to write about sports more than things like "contractual indemnification" and "release law" because sports is much more interesting. But if you are interested in hearing what Walsh might say, this contract sheds a lot of light.

Walsh initially refused to talk to the NFL for fear of being sued. Generally speaking, an indemnification and release agreement like this will protect Walsh from liability and lawsuit because the NFL agrees not to sue him and assumes some of his legal risk. Greg Bishop of the New York Times asked me to comment on the terms of the agreement -- you can read his brief overview here.

Contracts like this are often about fear and paranoia. Each party wants to protect itself and not get tooled over by the other guy. To understand a contract and a contract negotiation, you have to understand the fears of each party.

The NFL has announced that Matt Walsh, the former Patriots employee who has long been rumored to have evidence that the team videotaped opponents in violation of NFL rules, has agreed to meet with Commissioner Roger Goodell next month.

Walsh, who lives in Hawaii, will travel to New York to meet with Goodell on May 13. He has agreed to return any tapes or other items in his possession that belong to the Patriots, and the NFL and the Patriots have promised not to sue him and to pay any legal fees he incurs.

What, exactly, Walsh will say or show is the subject of a great deal of speculation. Some people believe he has evidence that the Patriots videotaped the Rams' final walkthrough practice before the 2002 Super Bowl, which would undoubtedly result in severe discipline for coach Bill Belichick. Others believe he has nothing at all and this investigation will exonerate Belichick.

Today Bill Belichick's name evokes the whole sordid Spygate silliness, but before Eric Mangini ratted out his former boss, Belichick's name was synonymous with successfully running an NFL team, from on-field strategy to personnel decisions in the salary-cap era.

Under Belichick and general manager Scott Pioli, the Patriots have become adept at keeping the payroll manageable, not investing too much money in marquee players, and finding warm bodies at discount prices to fill in the gaps.

Thanks to a 2007 draft-day trade, New England has the seventh-overall pick this weekend, and they could take ... well, anybody. For a team with apparently very few needs, the Patriots might be in the market for an offensive lineman, cornerback or linebacker.

Or, looking to the future, they could draft a defensive lineman. Seems like an odd suggestion, what with Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren currently wreaking havoc along the line of scrimmage, but that could all change in two years.

Mr. Jeffrey Pash, Counsel for NFL
Mr. Michael Levy, Counsel for Matt Walsh

Dear Sirs:

Today, the Boston Globe Herald noted that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is hopeful that a contractual deal may be struck soon with former Patriots employee Matt Walsh. Walsh has refused to divulge information he knows about the Patriots using video equipment to steal defensive signals until he has contractual assurances that he will be protected from ruinous legal and financial harm.

Goodell states in the Globe Herald article that Walsh says he "has evidence and new information that would lead to further disciplinary action."

Of course, there was a report about a month ago saying a deal between the NFL and Walsh was going to be struck soon, and nothing came of that either. They have been working on a deal for over two months, and still nothing.

As an NFL super fan and as an attorney who has written, taught, and even testified in front of a state legislature about indemnification issues, I believe I understand the emotions and issues involved and the concerns that both sides have. Just because each side is acting a little paranoid, doesn't mean that their concerns aren't legitimate, especially when their there is a large amount of mutual distrust.

I hereby offer my mediation services to you for free to help resolve this contractual impasse.

There's a video posted at You Been Blinded that comes from South Park, so you should obviously be advised that it may offend you. But it's worth looking at because it's the latest sign that Bill Belichick and Patriotgate have crossed over into pop culture.

In last night's South Park, Cartman stood in front of a class of students, held up a picture of Belichick and said, "This is Bill Belichick, coach of the New England Patriots. He's won three Super Bowls. How? He cheated. He even got caught cheating, and nobody cared. Bill Belichick proved that in America, it's OK to cheat, as long as you cheat your way to the top. ... If you cheat and fail, you're a cheater. If you cheat and succeed, you're savvy."

Cartman further explained that Belichick's "I misinterpreted the rules" excuse is the right way to get away with it when you get caught cheating. Although I don't think anyone actually believes Belichick when he says he misinterpreted the rules, he has, more or less, gotten away with it. So Cartman's lesson may have some merit.

You know what's really awesome? When the commissioner's office sends a message to the rest of the league by singling out one franchise. And I'm not talking about all the Patriotgate foolishness. Nope, I'm talking about Roger Goodell stripping the 49ers of their fifth-round pick, and forcing them to swap third-rounders with the Bears for alleged tampering violations.

From Nancy Gay's piece in Tuesday's San Francisco Chronicle:

"It was bound to happen - some team was going to end up as the poster boy for these rules violations," a high-ranking NFL executive said Monday during the league meetings, speaking on condition of anonymity. "And it had to be a fairly irrelevant team that wouldn't fight it."

Huh, not sure what the proper comeback is to "and it had to be a fairly irrelevant team that wouldn't fight it". Of course, FanHouse's Tom Mantzouranis noted last week, via Tim Kawakami, that "... Goodell probably isn't taking too kindly to the 49ers downplaying their actions and essentially painting him as a rogue enforcer mercilessly stealing draft picks..."

In which case, maybe the top-secret high-level NFL executive misspoke. Or -- and this is way out there, I know -- maybe Goodell really does think the 49ers, if not irrelevant, at least wouldn't fight the penalty. And Gay makes a good point:

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is that the NFL's annual meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, and he's looking very relaxed considering all that he's been through the previous few months. He even took a few minutes to answer some questions about Patriotgate, the story that refuses to die.



So there you have it: Belichick wants you to know that the Patriots have been "forthright and truthful in answering the questions -- twice -- that [the NFL] has come to them with," and New England has made everybody in the organization accessible, so on and so forth, blah, blah, blah.

(By the way, I applaud Belichick for refusing to rehash the whole thing because "we'll be here ... for a month." No kidding.)

And really, how can you not trust a middle-aged man who dresses up like Gilligan? I do think the Patriots have been targeted because of their success this decade coupled with the perception that Belichick is a smug, angry little man. It doesn't make the cheating any less wrong, but you'd think the mock outrage would be muted if we were talking about the Arizona Cardinals, for example.

Luckily, Senator Arlen Specter is on the case because, presumably, his constituents' biggest concern is about fair play in professional sports.

Jeffrey Standen, a professor of law at Williamette University writes a blog called The Sports Law Professor. His most recent entry, entitled "Roger Goodell and the Cheating Scandal," I think is worth a read, even if I don't agree with all of it.

His argument is nuanced and is best read in its non-summarized form, but he's a blogger so he knows how these things work. His contention is that the most profitable sports league in the world could have chosen someone more educated, seasoned and accomplished to be its commissioner. That so far in his job, Roger Goodell is "starting to look like an unthinking moralist."

A moralist, as Professor Standen explains, is "the kind of person who prefers to arrive at the facile, stark ethical conclusion than to perform the heavy mental exercise of making fine distinctions that might produce a better answer."

From this POV, Goodell has painted himself into a corner with the severity of the rhetoric and punishment he's used to respond to the Patriotgate Spygate and player discipline scandals.

"A commissioner only has so much moral capital to expend," he writes, and Goodell has spent his in awkward, to high profile ways.

I'm not sure I agree with his conclusions relating to Spygate (I believe Goodell is responding in part to the pressure he is feeling from Senator Arlen Specter). However, I do have significant concerns about Goodell turning the commissioners office into nothing more than an arbitrary and capricious police, jury and judge.