Matt Walsh Releases Spygate Tapes

[monosylab1k]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8116074?MSNHPHMA

Former employee Walsh sends Spygate tapes to NFL

Former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh sent the NFL eight videotapes that show New England violated league rules by recording opposing coaches' playcalling signals.

The tapes include signals by coaches of five opponents in six games from 2000-02, but don't include video from the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl.

The NFL said it received a letter from Michael Levy, the lawyer for Walsh, detailing the tapes that were scheduled to arrive Thursday at the league's New York offices.

The tapes sent to the NFL show the Patriots recorded signals in regular-season games against Miami, Buffalo, Cleveland and San Diego, and against Pittsburgh in the 2002 AFC championship game.

"This is consistent with what the Patriots had admitted they had been doing, consistent with what we already knew," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told The Associated Press.

The New York Times first reported the story on its Web site Wednesday night.

Walsh, who worked for New England from 1997 to 2003, agreed to turn over the tapes and other evidence by Thursday. He's scheduled to meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell next Tuesday about New England's taping of opposing teams.

"We're not going to comment," said Stacey James, the Patriots' vice president for media relations. He added he expected the team will wait to issue a statement until after Walsh meets with Goodell.

Walsh's name first surfaced just before this year's Super Bowl, nearly five months after the Patriots were sanctioned for illegally taping the New York Jets in the season opener — a $500,000 fine for coach Bill Belichick, a $250,000 fine for the organization, and the loss of a first-round draft pick.

At that time, the Boston Herald also reported an unnamed Patriots employee illegally taped the Rams' final walkthrough before the 2002 le game, when New England, a two-touchdown underdog, upset St. Louis 20-17.

Goodell previously has said he was fully prepared to crack down again on the Patriots if his meeting with Walsh uncovered a tape made of the Rams' walkthrough practice.

"Mr. Walsh has never claimed to have a tape of the walkthrough," Levy told The New York Times. "Mr. Walsh has never been the source of any of the media speculation about such a tape. Mr. Walsh was not the source for the Feb. 2 Boston Herald article."

After more than two months of negotiations, lawyers for the league and Walsh finally reached an agreement on April 23 on terms that will allow him to talk with Goodell. They include an agreement by the Patriots not to sue Walsh and to pay his legal expenses and his airfare to New York from Hawaii, where he is now a golf pro.

[monosylab1k]

I got this from a Pats message board, but from what they said, on ESPN radio this morning Chris Mortensen made the following comments:

- He said Goodell will end Spygate on the 13th. He will meet Matt Walsh in the morning and in the afternoon he will meet the press and show them the videotapes and say the investigation is over.

- He also expects Goodell to publically admonish Walsh for not putting the Rams walkthrough rumors to rest from the beginning. Mort said that Levy should have publically denied that Walsh had the Rams videotape and that Walsh was the source of the Herald piece from the beginning and that they were wrong to let this thing linger.

- He met with Walsh the week of a Pro Bowl, but not in a formal interview and he said that Walsh was very evasive.

- He believes the Herald to publically either retract the Rams walkthrough story or publically stand by their source. Otherwise, there will be a lingering affect on them worse if they issue a retraction. He expects they will stand by their source.

- Said that when Walsh originally spoke to the press, he believes that Walsh did not know that the Patriots admitted to videotaping signals back to 2000.

Surprising from an ESPN employee, and I doubt much of this actually happens, but whatever. Spygate is finally almost over, except for one bitter Senator, who apparently things the best way to serve his country is to investigate football practices that have zero legal ramifications.

[GaryJohnston]

So the Patriots cheated in other games, the NFL knew, and we(the public) are finding that out now.

I wonder how many other tapes of Pats cheating existed that the NFL destroyed to save face from the discrace the Patriots have brought to the league.

[DBryant88]

New England Patriots - Cheat and cant even win thew big one

[TheSanityAnnex]

So they were punished for filming the Jets game, but won't be punished for any of these?

[O-Factor]

Goodell is a pansy. He's looked completely weak in handling the patriots cheating.

[monosylab1k]

So they were punished for filming the Jets game, but won't be punished for any of these?

They were punished for the full extent of their cheating, not just the Jets game. Goodell punished them based on all the information the Patriots gave him about their cheating. According to Aiello, all these "new" tapes fall into the punishment already levied.

Goodell himself said that if anything new surfaced, there would be further punishment, i.e. the fabled Rams walkthru tape. Walsh didn't have that.

[TheSanityAnnex]

You really believe the Patriots gave him "all" of their information on cheating?

I thought it was just for the Jets game. Having said that, Goodell is a coward and the punishment should have been more severe. One draft pick = weak sauce.

[monosylab1k]

You really believe the Patriots gave him "all" of their information on cheating?

I have no idea, just like you have no idea. You can certainly assume with good reason that the Patriots didn't give him all of their intel, just like I can assume with good reason that more teams than just the Patriots tape signals.

All I know is that whatever Walsh has, it's nothing new to Goodell. Therefore, no additional punishment.

EDIT: I may be wrong about the initial punishment, it's been a while.....Goodell may have punished them for just the Jets game, then said something along the lines of "Give me everything else you have right now and I won't punish you further".....either way, whatever Walsh has isn't going to warrant further punishment.

[monosylab1k]

One draft pick = weak sauce.

I won't say it's not a weak punishment, but a first round pick is pretty stiff. I'd rather forfeit a game.

weaker sauce is what Tagliabue did about the Broncos salary cap cheating.

[DisgruntledLionFan#54,927]

This is beyond stupid. If the NFL wouldn't have destroyed the initial tapes, this story would have died six months ago.

[TheSanityAnnex]

I won't say it's not a weak punishment, but a first round pick is pretty stiff. I'd rather forfeit a game.

weaker sauce is what Tagliabue did about the Broncos salary cap cheating.

1 pick for years of cheating was not enough.


Agreed on the Broncos.

[FlavoredIcecream]

@ the Patriots
ing s bags

18-1*

[peewee's lovechild]

Walsh's lawyer said that Walsh was not the person involved in the Boston Herald story.

Could there be someone else that has stuff on the Pats?

[monosylab1k]

Walsh's lawyer said that Walsh was not the person involved in the Boston Herald story.

Could there be someone else that has stuff on the Pats?

you wish.

Walsh's lawyer is doing spin control since his client looks like a complete now. He's been hinting at having that tape all this time and it turns out that he has nothing.

We'll see how the Boston Herald responds to this, because at the moment they're about to be sued into oblivion by Bob Kraft for libel. If Walsh really did give them that info, they'll obviously insist on standing by their story. If he didn't, they'll just bend over and take it.

[DBryant88]

Walsh's lawyer said that Walsh was not the person involved in the Boston Herald story.

Could there be someone else that has stuff on the Pats?

yeah tom brady is really gay and randy moss is really a alien oh and tedy bruschi died a long time ago thats his clone

[jack sommerset]

Spygate story is finally over. After it is all said and done I still just don't care. Every team steals signs. Thats the truth. I have never heard one coach durning all this said he did not steal signs I heard a few say we did not video tape.

[peewee's lovechild]

We'll see how the Boston Herald responds to this, because at the moment they're about to be sued into oblivion by Bob Kraft for libel. If Walsh really did give them that info, they'll obviously insist on standing by their story. If he didn't, they'll just bend over and take it.

The Herald retracted the story.

They have lost all credibility.

[monosylab1k]

The Herald retracted the story.

They have lost all credibility.

Yeah Bob Kraft is about to put alot of ty reporters out of a job.

[monosylab1k]

More proof that Specter/Walsh are completely full of . This is taken from Specter's Senate Statement -

In response to my questions, Matt Walsh stated he had season tickets in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and saw Steve Scarnecchia, his successor, videotape games during those seasons including:

The Patriots' September 9, 2002 game against the Steelers.
The Patriots' November 16, 2003 game against the Cowboys.
The Patriots' October 31, 2004 game against the Steelers, which the Steelers resoundingly won 34-20. (When the Patriots played the Steelers again that season in the AFC Championship game on January 23, 2005, the Patriots won by a score of 41-27.)

Walsh stated he observed Scarnecchia filming additional Patriots home games, though he could not recall the specific games.

So Walsh had season tickets for the Patriots, and he saw Scarnecchia videotape the Patriots October '04 game against the Steelers.

One problem.

That game was played in Pittsburgh.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=241031023

[TheSanityAnnex]

More proof that Specter/Walsh are completely full of .

If Walsh was full of , he would not have had any evidence (tapes) to give to Goodell, yet he did.

The only person here full of is you. You keep saying that this needs to go away yet continue to keep bringing it up. Just accept the fact that your team has cheated for the last 5 years and get over it, like the rest of us have.

[O-Factor]

^ Agreed. Furthermore, no telling how many other tapes(of cheating) that NE had that Walsh didn't have, that were destroyed by Goodell.

This Pats era will go down as a successful era, but will always linked to cheating and spygate. It is what it is.

[monosylab1k]

If Walsh was full of , he would not have had any evidence (tapes) to give to Goodell, yet he did.

The only person here full of is you. You keep saying that this needs to go away yet continue to keep bringing it up. Just accept the fact that your team has cheated for the last 5 years and get over it, like the rest of us have.

Walsh had nothing that Goodell didn't already know about. The only reason his name went public is because of his claims of having the walk-thru tape. He convinced the Boston Herald to go with the story, then after realizing he didn't have to back it up, immediately started backtracking and looking for legal help to make sure his ass didn't get sued into the ground.

He found a friend in Arlen Specter, who has his own agenda as to why he wants to drag the NFL through this - most notably, the loads of money Comcast donates to his campaign fund.

The Patriots cheated for years. They got their penalty and paid the price. End of story there. I'm keeping this alive because of the fact that there is a huge conflict of interest going on with Arlen Specter. He's about to get put thru the ringer over his ties to Comcast and his obvious gross abuse of power in this whole story.

You want to know the real bad guy in this whole saga? It's not an asshole head coach in Foxboro. It's a senile old man in Pennsylvania.

[monoslobsond1ck]

You want to know the real bad guy in this whole saga? It's not an asshole head coach in Foxboro. It's a senile old man in Pennsylvania.

[TheSanityAnnex]

The Patriots cheated for years. They got their penalty and paid the price. End of story there. I'm keeping this alive because of the fact that there is a huge conflict of interest going on with Arlen Specter. He's about to get put thru the ringer over his ties to Comcast and his obvious gross abuse of power in this whole story.

Sounds like you should post this in the political forum.