Walsh set to meet with NFL
editor1 |May 12,2008
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NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Matt Walsh is ready to tell his side of
the story.
The former New England Patriots video assistant will meet with
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Senator Arlen Specter of
Pennsylvania in separate meetings in New York on Tuesday to
discuss what he knows about the team's videotaping procedures.
Walsh has already provided all materials he had in his
possession - eight tapes from six games in the 2000-02 seasons -
which show the team taping signals by opposing coaches.
However, the tapes do not include the most-publicized video
which Walsh reportedly has access to - the walkthrough of the
St. Louis Rams the day before Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002. The
Patriots denied last month that they ever taped the Rams'
walkthrough.
The tapes, which are a violation of league rules, came to light
two weeks after Walsh reached an agreement with Goodell to turn
over any materials in his possession.
Now an assistant golf pro in Hawaii, Walsh worked for the
Patriots from 1996 through the 2002 Super Bowl. In January, he
suggested that he had potentially damaging information about the
team's videotaping practices.
Walsh's tapes show the Patriots recording coaches' signals in
four regular-season games, as well as the 2002 AFC championship
game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The first tape is dated September 25, 2000; the last is from
September 29, 2002.
The NFL fined Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the New
England organization $250,000 for the illegal taping of the New
York Jets in the 2007 season opener.
The Patriots also lost a first-round pick as a result of the
"Spygate" incident.
In February, Goodell said six tapes handed over by the Patriots
- which subsequently were destroyed by the league shortly
thereafter - were from the 2006 season and 2007 preseason.
Two days before this past season's Super Bowl, Specter - the
Republican leader of the Judiciary Committee - kept alive the
"Spygate" incident by criticizing the league's investigation,
particularly for destroying original tapes.
The Patriots released a statement last month saying they
welcomed the agreement by Walsh and the league.
"The New England Patriots are pleased to learn that Matt Walsh
is finally willing to come forward to meet with the NFL," the
statement read. "We are eagerly anticipating his honest
disclosures to commissioner Goodell next month and the return of
all the materials he took during his time of employment.
"We fully expect this meeting to conclude the league's
investigation into a damaging and false allegation that was
originally levied against the team on the day before this year's
Super Bowl."
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