Progress with Walsh?
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said here in Indianapolis today, site of the NFL Combine, that the league is making progress toward reaching an agreement with former Patriots employee Matt Walsh.
Walsh, a former Patriots video assistant, has intimated that he has materials that could be damaging to the Patriots, including a tape of the St. Louis Rams walkthrough prior to Super Bowl XXXVI. But he said that a confidentiality agreement he signed with New England prevents him from talking without facing legal repercussions and has been seeking indemnification to talk.
"We very much want to talk to him," said Goodell. "We've made some progress on the conditions that he's asked for, how he would speak to us, and what the conditions are with what he's going to be asked to do and what he wants us to be able to do when he makes his testimony. I expect that that will happen shortly. We're making progress."
The Boston Herald, citing an anonymous source, reported that the Patriots taped the walkthrough prior to their Super Bowl XXXVI win over the Rams in 2002, but Patriots coach Bill Belichick vehemently denied that he has ever taped a walkthrough during his coaching career.
Goodell said he's not surprised that Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, who requested and received a meeting with the commissioner regarding the Patriots' video violations and the subsequent punishment, has continued to push the issue. Specter has been critical of both the NFL and Goodell's handling of the case, specifically the decision to destroy the evidence the league took from the Patriots.
"I didn't expect he would change his view after our meeting," said Goodell.
Goodell, in his very covert manner, will do whatever he can to destroy the Patriots., He has been a thorn since the beginning, he opened the door, and it is my firm belief that as a former Jets employee, a lifetime New Yorker, he has an inbred hatred for anything New England or Boston.
He will do, IMO, whatever it takes to make the Patriots look bad. He needs to be shut down by the NFL board of directors, and possibly, even removed as commissioner.
He is allowing personal dislikes, and vendettas, control his actions.
And, I say that with, absolutely, no doubt in my mind.
I have left jobs in the past and signed "confidentiality agreements" as part of leaving. I can not imagine what kind of agreement would require the kind of protection walsh is looking for.
I wonder if someone can dig up the patriots standard "confidentiality agreement" with all that is going on, it would be interesting to see.
Uhm..... if anything, Goodell is *protecting* the Patriots. Evidence? Destroyed video tapes, lying about the length of cheating by the Pats, etc. Yes, Goodell needs to be removed, but not for the reasons you stated.
Riiiiiiiight.... he's out to get the very maggots that he protected by destroying the evidence?
Bill has realy F'd your franchise up and even Roger is going to suffer for it. Way to go billy.
LOL, Goodell has been nothing but kind to the Pats. IMO, he very much wants this to go away, but that pesky Specter had to ruin it all, boo hoo
Hey Mike,
How did the AP (and several others, really) come up with the idea that Matt Walsh has SB36 walkthrough tape? As I understand it, John Tomase's piece in the Herald only said an 'unnamed source' was involved (somehow - as a witness or participant) while at the same time, ESPN said that Matt Walsh had 'damaging information' on the Pats. Did those two things just get mashed together by a lazy or negligent press corps or did I miss something?
Thanks.
The bigger risk is the hit to the integrity of the NFL IF in fact there is more to this and the appearances are given that the league / Goodell tried to make it go away for the benefit of "THE LEAGUE".
I don't like the guy/Goodell either for whatever that's worth and was not aware of his NY connections. But lets not get paranoid here. The guy WISHES more than anyone that this would go away and for whateve reason, it won't. I've been a Pats fan since Parilli to Gino and I truly hope there is nothing else here. But that does not change the need to know. If taping the Rams does go to the top and BB in a big way, BB will have to go, the franchise will move on, Brady will be QB, and we will continue to have great weather here in Northern California.
Thanks for bringing Goodell's history to light, Mike. We already know Specter's agenda and as a tax payer I am sickened by his waste of our money trying to undo the Eagle's loss in the superbowl. Will he stop there or move forward looking for someone to blame their loses in the previous NFC championships on?
The Executive Director of the NFL Players Association, Gene Upshaw had it right when asked about the possible impact of videotaping: "It's absolutely ludicrous to believe it affects a play," Hopefully he will continue to protect the game and the players who make those plays from a witch hunt driven by the desire to re-write history.
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