Goodell's press conference
NEW YORK -- Video of signals taped by the Patriots has been shut off, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, with a bottle of water in hand, has arrived in The Astor Room here at The Intercontinental hotel.
Goodell opened by noting that the meeting with Matt Walsh lasted 3 hours, 15 minutes. Goodell then spoke about what he felt were the two top issues:
Goodell said "the fundamental information that Matt provided was consistent with what we penalized the Patriots for."
Goodell said he did not anticipate any more penalties against the Patriots.
Goodell also said he was able to verify there was no walkthrough tape, no one asked Walsh to tape the walkthrough, that Walsh was unaware of anyone else taping the walkthrough, and that Walsh had not seen such a tape.
Goodell noted that Walsh was in the building at the time of the walkthrough, on the sideline setting up equipment, in Patriots gear.
"It was clear it was not an overt attack," Goodell said.
Goodell did mention two new pieces of new information from Walsh -- a player who was on injured reserve was said to be inappropriately practicing, and Walsh said he was involved in scalping of Super Bowl tickets by players (he was the seller of 8-12 tickets over a 2-year period).
Goodell said the league was looking into those pieces of information. If a player on injured reserve was found to be practicing, Goodell said such an infraction would likely result in a team fine.
Thank God! Now we never have to discuss this idiocy again! Good reporting Mike; good to see at least 1 of Boston's Pats' reporters on the scene and reporting in a timely manner! Fire Tomase!
Much ado about nothing I guess. Stupid vindictive Matt Walsh. What a jerk.
Mike, Quick word on your writing - you work harder than anyone and when you annihilate your competition so completely, it's not hard to understand when they resort to foolish mutterings.
I would like to understand how the other newspaper in town could have printed this (story) LIE without verifying the facts. I look forward to the Patriots response now that Matt Walsh has spoken. Peoples reputations have been ruined by this irresponsible journalistic sensationlism that belongs on supermarkets shelves.
Goodell stated that the Pats employee was on the field during the Rams practice, in Patriots attire. So how is it news or a surprise to anyone that a Pats employee would discuss what he saw with another employee? ESPN analyists make it seem like this is huge news/ "while they didn't tape it, they saw it and it was passed on to others"... wow. I'm sure that never happens. Friggen Joke.
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