Should be an interesting press conference later today with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who will invariably be asked about a report in today's New York Times that he will be asked to testify before Congress about why the league had the Patriots' Spygate tapes destroyed.
As part of the league's investigation into the matter, the Patriots were fined $250,000, had their first-round pick in 2008 removed and Bill Belichick was fined $500,000 for illegally taping the Jets' defensive signals in a Week 1 game.
Once the league office had a chance to view the tapes, it had the film destroyed. The league said it wanted the tapes destroyed so that no one could have access to them for the purposes of cheating in the future.
But Sen. Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, told the Times that Goodell would eventually be called before the committee to address two issues: the league’s antitrust exemption in relation to its television contract and the destruction of the tapes that revealed spying by the Patriots.
“That requires an explanation,” Specter said. “The N.F.L. has a very preferred status in our country with their antitrust exemption. The American people are entitled to be sure about the integrity of the game. It’s analogous to the C.I.A. destruction of tapes. Or any time you have records destroyed.”
Comments (3)
Arlen Spector was also the member of the "Warren Commission" who developed the single bullet theory...
If I were Goodell, I'd tell Arlen he was just destroying the film before Oliver Stone got his hands on it... maybe Arlen can relate given his experience with the Zapruder film.
Congress has way too much free time on its hands...first hearings on steroid use in baseball...now an investigation into the destruction of football spy tapes in connection to Patriot Gate...what's next...a probe into the cause of the erratic behavior of Brittany Spears ?
Could it be a ruse to ask Goodell about P.E.DS?