While Roger Clemens was the big draw during bombshell hearings on whether he did or did not use steroids and/or HGH during his career, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had his long-awaited meeting with Sen. Arlen Specter (R.-Penn). 
Specter had summoned Goodell to express his displeasure with the NFL's destruction of the Spygate tapes they had confiscated from the Patriots. And while it did not appear that any new ground has been broken, Specter didn't entirely drop the matter.
And Specter said he'd been told during the meeting that Patriots coach Bill Belichick had been taping opponents' defensive signals since 2000, the year he took over as Patriots' coach.
Specter and Goodell met for close to two hours, and Goodell again defended his decision to destroy all the tapes that had been confiscated. Specter disagreed, saying the NFL needed to preserve "the evidence." My sense is that Goodell did the right thing to destroy the tapes, and that his punishment of Belichick and the franchise, which included the removal of the team's first-round pick in 2008, as well as fines totaling $750,000, sent a strong message.
Specter argues that destroying the tapes amounts to destroying evidence - as if this were some sort of criminal prosecution that would result in jail time. But what good does it do to keep them at this point? They were examined, the punishment was doled out, end of story.
Evidently not to Specter, however.
The one area left unresolved center on former Patriots video employee Matt Walsh, who may know whether the Patriots illegally taped the Rams during their walkthrough the day before they played the Pats in the Super Bowl after the 2001 season. But Walsh has said nothing to the NFL, and Specter is hoping to convince him to speak directly to Congress.
Until Walsh says what he knows, there will be no further ramifications - either for the league or Belichick or the Patriots. If he has a tape, then he must give it up. If he doesn't, then he needs to say so and move on.
Goodell says he's willing to re-open the matter if he finds new evidence. But so far, he hasn't found it.
And with all due respect to Sen. Specter, I would suggest that there are far bigger problems this country has to solve than to argue about the destruction of a handful of NFL tapes.
Amen.
- photo from ABCnews.com
Comments (5)
So, what does this do to BeliCheats legacy or the legacy of the Patriot Super Bowl run? Do we view the patriots accomplishments as being tainted in comparison to those of the Packers, Steelers, 'Niners, and Cowboy's?
Bob- I agree with you that congress should have much better things to do-but with all of the steroid garbage attacking baseball,
I do not understand why the nfl gets a free ride on everything.I
fullly believe there is a bigger problem with steroids in the nfl than in baseball-just look at the size of the players!!! I also believe that
Goodell is covering up spygate-now it comes out that the Pats were taping since 2000,including the Steelers when they played
them in the season and lost,then beat the Steelers in AFC title game.Do you think they got information that helped them win the AFC title game??? As a Colts fan,I now feel they had tapes when they played the Colts in the playoffs in 03 and 04-how can anyone be sure they didn't cheat then? I disagree with you about the punishment given the Pats-they should have taken ALL of their first round draft choices this year(they still have the #7 pick)and the fines were cheap compared to the money they have.
I really feel like NY got the short end of the stick with this Mitchell report. The guy works for the Red Sox and he just happens to discover 3 major Yankees and a player off the 86 Mets. I think the only Red Sox player he found was Eric Gagne.
I know they are guilty, but I feel their are many more. It's just too much of a coincidence for me.
I would get some sick pleasure watching the Pats, and Belicheat, shamed in front of the nation. I hope they call hearings.
Better things to worry about? Sure. Have you noticed how disgustingly awful congress is at getting anything done well? I'd rather they meet for a max of 60 days a year. Short of that let them get bogged down in idiotic sports issues. Bob, congress is run by a pack of corrupt Kotites on one side and lying Handleys on the other.
To BnG's question, yes, there's no way I will ever consider this team in league with those you mention. Cheating from Day 1, considering how narrowly they won until this season there's no reason to think they match their success playing by the rules. I think Arlen actually uncovered something. And Goddell is covering up in the hopes that the leagues image will not be tarnished. There is/was no other reason for the tape destruction. He was protecting his brand at all costs. The NFL version of Enron's paper shredding.
Must give some thanks to the cheating HC of the NEP, anything to keeping Philly trash from celebrating gets a thumbs up from me.
B N G:
Yes, I think there will always be a "yeah, they were good, but ..." aspect to the Patriots, although I think they are a legitimately exceptional team, especially given the fact they won with only a couple star players each time. Until we know exactly how they went about acquiring info. on teams, there will be an issue.
That said, Jimmy Johnson himself admitted there was cheating going on during his day, and while he never incriminated himself, you have to believe that something was up at some level.
Craig:
Um ... interesting take on our form of government indeed. Never thought to equate it to Handleys on one side and Kotites on the other.