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April 23, 2008

Pats expect Walsh-Goodell meeting to exonerate them from charges of spying at Super Bowl XXXVI

The Patriots released the following statement this afternoon upon the announcment that Matt Walsh will meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on May 13:
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The New England Patriots are pleased to learn that Matt Walsh is finally willing to come forward to meet with the NFL. 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.

It is important to note that there has never been a confidentiality agreement restricting Matt Walsh and no legal protections were ever necessary for him to speak to the NFL, to media outlets or to anyone else regarding his employment with the Patriots. He demanded to be released from responsibility for his statements, and after a frustrating and lengthy negotiation period, a settlement has finally been reached. Walsh has been granted a significant number of privileges through this agreement, none of which the Patriots or the NFL were obligated to give.

At all times, we cooperated fully with the league’s investigation and stand by our initial public statement from Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008: “The suggestion that the New England Patriots recorded the St. Louis Rams’ walkthrough on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 is absolutely false.”

The Patriots’ organizational focus at this time is on the NFL Draft and preparing for what we hope will be an exciting 2008 season. We will have no further comments regarding Matt Walsh at this time.

Posted by Art Martone at 4:05 PM | Permalink

Comments

I hope this is the end of the ridiculous "spygate" garbage. Integrity of the game? Please. I think the distraction cost them a Super Bowl win and a perfect season. Taking the 1st round pick is also BS.

Posted by: John at April 24, 2008 9:31 AM

IF Matt Walsh had anything he likely would have sold it to the highest bidder. It seems unlikely he has anything of substance to add to our knowledge of "spygate." It also makes me laugh to read people stating how the Patriots "got off easy." Yes, the largest fine in league history and only the second time a team has ever been penalized a first round pick...a real slap on the wrist.

If the league really cared about fair competition they'd look into how free agents managed to negotiate multi-million dollar contracts in less than one minute so they can sign at 12:01 am on the day free agency opens, no tampering there of course. The other issue to look into would be how some teams (ahem, Denver, San Francisco) have paid players off the books to avoid the salary cap, talk about an unfair advantage.

Lastly, for all you bleeding hearts who want to cry about the "integrity of the game" and such drivel I ask you to remember the game in Miami a few years ago (03?) Do you remember when the Miami players openly admitted that they knew which plays Brady was calling and took the Pats to the woodshed that day? How do you suppose they knew the plays, video or stolen play book? Right, wrong or indifferent, teams will do whatever they can to gain an advantage when tens of millions of dollars are on the line. Would you do any different?

Posted by: Brian at April 24, 2008 5:38 PM

I concur with Brian. I remeber that day when the Dolphins whipped the Patriots. I remember two Dolphins pplayers stadning there after the win, I think one of them was Taylor, saying how they stole the signals from the Pats. I remember that got like a minute of news but then died down quickly. Its funny how ESPN never ever brought that back to light.

Posted by: mark at April 26, 2008 8:34 AM