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Nothing really new.
That was basically the extent of the much-ballyhooed meeting between NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh, who yesterday spent three hours and 15 minutes of what had to be some of the most excruciatingly boring time together at the NFL offices on Park Avenue.
The grilling of Walsh provided small tidbits but no real meat and after Goodell said "the fundamental information Matt provided was consistent with what we disciplined the Patriots for last fall" the Commish all-but came out and declared Spygate officially over and done with.
"Having met with Matt Walsh and over 50 other people I do not know where I would turn," Goodell said, when asked about any continuing investigation.
Smoking gun? Forget about it. There wasn't enough intrigue extracted from the eight tapes Walsh handed over to the league to fill a water pistol. The only real chance of seeing Bill Belichick squirm was the existence of proof that Walsh had evidence about the illegal taping of the Rams' walk-though the day before the 2002 Super Bowl. Previously, the Boston Herald reported that such a tape existed.
Nothing doing. Walsh stated he was in the building during the walk-through, setting up video equipment and wearing Patriots clothing, but that's it. The league says there was nothing illegal about that.
"We were also able to verify there was no Rams walk-through tape," Goodell said. Goodell during his afternoon press conference listed only "two developments" that surfaced from the meeting. Walsh revealed he had tapes of a Patriots player on injured reserve practicing with the team in 2002, which is a violation of league rules that can result in a fine. Walsh also admitted he helped Patriots players scalp a total of between eight and 12 Super Bowl tickets. Goodell said the league will investigate both matters.
According to NFL attorney Gregg Levy, Walsh said former Patriots receivers coach Brian Daboll - currently the Jets quarterbacks coach - asked Walsh prior to the Super Bowl what he saw during the walk-though. Walsh said he told Daboll he noticed Marshall Faulk lining up to return punts or kickoffs and that the Rams tight end rolled to one side depending on defensive formation.
Levy said the NFL is looking into that allegation.
"The league has requested to speak to me again," Daboll reportedly said in a statement.
Exonerated from any wrong-doing prior to Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots issued the following statement: "For the past 31/2 months, we have been defending ourselves against assumptions made based on an unsubstantiated report rather than on facts or evidence. . . . We hope that with Matt Walsh's disclosures, everyone will finally believe what we have been saying all along."'
Goodell in September fined Belichick $500,000, the Patriots $250,000 and took away New England's first-round draft pick after the Patriots were found guilty of illegally taping Jets defensive coaches. As it stands now, there will be no further sanctions levied against the Patriots.
Belichick claimed he misinterpreted league policy and believed he was allowed to tape opposing coaches on the sideline as long as he did not use the information in that particular game. Walsh blew that explanation out of the water, telling Goodell that Jimmy Dee, New England's video director, warned him to take precautions so that nobody discovered what he was doing.
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