The NFL has issued a statement regarding the status of negotiations with former Patriots employee Matt Walsh.
Basically, the negotiations are over, because a deal has been reached.
An agreement has been completed between the NFL and Matt Walsh that will allow Mr. Walsh, a former videotape operator with the New England Patriots, to share with the NFL information about activities occurring during his employment with the club from 1997-2003,” the statement reads.
Commissioner Roger Goodell will meet with Walsh in the league office on May 13.
The interview with Mr. Walsh will seek to determine whether he has any new information about that videotaping practice or other possible violations of league rules,” the NFL said. Under the agreement, Walsh must return any tapes or other items in his possession that belong to the team. The league and the Patriots have promised not to sue him. And the league and the Patriots “will indemnify him for any expenses, including legal fees that he incurs in connection with the interview.”
It’s unclear how far this commitment to indemnify Walsh goes; if he’s sued by, for example, Bill Belichick as a result of what Walsh tells Goodell, will the NFL and the Patriots cover Walsh financially?
After the May 13 meeting, there will be a news media briefing, which will be attended by Goodell.
The open question in all of this is whether Walsh will also have the ability to speak to the media or to Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). If the deal contemplates that Walsh will only speak to the league, then there are two potential explanations. First, Walsh is confident that he has enough information to prompt Goodell to take swift and stern action against the Patriots. Second, Walsh really doesn’t have anything and prefers not to be exposed as not having anything to a national television audience.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:51 pm
I’ve always wondered what’s in it for Matt Walsh. At first I thought it was just an instance of honor: he wanted the truth to be set free. Then I thought it was a case of bitterness: he was fired and wants to get back at them.
But it’s gone on too long for either of those. Now I think it must be that he’s wanted indemnity not from his interview or tapes in his possession, but so he can tell his story for a book and make money. I just can’t see why else this would be dragged on for so long and why he’d persist in wanting to say anything.
Whatever he says, the Patriots have already been (quite rightly) smeared in my opinion, and I just want normal football to return without these ugly cheating issues arising.
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Rating: 3.5 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Walsh probably will not be allowed to say anything publically, and Goodell will just bury it/burn it just as he did before, without going public about anything substantial, to protect his buddy Kraft.
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Rating: 1.65 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Who wants to wager on whether Goodell destorys evidence that Walsh brings to the meeting and Walsh walks out of Goodells office with more money than he walked in with.
The league wants it to go away, and that’s the easiest way to accomplish it.
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Rating: 1.75 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:59 pm
I totally agree with jjcruiser, now Walsh will be able to write a totally fabricated book and the Pats will have no legal recourse. I just can’t believe that the NFL could fall for such a ruse.
NFL welcome the newest version of Jose Canseco.
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Rating: 3.4 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Walsh is a disgruntled former employee who wanted 15 minutes of fame during the Super Bowl week, and wasn’t prepared for everything else that came with it. He has bupkus, and the “deal” reached is likely protection from being sued for slander. The Patriots don’t care…if they sue somebody it will be the Boston Herald.
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Rating: 2.65 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Of course the league wants it to go away. Do any of you out there seriously think that the Patriots were the only one’s doing this?
Every team does something like this. Jimmy Johnson stated many times that he taped when was with the Cowboys. Were the Patriots wrong for taping, absolutely. They violated a rule and were justly punished.
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Rating: 3.2 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Patriots haters are so cute. First, Goodell will never let Walsh talk and they will just delay this until people lose interest. Now it is the League will destroy evidence and not allow Walsh to speak to squash everything.
I’m sure if the League allows Walsh to do a primetime Barbara Walters special and show every tape he has from the Patriots no matter what is one them, people will say they paid Walsh off to not give the real dirty or show the real videos.
As far as I am concerned, they only need to be required to indemnify him to speak to Goodell and in a Senate hearing if it ever gets that far. I don’t think they should indemnify him if he wants to profit from this incidence by speaking to the media or writing a book. If he is going to profit off of this incidence, he should pay for his own legal expenses.
I still think this conspiracy theory crap is out of control. Everything in today’s society has to have an X-File twist to it.
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Rating: 2.5 / 5 with 10 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:10 pm
The one thing that I keep wondering about…..
If Walsh was fired for secretly taping conversations, what audio tapes does Walsh have?
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I agree. That’s what has taken so long. A big part of the negotiation was scripting exactly how all of this was going to go down so that it can be quietly swept under the rug.
I also agree that Walsh will walk away from this well-compensated, and I think under a new iron-clad agreement to keep his mouth shut.
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Rating: 1.5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Good timing by Goodell. He got the deal done before the draft so he won’t have to deal with questions this weekend. But, the actual meeting doesn’t take place for 3 weeks. When no one is paying attention to football. It is also long before training camps open so it will be forgotten by then, which means no lingering questions.
Of course, I have always believe that Walsh had nothing and got in over his head.
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Rating: 1.5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Great timing. Trades and trade rumors are flying. The draft is a few days away. What a great time for the NFL to finally get a deal done with Walsh.
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April 23rd, 2008 at 1:28 pm
prediction BB get a few game suspension from goodell just to shut people up. Patriots still win those games. Walsh writes a book and makes millions
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Rating: 1.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Cheatriots fans are so cute. They’ll say anything to allow themselves to believe those trophies aren’t tarnished as all hell. Cheaters from 2000-2006. And no, Jimmy Johnson never said he taped, he said he sent assistants into the opposing team’s coaches box after games to root through the trash can. LOL @ Pats fans making stuff up.
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Rating: 3.25 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Too bad the meeting wont take place before the draft, looks like that #7 draft pick is safe.
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Rating: 2 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I am not even a pats fan and really could care less about this. But that being said, if the walk thru that was taped was the red zone defense and still the Rams scored on their only trip to the RZ. For one I dont buy that the taping affected the game. Did the taping cause Warner to throw the TD pass to Ty Law? Did it stop the Rams from tying the game after being down 17-3? Get over it. If anyone here thinks this has not happed before is friggin naive. Also, to think this caused NE to go 18-0 is also foolish. One team got caught. How would Mangigni even know about the taping if he was not involved with it before. I want this to go away. man this site has turned into nothing about this. Remember people this is not a crime or anything. It is a rules violation if ever proved by a private league. Its so tiresome to hear this being harped on by ESPN and this gossip site
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Rating: 3.5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:22 pm
The NFL is heading towards the same crediblity as the WWF, if it’s not there already.
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April 23rd, 2008 at 2:25 pm
CaptainFantastik,
Yes, that is exactly what Jimmy Johnson said if you ignore the whole part about a KC scout told him about videotaping defensive signals and that he tried it but stopped because he felt it didn’t help. I guess if you actually ignore him actually admitting he taped opposing signals, you are right on the money.
Here is Jimmy Johnson’s exact quote:
“Q: How about the spying thing Jimmy. You’re a coach does that bother you what Belichick did?
JJ: Oh please. I’ve said it on our show. Eighteen years ago a scout for the Chiefs told me what they did, and he said what you need to do is just take your camera and you go and zoom in on the signal caller and that way you can sync it up. The problem is that if they’re not on the press box side you can’t do it from the press box, you have to do it from the sideline. This was 18 years ago.
Q: You think the NFL came down too hard on them?
JJ: No, no, I said it on the show. He was wrong for doing it for the simple reason that the league knew this was going on not just in New England but around the league. And the league sent out the memorandum to all of the teams saying you cannot do this. And so that’s when Bill Belichick was wrong. After he got the memorandum saying don’t do it any more, he did it.
Q: Did you ever steal signals?
JJ: Oh in a heartbeat, yeah. Yes I did.
Q: Via video, Jimmy? Or no?
JJ: Oh yeah, I did it with video and so did a lot of other teams in the league. Just to make sure that you could study it and take your time, because you’re going to play the other team the second time around. But a lot of coaches did it, this was commonplace.
”
http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/patriots/index.php/2008/02/23/jimmy-johnson-thinks-spygate-is-overblown/
So other than admitting to taping opposing teams defensive signals, nowhere does he admit to taping defensive signals.
Don’t worry, stupidity is cute too. You got that, which is nice.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Robo769 is so cute. He’s the typical NE fan who has to get the word “hater” in there to cut off any chance of a fair, opposing point of view. Kind of like starting off any sentence with “axe grinder” to smear Walsh.
The agreement is bunk — no public release means the league can sweep this under the rug 100 times worse than they did the first time. I hope some league professionals are reading this; we as fans aren’t dumb enough to swallow this little charade. If there’s nothing to hide, why not bring it all out into the open and prove it once and for all? Truthful disclosure — what a concept!
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
CaptainFantastik,
Other than admitting to stealing defensive signals with videotaping, you are right that Jimmy Johnson never mentioned videotaping defensive signals. He has gone as far to deny these baseless allegations by admitting to stealing defensive signals twice. Once on Fox and then again on WFAN in New York. No matter how times he clearly states that he DID videotape defensive signals, Pats fans still “incorrectly” believe he stole signals. Here is part of the transcript from WFAN:
Q: Did you ever steal signals?
JJ: Oh in a heartbeat, yeah. Yes I did.
Q: Via video, Jimmy? Or no?
JJ: Oh yeah, I did it with video and so did a lot of other teams in the league. Just to make sure that you could study it and take your time, because you’re going to play the other team the second time around. But a lot of coaches did it, this was commonplace.
Q: But did you do it by taping the signal caller?
JJ: Yeah.
Q: Oh you did.
JJ: That’s what I’m saying. I was saying one of Marty Schottenheimer’s scouts, Mark Hatley, who has passed away now, Mark told me that’s how they did it, and Howard Mudd their offensive line coach with Kansas City, who now coaches for Tony Dungy, he was the best in the entire league at stealing signals.
Q: Where’d you put your guy who was videotaping? Where was he?
JJ: My guy was up with my camera crew in the press box. So you’d just put an extra camera up with your camera crew in the press box who zoomed in on the signal callers. That’s the best way to do it, but anyway you can’t always do that because the press box camera crew might be on the same side as the opposing team. If they’re on the same side as the opposing team that’s when you need to do it from the sideline.
Don’t worry stupidity has it’s endearing qualities.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:27 pm
skaybaltimore, I wasn’t aware that the nature charity you mention had any credibility problems.
cjdevlin, Walsh was fired when his illicit audio tapes were retrieved from his desk. The tapes were conversations between Walsh and Pioli. Walsh denies that those tapes exist and that he was secretly taping conversations, despite two other Patriots employees witnessing him doing it.
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Rating: 2.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:04 pm
RoboBlow — Johnson ALSO said that after the league sent out a memo, it was pretty clear that the taping was no longer going to be tolerated yet Belichick did it anyway. What part of that do you really not understand?
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April 24th, 2008 at 4:20 am
Belichick already said he interpreted the rule differently. he thought you could record but not use it for that game…rather the next. Goodell said they gained no advantage against the Jets since it was taken in the first quarter.
and Belichick hasn’t been doing anything wrong for 6 years since the rule was only put out last year.
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