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One of the first things we noticed (and, after reading the language seven times, began to understand) regarding the Matt Walsh agreement is that, after Walsh surrenders to the league whatever tangible evidence that he has in his possession, he’ll still have access to it.
Under paragraph 1(b) of the agreement, Walsh’s lawyer may keep one copy of each “document” that is given to the league. Also, Walsh and his lawyer have the ability to inspect on request any “tangible property” that is surrendered to the NFL.
In other words, the suspicion held by some that the league will harvest Walsh’s documents and/or videotapes and/or any other hard evidence only to destroy the materials is erroneous. Walsh will be able to keep a copy of certain things, and he will be able to retrieve and inspect certain other things that he turns over.
That’s all for this entry. I’ve already got a headache from trying to figure out the agreement. And I’m only in paragraph 1.
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Two obvious questions:
1) If he doesn’t have anything, why would this be included in the agreement?
2) Why is the meeting with the NFL occurring after the draft? If there is anything of substance, shouldn’t it occur before the draft in the event picks need to be surrendered (again)?
Oh well, at least it will be over soon…
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:38 pm
What are all the conspiracy theorists going to have to talk about now?
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Rating: 1.8 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Peace agreements between warring nations have required less documentation.
This might have been the greatest non-story ever dumped upon the American public.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Good. Don’t let Goodell and the Cheatriots try to sweep it under the rug a 2nd time. I want to see this stuff. And if there’s anything from the Rams-Patriots Super Bowl, suspend Bill Belicheat for the year and take away that trophy……not that it isn’t already tarnished anyway. We already know they were cheating from 2000-2006.
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Oh no! The Patriots haters have lost their biggest argument that the Lague will just destroy all the evidence. What are they going to do now?
Good thing the “Stepford Wive” clause is still in the agreement where Walsh agrees to be brainwashed into a perfect loyal employee of the Patriots. Otherwise, the haters and the conspiracy theorists wouldn’t have anything to throw out there.
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Rating: 2 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Anyplace we can go to read it for ourselves?
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April 23rd, 2008 at 1:54 pm
KY,
Simple answers:
1.) Walsh may want to keep the tapes even if they have nothing on them. Considering he kept them for all these years, he might have some sentimental or financial reasons for it. Considering it is speculated that he has the endzone shot of the Adam Vinatieri field goal in the Rams’ Super Bowl, that might be worth something sentimentally or financially eventhough it has nothing to incriminate the Patriots.
2.) Goodell has always maintained that once a deal was in place that it would take several weeks to schedule a meeting between him and Walsh. It isn’t shocking. Goodell is obviously extremely busy this week and Walsh may not be able to make it back to the East Coast until the 13th.
As your conspiracy theories keep dwindling, keep holding onto anything you can.
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Rating: 2.15 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Robo769…FYI, I’ve trademarked the fact that you can’t use the word “perfect” in future posts regarding the Pats.
Thanks and God Bless.
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Rating: 3.4 / 5 with 10 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:56 pm
He had better be able to share the same information with Specter/ the public/ the media. If we only get the NFL’s sanitized version of the story, there will always be doubt, particularly among the tinfoil-hat crowd.
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April 23rd, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Ummmm helloooo? You went to law school for this!! We’ll wait……
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April 23rd, 2008 at 2:08 pm
KY,
If only I could trademark Patriots envy. I’d own your house, car, and first born child.
You do realize that trying to tear down the Patriots won’t make your team any better. But keep trying.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Hey, Bobo769 –
Why in the world would anyone be envious of the most tarnished professional sports team since the 1919 Blacksox?
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:49 pm
skaybaltimore,
Because they beat virtually everyone and continue to be good. Besides, cheating is a Super Bowl tradition. Denver got fined a 3rd round pick for cheating to win a Super Bowl. The 49ers were fined $300k and a fifth round pick for cheating to get their last Super Bowl. And those are just the ones who got caught. Jimmy Johnson admitted doing what the Pats did when he coached the Cowboys. So they probably cheated too. The Steelers of the 70s are accused of using steriods.
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Rating: 2.6 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:30 pm
People don’t “envy” the Pats; what they don’t like is the unfairness of the cheating, the “holier-than-thou” we-got-away-with-it-so-what attitude, and the little slap on the wrist they received. No one envies the wins* because they are tainted.
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:46 pm
LOL. Only a Pats fan would even attempt to rationalize/glorify cheating. Actually Robo — the Pats are the laughingstock of the NFL now. And if/when it comes out that the Pats cheated in the SB against the Rams, we’ll see how great you think it is when your coach gets banned, and your team loses more draft picks. Now THAT’S something most of the fans of the other 31 teams can appreciate. You’re too funny, man.
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Yeah, we’re so envious. LOL. Always having to be on the defensive at the mere mention of our team’s accomplishments*, having it be a matter of common knowledge that our team has been cheating for 6 years, knowing that now or in the future anytime the Patriots dynasty* is mentioned it will be met with skepticism on par with Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens “accomplishments”, being a member of the most annoying fanbase on the planet…..no, you guys can have all that.
And I see we have more of the “everybody’s doing it” justification. Two key distinctions here:
1) There is proof the Patriots have been cheating for 6 years and have been punished for it.
2) There is ZERO evidence that anybody else has been taping signals.
And no, Jimmy Johnson never said he taped coaching signals, he said he sent assistants to root the trash of opposing coaches boxes after games. Although JJ is a scumbag and I wouldn’t put it past him. Marv Levy from that era is on record stating that not only had he never done that, but didn’t know of any other coach who did either.
2000-2006 New England Cheatriots*
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:58 pm
The Patriots got a slap on the wrist? The biggest fine against a team ever? More than when Denver or 49er got cheating in Super Bowl years?
The Pats wins ain’t tainted in my mind. Just like I don’t think the Broncos’ or 49ers wins are tainted either eventhough they were won at least in part by cheating. Jimmy Johnson admitted twice that he “cheated” the same way the Pats did with the Cowboys and that doesn’t change my opinion on that. Every team violates rules and test the bounds of fairplay. It is just the degree of it and many teams have been caught doing just as much as the Pats. It has been documented over the years.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:00 pm
skaybaltimore,
Yeah, I was laughing when they went 16-0 during the regular season. Laughing when they won the Super Bowls. Laughing that they are Super Bowl favorites this upcoming season.
If this was any other team, this would have been over long ago. No one would care. Because it is the Patriots, people care. Jealousy breeds hatred.
As long as the Pats keep rolling over the AFC and possibly the league, people can laugh at them all they want. Doesn’t hurt me.
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:08 pm
CaptainFantastik,
Jimmy Johnson absolutely admitted to videotaping signals. Not just once but twice. He said it on the air and then backed up his claims on WFAN. He said he was taught to do it from a Chief and he used to do it from the coaches film booth unless it was located behind the opposing teams’ bench and then he did from the sidelines. Google Jimmy Johnson WFAN and defensive signals and you will see it since I obviously am not allowed to post the transcripts on these message boards. Johnson’s admission is proof to me. He accuses Marty Schottenhemer of doing it too.
It has been documented that both the 49ers and Broncos cheated during their Super Bowl years. I believe every team does try to bend the rule books and some go farther than others. I guarantee you other teams in recent years have gone as far or farther than the Patriots. Belichick didn’t learn to do this on his own since we know through Jimmy Johnson that this practice is at least 18 years old. A lot of coaches come from the Parcells, Belichick, and Jimmy Johnson trees or extended trees. I bet other branches of these trees have tried these practices.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Sorry to nitpick, but the 49ers cheated on the salary cap in ‘97. Their last Super Bowl was after the ‘94 season. It has been SUGGESTED that they cheated during their Super Bowl years, but it has never been DOCUMENTED.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Seriously…is there anything more pathetic that someone trying to justify cheating — either by saying “EVERYBODY ELSE DID IT”, or by saying that Belichick didn’t cheat because he believed he wasn’t doing anything wrong? What is this…Junior High School revisited?
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April 23rd, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Hey, Bozo769 — Enjoy your patented “19-0″ T-shirt. You can wear it while reading the 1948 newspaper:”DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN”, m’kay?
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April 24th, 2008 at 4:10 am
“Seriously…is there anything more pathetic that someone trying to justify cheating — either by saying “EVERYBODY ELSE DID IT”
actually there is, it’s someone like you who selectively chooses from a group of cheaters and acts like only one cheated……the “one” being the Patriots. it’s common knowledge other Super Bowl winners have cheated in some form or another, yet you act as if only the Patriots have.
let me make it a little clearer…..Mangini will never get another HC job because he opened his mouth. coaches do this taping all the time, even Mangini benefited from it by getting the Jets job, yet he’s high and mighty now?
“I just know it’s been going on for years,” Vermeil said. “It’s more of an integrity issue than anything else.”
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
April 24th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Like I said, Henry — pathetic. Period.
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April 24th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Vermeil’s opinion > Skaybaltimore’s opinion
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