If secondhand accounts of speaking with Matt Walsh hasn’t filled your needs to hear from a videographer turned golf pro, the man himself will be on HBO’s Real Sports tomorrow night.
The Boston Globe has some excerpts from the interview and, needless to say, Walsh’s accounts don’t mirror those of Bill Belichick.
“Coach Belichick’s explanation for having misinterpreted the rules. To me, that really didn’t sound like taking responsibility for what we had done, especially considering the great lengths that we had gone through, uh, to hide what we were doing.”
Walsh goes into great detail about cover stories the team created for why they needed an extra camera and fingered Patriots video coordinator Jimmy Dee as the man who educated him about evading detection.
Walsh also scoffed at the notion that Belichick “couldn’t pick him out of a lineup,” saying Belichick’s wife bought him a Christmas gift and, via this account in the Providence Journal of the interview, repeated the story told by Arlen Specter about a quarterback telling him that tapes he made of Tampa’s defensive signals resulted in Drew Bledsoe being told the correct defense he was about to face 75% of the time during a 2000 game.
Walsh’s comments in full paint a far larger picture than the one that Roger Goodell gave on Tuesday. By destroying the evidence and declaring the case closed, the NFL created an appearance of covering their own rear when total transparency would be the easiest way for this to really fade into the night.
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May 15th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
In a couple of year’s we’ll see Matt Walsh in a celebrity boxing match vs. Gary Coleman or Danny Pintauro.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Yeah alot of good knowing 75% of the plays, the Patriots LOST the game that day 21-16! And 7 of the points came on a punt return for a touchdown. Who is the bigger moron - Specter for keeping this thing alive or Drew Bledsoe for knowing “75% of the plays” and still sucking in the game?
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
yeah but someone’s ox would have really been gored then, and real nastiness would have consumed the whole season. so, instead, the wagons were circled, a token meaningless non-sacrifice was conducted, and back to business as usual.
happens in the workplace too. trust me.
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May 15th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
SO now Walsh is going ont he interview circuit? The thing is we KNOW he is being for this interview so he had better have something to say. However when put under the scrutiny of the NFL questioning he didnt have quite so much to say? I’m not saying I don’t believe him but clearly he lied to the Herald and the Times so how much of what he says should we believe?
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I’m no Patriots hater (Although did enjoy Giants beating them), and could care less on how and when they cheated but the fact that the tapes were destroyed is intriguing. Any smart lawyer, prosecuter, judge, know not to destroy any type of evidence of any kind and this is no different. Goodell had to have been hiding something. My thought is the original investigation on Belichick and the Patriots was not thorough enough. If Belichick was dumb ass enough to cheat, how can he be trusted to be truthful to Goodell? Goodell should have had people like Walsh and other personnel part of the investigation. His failure to do so is coming back to haunt him. There’s just too many coincidences and contradictions to put this issue to bed. It’s sad that it had to come to this, but as we all say…What comes around, goes around!
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Wasn’t that game against Tampa a whitewash? By Tampa? Again, this helps even further that defensive signals and knowing what the defense is going to do 75% of the time seems to not always help.
Granted, Bledsoe was on his decline, but still I hear the argument that’s why Brady is so good.
Of course the NFL is covering this up, now that Specter wants to dig deeper we’re now going to see various ways of every team in how they try to cheat, gain a competitive advantage, etc. He says he’s looking out for the fans and basically just like the steriod garbage it’s going to hit for a bit, then die away like everything else.
You’re right Florio, it’s funny how no one seems to care that the Niners and Broncos cheated, er gained a competitive advantage with salary cap fudging…I guess you’re really only cheating if you’re vidoe taping signals.
If the Pats only won Super Bowls by video taping help, then why didn’t it help in the 05, 06 seasons? The Pats were downed before they even got to the title game in those seasons. Maybe they didn’t use Memorex tapes, who knows…
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Walsh makes a good point. Goodell was saying that Walsh had no new information before he even spoke with Walsh. What is up with that?
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
So in 2000 preseason, the Buccaneers (playing the team that they would face two weeks later in the season opener) ran enough of their regular season defense so that the Patriots could then identify 75% of the plays?
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
A *quarterback* told him, eh? I suppose we pretty much all knew anyway that Tom Brady had benefited from these tapes one way or another, but if a *quarterback* on the 2000 Patriots team not named Drew Bledsoe told him about it (and that’s the definite impression one gets reading the ProJo blog) the options are John Friesz, Michael Bishop, or Brady.
If it was Tom Brady, then we go from just strongly believing that Brady benefited from the cheating to having proof that he did. Suddenly, the NFL’s Golden Boy (TM) has some questions to answer before we all change the rules so he can be elected into the Hall of Fame before he even retires.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Mike,
Please STOP giving this guy attention. I absolutely love your site, and I visit 20-25 times a day. I can’t take it any more. You are turning his 15 minutes into months, and by exposing this you are giving him exactly what he wanted. This won’t go away until it stops being talked about. I hate the Pats as much as anyone (Snow Bowl B.S. will never be forgetten in Raider Nation) but this is ridiculous. Let the poor bastard go back to Hawaii to never be heard from again.
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
His 15 minutes are up. Go away. This story is tired and boring.
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Walsh’s contention that Bledsoe knew the correct defense 75% of the time is complete BS. Coaches change their signals between games and in between halfs. Why do you think defensive coordinators cover their mouths when the give a radio signal? Because they know the other team is watching! To not change signals would be idiotic since it is LEGAL to have people on the sidelines diagramming your calls.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I’m curious as to why no one is mentioning that this is a disgruntled former by the organization he’s now speaking out on. It’s not like this guy doesn’t have an axe to grind over being fired by the Patriot’s…does it?
Look, the Pat’s broke the rules, were caught, and punished. The part that I don’t understand is why Matt Walsh’s word is being taken as gospel an no one is playing devil’s advocate regarding his credibility. In such an alleged wide spread clandestine activity that supposedly over many years you’d think there would be other people speaking out or to be witnesses to support Walsh’s claims. Whole situation seems to border on lunacy with the imbalance in coverage.
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Rating: 1.8 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
And do you seriously think any players or staff members would be telling a lowly video assistant anything of value. I’m sure the Pats are just as tight lipped around their own staff as they are around the media.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
So according to Matt Walsh, Drew Bledsoe was a border line Hall of famer before he knew 75% of the defenses plays, and a sub par QB when he knew what 75% of defensive plays? (Some of the younger readers may be unaware of Drew Bledsoe 94-2000 was arguably a top 5 QB.)As a matter of fact, Post spygate Brady has better #’s as well. (Better WR’s also.)
Ultimatly, It’s a shame that Walsh will profit from this, and that this story is close to a year old. Can’t we just play football?
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
anybody know what bledsoe’s numbers were that day?
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May 15th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Ironically 2000 was the teams worst offense in the Bledsoe era. Couldn’t have helped that much.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Well its not like anyone bought Belichik’s story that he misinterpreted the rules anyway. I wish this story would go away, and im not even a Patriots fan. Enough is enough with this. Jay Fiedler came out and said the Dolphins used to steal signals as well and you know what? The Dolphins were always terrible when he was the QB anyway. Does it provide that much of an advantage? The Patriots have been a stacked team for a while now anyway, I don’t think they won much more because they were stealing signals. You still have to make the throws, catch the ball etc. If the Dolphins were doing it im sure other teams were as well. There are other things wrong with the NFL that poeople should worry about (steroids, guys getting arrested constantly, Eric Mangini’s man boobs)
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Maybe Walsh will be on Hard Knocks too. Or maybe he already has footage of the Cowboys that HBO can use. Everyone’s looking to save a buck these days.
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Rating: 2.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
If your opponent knows 75% of your plays before the ball is snapped, you’re going to lose. I don’t care if you’re playing the Little Sisters of the Poor - you’re going to lose.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Who cares? You’re 15 minutes of fame are over pal - go away. I’m tired of hearing about this crap. And this is coming from a devout Pats hater…..
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
By destroying the evidence and declaring the case closed, the NFL created an appearance of covering their own rear when total transparency would be the easiest way for this to really fade into the night.
Truer words have never been spoken.
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Rating: 3.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
He also talked to the Times and Washington Post today. Mr. Walsh needs to shut his yap before he shows inconsistency and finds himself the new victim.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I have an issue with Walsh’s statements. Why would he say he kept the tapes to show future employers his caliber of work if the work he was doing was wrong?
This issue is not done and I have a feeling there will be a Patriots side to Matt Walsh’s story. Why was he fired? Why did he wait to talk if he had no non-disclosure agreement?
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Rating: 2 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Just because the wife buys a Christmas gift for a staff member does not mean the boss knows who you are. It’s called being a good boss. Belicheck probably gave his wife a list of staffers and said “Buy gifts for these people.” The name was stuck on the gift and then handed out by someone. I doubt Belicheck even knew how many names were on the list, let alone matching names to faces.
Now its the QB who has nothing better to do than talk to the lowest guy on the totem pole about how the tapes are used?
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Rating: 2 / 5 with 4 rating(s)