By Ron Borges
On the matter of Spygate, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has changed his story more times than John Kerry changes his mind.
First, it was nothing. Now it’s quite something. First “we’’ discovered it, then the Jets discovered it. First the Patriots “admitted it.’’ Then he remembered the Jets had a videotape of it before anyone admitted it so that probably made denying it a little difficult, even for Bill Belichick.
First we want to talk with Matt Walsh. Then we want to accuse him of being a thief, a rogue and a generally unsavory character and so we send an ex-FBI agent to try and prove it. After which we tell him we really do just want to talk.
First, we never got a letter from Sen. Arlen Specter. Oops, then I guess we did. And on and on this has gone.
The latest on Spygate seems to once again involve interesting timing, as this matter has from the start. Just as word is leaked that the NFL and Walsh’s high-priced Washington attorney are close to finalizing a deal that would allow the former Patriot videographer to tell what, if anything, he knows about Patriotic espionage in Foxborough, the Boston Globe comes out with a lengthy, one-sided indictment of Walsh’s character. This included such shocking revelations as: he inflated his resume and once got mad enough at his college roommate for using his bed to entertain his girl friend that he put a blender blade in it to convince them to cease and desist whatever activities were going on above, or below, his sheets. Did they mention he used to throw the daily paper into the hedge instead of onto the front stoop on his paper route as well? And, less we forget, he allegedly got fired by the Patriots for surreptitiously audiotaping his boss, Scott Pioli, during a meeting in which Pioli was being critical of Walsh’s job performance in the scouting department.
After reading this “month-long investigation,’’ several thoughts came immediately to mind. First, they put more time and effort into looking into Walsh than they ever did looking into the questions he allegedly is going to raise. Second, reporter Bob Hohler could have written an equally unflattering indictment of Bill Belichick, raising similarly extraneous issues that might call his credibility into question. I believe an unnamed former colleague of Walsh’s termed him a “loose cannon.’’ Well, didn’t the former president of the New York Jets, Steve Gutman, question Belichick’s sanity eight years ago? So what?
One could find a host of present and former Jets’ front office employees who vehemently believe Bill Belichick stole $1 million from the late Leon Hess, Jets’ owner at the time, claiming Hess allegedly gave it to him as a ransom to remain an assistant under Bill Parcells and then take over when Parcells left coaching. When Parcells left the sidelines a year later, Belichick left for Foxborough…with the money. At least that’s what they’ll tell you. So if this is a credibility argument there’s plenty of fodder to heap on both sides it seems.
The Globe apparently forgot it also has “guidelines’’ about the use of anonymous quotes. One is that they never be used to slander someone because who knows what ax the anonymous fellow or lady might have to grind. So what was the name again on the first quote in the Walsh article about being “a loose cannon?’’ “Anonymous.’’ So much for guidelines.
The article also mentions for no apparent reason that after leaving pro football Walsh, at 26 as is pointed out, took a job as a bag boy at a golf course on Cape Cod. The article adds this is a job normally done by high school and college students. So what?
If that’s significant, what does that make a college grad like Eric Mangini, when he decided to use his college education from Wesleyan to serve as a ballboy for, of all people, Bill Belichick, in Cleveland? And what does that make another Wesleyan grad named Bill Belichick when, after graduating from one of the top schools in the country, he chooses to work for room and board and then $25 a week for the Colts as a driver and gofer for then head coach Ted Marchibroda?
What it makes all three of them is young guys who decided to accept as low a job as there is to get into a business they thought they might like. According to the evidence it worked well for all three. The first two became million-dollar NFL head coaches and less than five years after Walsh took that bag job he was the assistant golf pro at one of the most luxurious golf resorts on Maui. Maybe being a bag boy was worth it since it led him to what he wanted on an island many people would call paradise?
So what we now know from this month-long ‘’investigation” is that Matt Walsh claims to have pertinent information on Patriotic espionage and 13 years ago was involved in a college prank that WEEI Monday tried to make sound like a knife attack. If his apparently lascivious roommate and his girl friend stayed off Walsh’s bed they never would have known what was under the sheets in the first place, would they? Regardless, what does that prove about whether or not he knows something about the Patriots’ videotaping practices under Bill Belichick?
The larger question remains. What is the hold up in making a deal with Walsh that both sides can live with and that frees him from possible legal action from the Patriots, the NFL or some as yet unnamed person (Ernie Adams? Ernie Adams? Ernie Adams?)?Goodell has been all over the place with this thing, at one point indicating the whole matter was blown out of proportion and then last week asking for Draconian powers to sweep into any team’s locker room, coaches boxes, sidelines etc. to search for evidence of cheating. Which is it? No problem or big problem? Only Roger knows for sure.
Which brings us back to the questioning of Matt Walsh. If the NFL really believes it is important to talk to him (which it is, regardless of whether he has what he implies he has or not because either way it either clears the Patriots or cleans out a nasty stench more than a few opposing coaches have privately complained about for years in New England) then talk to him. Give him the Brian McNamee deal – no problems as long as you tell the truth - and make clear that someone from the Patriots simply saying, “Oh no we didn’t’’ doesn’t qualify as proof that Walsh is lying.
That done, let him speak and let the public decide, a full airing being the best disinfectant in this whole mess. As for Goodell, the more he talks the more you wonder how deeply this cheating scandal goes.
The Commissioner is now proposing that the league require club owners, general managers, and coaches to certify annually that their team does not cheat and hasn’t broken the NFL’s anti-espionage rules. He wants the power to level greater penalties for teams that circumvent those rules. So one minute he says it’s all been taken care of so let’s move on and the next he’s sending out a memo last Thursday to members of the Competition Committee which was immediately leaked to the Washington Post (must mean it wasn’t the New York Times’ turn to be fed by the league office or else someone on Park Avenue remembered Specter’s office just happens to be in Washington) asking for enhanced powers to pursue cheaters where ever they may reside.
That’s the same Competition Committee whose members said last month at the scouting combine in Indianapolis after being briefed by Goodell that Spygate was a dead issue. So which is it?
“As the commissioner and the Competition Committee, we must take every appropriate step to safeguard the integrity of the NFL,” Goodell wrote. “We have already taken some positive and significant actions this past season, but we must go further to ensure fair competition amongst our 32 teams and maintain public confidence in our game.”
Goodell went on to say he wanted the league to keep closer tabs on its teams’ cheating, including having the power to spot check unannounced locker rooms, press boxes, coaches’ booths, the coach-to-QB communication systems and any other in-stadium communication. Why all that if the Spygate matter was no big deal?
John Mara, co-owner of the Giants and a Competition Committee member, later told the Globe he didn’t think “everybody was cheating at all’’ but he did assume some teams other than the Patriots probably had in the past. He emphasized he did not think it was “rampant’’ however and added, “”We’re all satisfied that it was handled appropriately and the punishment was meted out. We don’t think it’s happening anymore. To keep dragging it up and talking about it is kind of ridiculous.’’
Then why is the Commissioner asking for an enhancement of rules against cheating and the authority to bust into any coaches booth or locker room without warning if there’s no reason on Earth to do so?
Of course, if you’d asked him a week before the revelations about the Patriots if anyone was cheating in the NFL or if he needed enhanced powers to prevent video and audio cheating around the league, Goodell would very likely have said “That’s ridiculous,’’ which is why the NFL looks more and more ridiculous with each new announcement.
In the end we may never know the extent of what has gone on in Foxborough or elsewhere around the NFL but what we can assume is this much effort wouldn’t have been put into cover ups and character assassinations if there was nothing to the charges. Generally in professional sports, where there’s smoke there’s fire and where there’s frantic disassembling and reassembling of the “facts’’ it’s usually because the real facts aren’t too pretty.
7 responses so far ↓
1 cblooz // Mar 11, 2008 at 7:15 am
Ok Ron we get it you want the expose on Bill Belicheck that you seem someone to beg to write well Ron you have your own website and I bet you have more than one source (Bledsoe, Mangini, Milloy etc. etc.) who would be happy to give you some inside info so why don’t YOU write the piece.
But in response to this latest piece of yours a few comments.
There is no question that the NFL has handled this poorly and I think its clearer day by day is that Goodell originally thought he was exerting his authority when the Jets complained and within a relatively short time he found out that more than ONE team did unsavory things to win games in the NFL. It doesn’t make it right Ron but Goodell must have thought that for the good of game he wanted his league to move forward and not get embroiled in a scandal like MLB and the Olympics have been embroiled in for 10 years now.
How else can you explain that the competition committee is going along with this and wants the league to move forward? Yes Ron we know you can find a couple of voices who aren’t satisfied with the outcome but even you have to admit that most are not calling for more sanctions to the Pats or any other team.
The Globe piece on Walsh was probably over the top but it does paint a more complete picture of a guy that up to this point is invisible to all of us until he talks. But you continually skip over a big part of his story which is that he was fired by the Pats long before this spygate story broke-isn’t it possible that he does have an axe to grind? Not unlike the one you have with your former employer? You certainly go out of your way to bash them when you have a chance.
And you also keep skipping over the Spector/Comcast connection which you apparently thinks has nothing to do with this story while many others including news reporters in the Philly area beg to differ.
Failing to even acknowledge this connection is suspect on your part.
All I am saying is that if you want a fair and balanced story you are as guilty of picking and choosing information as Hohler, Goodell, Kraft or Belicheck might have been. And its obvious to all that unless the story comes out that you want to hear you won’t be happy but like I said in the beginning Ron this is your website why don’t you do the expose I, for one, would be happy to read it and weigh the facts.
2 Shawn // Mar 11, 2008 at 9:46 am
Borgie! I think this is great. I love that you’re being scrappy and you still wanna go after the Patriots. It’s too bad that you gotta create your own website to do it. You should definitely try and write a book about this whole spygate thing if it never goes public. Most people would understand you can’t be objective on the subject, but I for one would still buy it. I’m sure a lot of people would!
3 johnny1022 // Mar 11, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Ron- I’ve read your postings on the Spygate saga and added my own. Your objectivity is appreciated, but I realize that there are those in this town who view your frustration with Spygate and unwillingness to buy into the Patriot’s PR machine as personal bias. That’s too bad, but all you can do is seek the truth, and it’s clear the truth hasn’t been fully uncovered yet.
I’d like to bring some focus on a less-than-willing player in the Spygate saga that has been unable to “step up” and make a play on behalf of his team. Instead, he’s gone soft, hoping that someone else will cover for him. Alas, Bill Belichick has missed his assignment and Goodell really isn’t in position to make the play.
Robert Kraft hasn’t been seen or heard much from in Spygate as the saga unfolds. Kind of strange behavior for a guy who likes to remind us about his commitment to integrity. Apparently, the Patriots Way doesn’t involve stepping up for your teammates when they’ve done something which may you have implicitly sanctioned but don’t want to be associated with. Interesting that he’s allowed Belichick to twist in the wind without defending him, and without taking any direct personal responsibility for the fiasco.
There are a few “plays”, that Kraft could have made along the way… much like Asante dropping the interception or Rodney failing to knock the ball free. Yet no one is pointing to these missed plays:
KRAFT could have stopped the taping and spying before anyone outside of the team knew about it.
KRAFT could have fined and suspended Belichick when the problem first surfaced, before the NFL got involved
KRAFT could have called a press conference to deal with the cheating allegations transparently and openly. He could have explained when the taping REALLY started and tried to explain why the outcome of games wasn’t really affected. It would be difficult to deal with the skepticism, but he couldn’t be faulted to trying to make a play.
KRAFT could have brought Doug Flutie in from the bench to address the rumored statements he made to friends regarding the Patriots irregular use of QB headsets past the NFL prescribed cutoff and the information being related to the QB. He could have brought in his IT experts to explain the oft-cited difficulty with the radio frequencies employed at Foxborough stadium.
KRAFT could have shown more of the upfront leadership (that he often talks about) with NFL owners, the competition committee and Goodell when they conducted their investigations and announced the matter fully discovered and resolved.
KRAFT could have run down Arlen Specter, privately met with him, explained the extent of the spying and assured him that the Superbowls weren’t impacted. Instead, he watched as Specter pulled his end around, hoping Goodell is fast enough to run him down.
KRAFT could have taken the hit for Spygate on behalf of the entire organization. After all, he’s ultimately responsible for the behavior of the organization for which often takes credit. However, if you read closely his ONLY definitive public statement on the matter you’ll see carefully parsed language in which he “accepts” the NFL punishment but takes ZERO personal responsibility for the transgression. Even here, Bob let his lawyer make the play, rather than filling the gap himself. (http://www.patriots.com/news/index.cfm?ac=generalnewsdetail&pid=27698&pcid=47),
Not that scouting report on Kraft should have led us to expect anything different in “game” conditions. He’s always been a player who’s had trouble stepping up. If you ever read Will McDonough’s great reporting of the nonsense during the Tuna years, you’ll see that Kraft played the press one way on the field, and yet played Parcells in a very different way behind the scenes. Bob missed the tackle on Christian Peter, but somehow his wife managed to make the play even if it was a little too far downfield. If you lived in Hartford, waiting for him to finish the play for a new stadium there after head faking the Boston/Providence community, you’re still waiting.
I know that Ron has been somewhat ostracized among local writers for speaking out against the Patriots. Others who have posted critical pieces in blogs and boards have been labeled as turncoats or “trolls”. In folklore, the definition of troll can be extended to one who shuns social contact, avoids the light of day, and is well versed in the art of deception.
Patriots fans, if there is a troll in our midst, you might look first in the corner executive office at Foxborough Stadium. He may be profiting from his role, but he’s certainly hurting the Patriots and the fans of New England.
4 felonious // Mar 12, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Johnny 1022,
You’ve got to be kidding. The reason Kraft hasn’t come down on his coach and his coach’s methodology is because there is nothing wrong about what he did. The league was bullied into making a big deal about it because it happened in New York and the writers who cover the Jets in New York, like Ron here, all hate Belichick. This hatred is irrational. Writers have never been able to understand how a man with a personality like Belichick’s could ever succeed as a coach in the National Football League. When they all screamed “CHEATER, CHEATER”, Goodell overreacted and imposed the harshest penalty ever assessed any franchise in the history of the league. FOR SCOUTING WITH A VIDEO CAMERA! Then, in announcing his sanctions, he intimated that more could be forthcoming. Kraft supported the commissioner but he couldn’t have been happy with the way Goodell allowed the story to linger for weeks and singled-out the Patriots organization as if this was exclusively their issue.
I submit that these methods, used by Belichick for years, were well known by the other teams. He never kept it a secret. The other teams just didn’t think very much could be accomplished with the information the videotape provided. Belichick, raised by a scout with a scout’s attention to detail, dispatched his video crew to capture all the things that in the old days the scout would write in his notebook. The tape streamlined the scouting reports and could be digitally archived so that the data could follow a coach and his staff from franchise to franchise. It is an ingenious innovation, one that should be welcomed by every other team. The fact that they complained about it reflects more about them than it does about Belichick.
Enter Matt Walsh. Walsh is a patsy caught up in a bigger game. Comcast has lucrative business interest with the National Football League. They want NFL product and they want to be able to dictate the terms for their access to it. Specter is their hammer and Walsh is their leverage. The problem is that Walsh doesn’t have the goods, certainly not the goods that could be held over the league and the Patriots franchise. Sure he has high-priced legal representation but I ask you, especially you Ron, when was the last time Kraft lost in court?
The Patriots success on the field of play has been and will continue to be the result of preparation and execution on game day, not a bi-product of an illegal covert surveillance operation just as the Colts success has been of similar character and not a bi-product of their General Manager being on the competition committee.
5 cmartin75 // Mar 20, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Ron, The NFL will talk to Matt Walsh when the FBI finds Whitey Bulger. Neither side wants to talk to the other side cause they fear the truth will get out on just how corrupt both organizations are.
Ron, Don’t let this story die. Bring it up around draft time and more importantly opening week.
I would love nothing more than to see Krafty Bob and the Patriots held accountable for their gross transgressions.
6 cblooz // Mar 28, 2008 at 7:37 am
Here is my problem with your analysis Ron.
You take the non words of one Matt Walsh as all the ammunition you need to prove that something stinks in Foxboro and in the Commisioner’s office.
But lets play real here Ron-I think it is safe to assume that over the last 8 years Matt can not be the only person fired by the Patriots and might also have an axe to grind with the organization and I include players, coaches in this group.
So tell me why is it so hard to find even just one more person who is willing to be named who knows something to confirm any one aspect of this? Why is there not one former employee who is willing to come to Matt’s defense either named or un-named? These facts continue to get in the way of your constant back handed attacks on the Pats.
By the way when was the last time you admired Spector or Rush for anything else-sports related or not? I’m waiting for you next to start quoting Bill O’Reilly and the Drudge Report.
7 Sike Mando // Apr 1, 2008 at 5:49 am
Both Goddell and Kraft say there is no confidentiality agreement. The “protection” Walsh wants is probably against a perjury charge. If he had tapes, he could have handed them over, and let the chips fall where they may. If he’s worried about perjury, its because his “evidence” isn;t nearly as damning as some think/hope it will be.
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