http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_y...YcB?slug=ap-goodell-specter&prov=ap&type=lgns Can't say I'm too surprised here. Goodell also seems like a culprit now as well, the punishment he dished out seems pretty light considering he knew it's been going on for so long and has tainted 3 super bowls. Also, why didn't he let this information out when he found out about it? If he wants to save face and seem like he wasn't in on this somehow then he needs to do something big, a Belichick suspension would be a good start.
Goodell comes out looking horrifically bad here - how can he possibly say that he knew it was going on for years and did nothing, but when it came out it was suddenly a terrible thing that warranted big fines and losing a first round draft choice? Those two statements cannot possibly go together.
Bingo.... the NFL was trying to cover this up. It came out and they had to do something about. If not for that game against the Jets this would still be going on and the NFL would know about it and yet nothing would have been done. Congress should be going after the NFL. People could have won or lost lots of money based on a illegal actions going on in NFL games.
Goodell needs to be tossed out of the NFL, he is a disgrace. This is the leagues top guy? Give me a break, what a bum, toss him and Belicheat out on their asses. It sucks to be a Rams, Eagles or Panthers fan knowing your Superbowl was lost to a bunch of cheaters, hell, our own Jets have been screwed god knows how many times by these bums??? With these refs betting on NBA games, Roids in MLB, now the cheating Pats with the NFL Commish on their side, I think Pro Wrestling has more class then these leagues.
Why isn't this story getting enough play? The NFL is a bunch of scum for not releasing this to the public when it had all the time in the world. It's clear now that the league is trying to defend the Pats above and beyond what should be expected for a guilty party.
Cue Baron Samedi: "everybody does it. . . . no proof it affected the outcomes of the games . . . . I love gerbils . . ."
For those who can't click links: Belichick has been taping since 2000, Goodell tells Specter By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer February 13, 2008 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bill Belichick has been illegally taping opponents' defensive signals since he became the New England Patriots' coach in 2000, according to Sen. Arlen Specter, who said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told him that during a meeting Wednesday. "There was confirmation that there has been taping since 2000, when Coach Belichick took over," Specter said. Specter said Goodell gave him that information during the 1-hour, 40-minute meeting, which was requested by Specter so the commissioner could explain his reasons for destroying the Spygate tapes and notes. ADVERTISEMENT "There were a great many questions answered by Commissioner Goodell," Specter, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters after the meeting. "I found a lot of questions unanswerable because of the tapes and notes had been destroyed." Goodell said Belichick told him he believed the taping was legal; Goodell said he did not concur. "He said that's always been his interpretation since he's been the head coach," the commissioner said. "We are going to agree to disagree on the facts." Specter, from Pennsylvania, wants to talk to other league officials about what exactly was taped and which games may have been compromised. "We have a right to have honest football games," he said. Goodell noted that "we were the ones that disclosed" the Patriots' illegal taping of the New York Jets' defensive signals in Week 1 of last season. Further, Goodell said, they had an admission by Belichick. "I have nothing to hide," Goodell said. Goodell also told Specter that that he doesn't regret destroying the Spygate tapes or the notes. "I think it was the right thing to do," Goodell said. Still, Specter wants to know why penalties were imposed on Belichick before the full extent of the wrongdoing was known and the tapes destroyed in a two-week span. Asked if he thinks there was a coverup, Specter demurred. "There was an enormous amount of haste," Specter said. He scoffed at the reasons Goodell gave for destroying the tapes and notes, particularly about trying to keep them out of competitors' hands and because Belichick had admitted to the taping. "What's that got to do with it? There's an admission of guilt, you preserve the evidence," Specter said. As for keeping the tapes out of the hands of others: "All you have to do is lock up the tapes." Belichick was fined $500,000 and the team was fined $250,000 because of the Spygate incident. The Patriots also forfeited a first-round draft pick. Specter has questioned the quality of the NFL's investigation into the matter and raised the possibility of congressional hearings if he wasn't satisfied with Goodell's answers. Specter also raised the threat of Congress canceling the league's antitrust exemption and reiterated that in the meeting with Goodell. Goodell also said he has not heard from Matt Walsh, the former Patriots employee who performed some videotaping duties for the team. Walsh told The Associated Press last week during the Pro Bowl in Hawaii that he couldn't talk about allegations that he taped a walkthrough practice by the St. Louis Rams before the 2002 Super Bowl. New England, a two-touchdown underdog, won that game 20-17. Goodell said he has offered Walsh a deal whereby "he has to tell the truth and he has to return anything he took improperly" in return for indemnity. Specter said he, too, wanted to talk to Walsh and perhaps offer a different deal. Goodell also said he reserves the right to reopen the investigation if more information is uncovered.
Does anyone have the email addresses for Goodell and Specter? I'll feel better about this if I can vent in an email to them
The NFL is corrupt, the games are fixed. The game is not genuine. How many times have we seen the refs change the outcome of a game with a really bad call or non-call or calling back a TD with a holding call ? There is no question that they stealing the offensive signals too, remember the NFL looking into the Patriots using different frequencies which was never addressed? There is no way that two or three years ago when the Colts played a playoff game in Foxboro, Peyton Manning could only score a FG? Every time he dropped back to pass, all the receivers were covered. There is no way the pats defense could do that every play unless they knew what was coming. I think Goodell knew this was coming and told the Pats to play straight in the playoffs without holding on the OL. We saw how their OL got shredded by the Giants where during the season Brady always had all day to throw. No OL can be that good. Look at the big dropoff in points scored by the pats in the playoffs.
This is the type of reaction the NFL needs to avoid at all costs. Goddell set this type of reaction up with the way he handled the events and in light of the recent news. Hopefully they will put everything on the table now and clear the air.
Close. Nice try. It wasn't illegal in 2000 when he started doing it. That rule was put into place afterward. Secondly, unlike the steroid case, there is no crime committed here, so Specter can have all the hearing he wants, it won't change anything. He has as much power to investigate this as he does investigating unsportsmanlike conduct. Good luck. Third, I would love to see the antitrust taken away from the NFL. More football is a good thing.
It was illegal alright, it's just that Belichick "didn't know" it was illegal. Just like Bonds "didn't know" Balco was a performance enhancing drug.
About to say the samething. I even think that if the Pats would have won the SB none of this would have came out. Amazing how all the sports media was on there bandwagon all year and now they are coming out against the Pats now.
