Daboll Refutes Walsh- SNY article

Jets coach doesn't back up Walsh
Ex-Patriots coach refutes assertions about Rams requests
SportsTicker

Matt Walsh spoke to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday but has not had all his assertions supported. (AP)
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Matt Walsh is having trouble finding people to corroborate his latest allegations in the spying controversy.
Former New England Patriots assistant coach Brian Daboll refuted Walsh's claim that he quizzed him about certain formations the St. Louis Rams were running one day before the Super Bowl in 2002.

In a second interview with the NFL's security department, Daboll -- now an assistant coach with the New York Jets -- said he has "no recollection of a conversation with Matt Walsh about the Rams' walkthrough practice."

A former New England Patriots video assistant, Walsh met with Commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday about the team's videotaping practices and said he had no knowledge of the Rams' walkthrough being taped -- contradicting a story by the Boston Herald on Feb. 2.

The Herald offered an apology for the story on Wednesday, saying it now knows the story was false and that no tape of the walkthrough existed.

Following his meeting with Walsh, Goodell said no new evidence existed and admitted that he likely will not levy further penalties on the Patriots.

"As I stand before you today, having met with Matt Walsh and 50 other people, I don't know where else I would turn," Goodell said. "I reserve the right -- if new information comes up, I will look at it."

That new information appeared to come from Walsh during the meeting with Goodell. According to NFL Outside Counsel Gregg Levy, Walsh said he ran into Daboll after the walkthrough.

"Walsh told him two things," Levy said. "One, that while he was there in the building, he saw [Rams running back Marshall] Faulk being used on a kick return during the walkthrough, which apparently was something that Walsh didn't anticipate. Two, Daboll asked Walsh about offensive formations and particularly about how the tight ends were used in the formations."

While Daboll disavowed knowledge of that conversation, the NFL on Thursday released a statement that said even if Daboll did speak with Walsh, "It would not be a violation of NFL rules."

"Matt Walsh was authorized to be in the stadium to perform his job duties along with other members of the Patriots' video department, members of the Rams' video department, and other people preparing for the Super Bowl," the statement read.

Walsh told Goodell he was wearing Patriots garb as the Rams went through their final preparations, a notion dismissed by former St. Louis head coach Mike Martz.

Now an offensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers, Martz issued a statement Thursday in which he was skeptical of Walsh's claims.

"I was stunned at Matt Walsh's allegation that he was on the sideline in New England Patriots apparel during our walkthrough," Martz said in the statement. "I find that insulting, disturbing and a slap in the face to both our team security and NFL security, who both do outstanding jobs. I promise you that if he was on the sideline, he was not in New England Patriots apparel because he would have been identified.

"This whole issue is based on statements made by Matt Walsh, and I think we have to understand that."

The NFL fined Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the New England organization $250,000 for the illegal taping of the Jets in the 2007 season opener.

The Patriots also lost a first-round pick as a result of the incident.

Prior to Goodell's news conference Tuesday afternoon, the NFL showed clips of the eight tapes given to the league by Walsh.

Those tapes show the Patriots recording coaches' signals in four regular-season games, as well as the 2002 AFC championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Walsh, who worked for the Patriots from 1996-2003, will appear on "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" on HBO on Friday night.

In transcripts released by the network, Walsh charges that knowledge of and participation in the videotaping and stealing of signals began at the top levels of the coaching staff.

Now an assistant golf pro in Hawaii, Walsh said that prior to the regular-season opener in 2000, one of the team's four quarterbacks told him of a meeting where the quarterback was handed a tape of the Buccaneers' defensive coaching signals and told to learn them.

According to Walsh, the quarterback was told to stand next to then-offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and relay the defensive signals being called by Tampa Bay's staff. Weis then sent in a play call to quarterback Drew Bledsoe.

Walsh told HBO the system had a spectacular success rate, claiming he was told by one of the quarterbacks that "seventy-five percent of the time Tampa Bay ran the defense that we thought they were going to run."

While Belichick has said he could not pick Walsh "out of a lineup," Walsh told HBO that the coach was just trying to distance himself from the incident.

"I think Bill's got a pretty good memory," he said.