That is something else that bothered me. Fan or not, how does someone become Coach of the year, the same season they are caught and convicted for cheating? You have to admit it makes no sense.
I don't trust any of the actors in this play. Belichick's excuse is at the very least questionable, if not completely laughable. He could get suspended or worse so he wants this to go away. Goodell has his own motives, this doesn't help him with advertisers, TV contracts, and the legal fees of an investigation could be enormous. Though I'm not completely sold on the idea the story in itself hurts the league by turning fans away; last year ratings were through the roof due to the controversy. Specter is owned by Comcast, who is trying to strong-arm the NFL into letting them have the NFL Sunday Ticket; he's doing this for them, not the fans in his state, trust me. Walsh is reported to have said on his way out the door when he was fired that he was going to get even; he's getting to act out the fantasy of every worker that ever got canned. ESPN and the rest of the media has latched on to the biggest story since OJ and Nicole. They get more readers/viewers/listeners on anything with spygate in the headline than five other stories combined. They're all for-profit businesses, they want the story the story to stay alive because of the ratings it produces. Saying it's over and writing about something else attracts less of an audience, lower ratings, lower ad revenue.
