By Vito Stellino, The Times-Union
The most puzzling aspect of the Spygate controversy is the way NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has handled it.
As someone who has spent virtually his entire career working in the NFL, Goodell should understand the basics of being in the glare of the media spotlight. He should know that trying to sweep a mess under the rug is always worse than the original misstep and that it's much better to get all the bad news out in the public as soon as possible instead of enduring the drip, drip, drip of stories over months. And never destroy the evidence.
Instead, Goodell made all the wrong moves by trying to minimize Spygate from the beginning.
Goodell decided not to suspend Bill Belichick, even though the commissioner admitted last week that he didn't believe the New England Patriots coach's assertion that he misunderstood the rule against taping opposing teams' signals. A former member of the Patriots' video staff, Matt Walsh, said last week during a meeting with Goodell that Belichick knew the taping was a violation of the rules because the team went to elaborate attempts to conceal the practice.
Since Goodell took office in 2006, he has stressed the importance of the NFL brand. Yet Belichick thumbed his nose at the integrity of the game, then allegedly lied about it to the commissioner, and that didn't warrant a suspension.
Contrast that to the way former commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended Paul Hornung and Alex Karras - then two of the NFL's biggest stars - for gambling on games, although never against their own teams, in 1963.
Goodell's original investigation also had a slapdash quality that would have made Inspector Clouseau proud. Goodell didn't find out that Walsh had a role in the scandal until the news media tracked him down in Hawaii. Goodell also ordered the tapes that the Patriots turned over destroyed, fostering the impression the league had something to hide.
Goodell did receive one break, though. The day before the Super Bowl last February, the Boston Herald reported that the Patriots taped the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl. However, Walsh said he just watched the Rams' practice, which is legal but isn't considered appropriate, then provided information to a Patriots assistant coach. So the NFL and the Patriots stressed that the Herald report was wrong, and the tabloid newspaper apologized on its front and back pages.
If not for the erroneous Herald report, the news that Walsh watched the Rams' practice would have been much bigger news, as would his allegation that the Patriots allowed an injured-reserve player practice - a violation of league rules. The NFL doesn't let players on IR practice to prevent teams from stashing people on the list.
Walsh also claimed that Belichick lied when the coach said he couldn't pick his former video assistant out of a lineup, pointing out that they were in three team photos together and interacted on other occasions.
Goodell did his best to put the lid on the mess after his meeting with Walsh, saying, "I don't know where else I would turn" for more information. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., responded the next day, saying the NFL should conduct a Mitchell-type report on the whole affair and get answers to all the unanswered questions. Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.
And getting the Patriots to talk about Spygate isn't easy.
For example, Walsh said he gave former Patriots assistant Brian Daboll the information about the Rams' walkthrough. Daboll, who's now working for the New York Jets, said he has no recollection of the controversy.
The odds are that Belichick will never be suspended, but he has given the NFL a serious black eye that was made worse by Goodell's bungling of the investigation.
The real penalty Belichick will pay is to his legacy. He will be remembered as the coach who won by cheating. He even went on a public-relations offensive Friday by appearing on the CBS Evening News, but he won't be able to wash away the stain on his reputation.
The most puzzling aspect of the Spygate controversy is the way NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has handled it.
As someone who has spent virtually his entire career working in the NFL, Goodell should understand the basics of being in the glare of the media spotlight. He should know that trying to sweep a mess under the rug is always worse than the original misstep and that it's much better to get all the bad news out in the public as soon as possible instead of enduring the drip, drip, drip of stories over months. And never destroy the evidence.
Instead, Goodell made all the wrong moves by trying to minimize Spygate from the beginning.
Goodell decided not to suspend Bill Belichick, even though the commissioner admitted last week that he didn't believe the New England Patriots coach's assertion that he misunderstood the rule against taping opposing teams' signals. A former member of the Patriots' video staff, Matt Walsh, said last week during a meeting with Goodell that Belichick knew the taping was a violation of the rules because the team went to elaborate attempts to conceal the practice.
Since Goodell took office in 2006, he has stressed the importance of the NFL brand. Yet Belichick thumbed his nose at the integrity of the game, then allegedly lied about it to the commissioner, and that didn't warrant a suspension.
Contrast that to the way former commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended Paul Hornung and Alex Karras - then two of the NFL's biggest stars - for gambling on games, although never against their own teams, in 1963.
Goodell's original investigation also had a slapdash quality that would have made Inspector Clouseau proud. Goodell didn't find out that Walsh had a role in the scandal until the news media tracked him down in Hawaii. Goodell also ordered the tapes that the Patriots turned over destroyed, fostering the impression the league had something to hide.
Goodell did receive one break, though. The day before the Super Bowl last February, the Boston Herald reported that the Patriots taped the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl. However, Walsh said he just watched the Rams' practice, which is legal but isn't considered appropriate, then provided information to a Patriots assistant coach. So the NFL and the Patriots stressed that the Herald report was wrong, and the tabloid newspaper apologized on its front and back pages.
If not for the erroneous Herald report, the news that Walsh watched the Rams' practice would have been much bigger news, as would his allegation that the Patriots allowed an injured-reserve player practice - a violation of league rules. The NFL doesn't let players on IR practice to prevent teams from stashing people on the list.
Walsh also claimed that Belichick lied when the coach said he couldn't pick his former video assistant out of a lineup, pointing out that they were in three team photos together and interacted on other occasions.
Goodell did his best to put the lid on the mess after his meeting with Walsh, saying, "I don't know where else I would turn" for more information. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., responded the next day, saying the NFL should conduct a Mitchell-type report on the whole affair and get answers to all the unanswered questions. Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.
And getting the Patriots to talk about Spygate isn't easy.
For example, Walsh said he gave former Patriots assistant Brian Daboll the information about the Rams' walkthrough. Daboll, who's now working for the New York Jets, said he has no recollection of the controversy.
The odds are that Belichick will never be suspended, but he has given the NFL a serious black eye that was made worse by Goodell's bungling of the investigation.
The real penalty Belichick will pay is to his legacy. He will be remembered as the coach who won by cheating. He even went on a public-relations offensive Friday by appearing on the CBS Evening News, but he won't be able to wash away the stain on his reputation.