By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, May. 14 2008
If there's a tape of the Rams' walk-through practice the day before Super Bowl
XXXVI against New England, Matt Walsh knows nothing about it. Nor does he think
one exists.
Or so he told NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during more than three hours of
talks Tuesday in New York.
"We were ... able to verify that there was no Rams walk-through tape," Goodell
told reporters later. "No one asked (Walsh) to tape the walk-through. He's not
aware of anybody else who may have taped the walk-through. He had not seen such
a tape. He does not know of anybody who says there is a tape."
However, Goodell did reveal Monday that Walsh — a former Patriots employee —
was in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans along with other members of the
Patriots' video department at the time of the Rams' walk-through.
"They were setting up their operation," Goodell said. "They have printers and
they have cables that they have to set up."
Goodell cited the fact that Walsh was in the dome "in his Patriots gear" during
the Rams' walk-through as a sign that Walsh wasn't trying to hide or disguise
his presence.
A league attorney, Gregg Levy, told reporters after Goodell's formal news
conference that Walsh provided information about what he saw at the Rams'
walk-through before the game to Patriots assistant coach Brian Daboll.
"Walsh told him two things," Levy said. "One, that while he was there in the
building, he saw (Marshall) Faulk being used on a kick return during the
walk-through, which apparently was something Walsh didn't anticipate."
(Faulk returned one kickoff against the Patriots in the Super Bowl. In his
seven seasons with St. Louis in the regular season or playoffs, Faulk returned
only two other kickoffs.)
"Two, Daboll asked Walsh about offensive formations and particularly about how
the tight ends were used in the formations," Levy added. "Apparently, Daboll
drew a few formations and asked Walsh about them."
According to Levy, Walsh said the conversation with Daboll (now an assistant
with the New York Jets) lasted less than 10 minutes. Levy said Goodell asked
him to make this information available to the media because it did not come up
during the press conference. Levy indicated that it was new information to the
league.
"At this point, it's uncorroborated, but it's something that the league is
going to look into," Levy said.
But Levy also added that he was unaware of any rules that were violated by
Walsh's presence at the walk-through. And Levy pointed out that Goodell said in
his press conference that no additional penalties or sanctions against the
Patriots were anticipated based on Tuesday's meeting with Walsh.
Two new potential rules violations that came out of the meeting were that Walsh
had aided Patriots players in scalping Super Bowl tickets, and that Walsh had
taped a Patriots player on the injured reserve list illegally practicing with
the team.
But in the big picture, these were minor infractions. Three-and-a-half months
after the Boston Herald — citing a source — reported that the Patriots
illegally taped the Rams' walk-through in 2002, there was no smoking gun from
Walsh. In fact, the gun wasn't even warm.
"We were told continuously by Commissioner Goodell after dozens of interviews
that there was no evidence of a walk-through tape," Rams President John Shaw
told the Post-Dispatch. "At this point, short of there being any additional
evidence, there's nothing else to say except we stand by the commissioner's
ruling."
Behind the scenes, there was an overall sense of surprise in the Rams'
organization that the much-anticipated Walsh meeting with Goodell was so
anticlimactic. And there also was a degree of skepticism.
"Everybody's naive if they think (Walsh) was at the practice and didn't tape
it," said one team source.
Walsh did not speak to reporters after his meeting with Goodell. And a planned
press conference following a Tuesday meeting with Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen
Specter in Washington was postponed until today.
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, May. 14 2008
If there's a tape of the Rams' walk-through practice the day before Super Bowl
XXXVI against New England, Matt Walsh knows nothing about it. Nor does he think
one exists.
Or so he told NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during more than three hours of
talks Tuesday in New York.
"We were ... able to verify that there was no Rams walk-through tape," Goodell
told reporters later. "No one asked (Walsh) to tape the walk-through. He's not
aware of anybody else who may have taped the walk-through. He had not seen such
a tape. He does not know of anybody who says there is a tape."
However, Goodell did reveal Monday that Walsh — a former Patriots employee —
was in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans along with other members of the
Patriots' video department at the time of the Rams' walk-through.
"They were setting up their operation," Goodell said. "They have printers and
they have cables that they have to set up."
Goodell cited the fact that Walsh was in the dome "in his Patriots gear" during
the Rams' walk-through as a sign that Walsh wasn't trying to hide or disguise
his presence.
A league attorney, Gregg Levy, told reporters after Goodell's formal news
conference that Walsh provided information about what he saw at the Rams'
walk-through before the game to Patriots assistant coach Brian Daboll.
"Walsh told him two things," Levy said. "One, that while he was there in the
building, he saw (Marshall) Faulk being used on a kick return during the
walk-through, which apparently was something Walsh didn't anticipate."
(Faulk returned one kickoff against the Patriots in the Super Bowl. In his
seven seasons with St. Louis in the regular season or playoffs, Faulk returned
only two other kickoffs.)
"Two, Daboll asked Walsh about offensive formations and particularly about how
the tight ends were used in the formations," Levy added. "Apparently, Daboll
drew a few formations and asked Walsh about them."
According to Levy, Walsh said the conversation with Daboll (now an assistant
with the New York Jets) lasted less than 10 minutes. Levy said Goodell asked
him to make this information available to the media because it did not come up
during the press conference. Levy indicated that it was new information to the
league.
"At this point, it's uncorroborated, but it's something that the league is
going to look into," Levy said.
But Levy also added that he was unaware of any rules that were violated by
Walsh's presence at the walk-through. And Levy pointed out that Goodell said in
his press conference that no additional penalties or sanctions against the
Patriots were anticipated based on Tuesday's meeting with Walsh.
Two new potential rules violations that came out of the meeting were that Walsh
had aided Patriots players in scalping Super Bowl tickets, and that Walsh had
taped a Patriots player on the injured reserve list illegally practicing with
the team.
But in the big picture, these were minor infractions. Three-and-a-half months
after the Boston Herald — citing a source — reported that the Patriots
illegally taped the Rams' walk-through in 2002, there was no smoking gun from
Walsh. In fact, the gun wasn't even warm.
"We were told continuously by Commissioner Goodell after dozens of interviews
that there was no evidence of a walk-through tape," Rams President John Shaw
told the Post-Dispatch. "At this point, short of there being any additional
evidence, there's nothing else to say except we stand by the commissioner's
ruling."
Behind the scenes, there was an overall sense of surprise in the Rams'
organization that the much-anticipated Walsh meeting with Goodell was so
anticlimactic. And there also was a degree of skepticism.
"Everybody's naive if they think (Walsh) was at the practice and didn't tape
it," said one team source.
Walsh did not speak to reporters after his meeting with Goodell. And a planned
press conference following a Tuesday meeting with Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen
Specter in Washington was postponed until today.