http://www.csnne.com/new-england-pat...0for%20Spygate
A 10,704-word ESPN story released Tuesday confirmed that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell faced pressure from NFL owners to "go hard" on the Patriots during the investigation into alleged ball-tampering during the AFC Championship Game.
The story, co-written by Don Van Natta Jr., and Seth Wickersham, contains this damning line: "It was, one owner says, time for 'a makeup call.' "
The perceived "makeup" was in order because of the perception Goodell lived in the pocket of Patriots owner Robert Kraft and went easy on New England during the 2007 videotaping scandal dubbed Spygate.
There are 9,120 words devoted to rehashing Spygate. The real news, though, is the behind-the-scenes prodding to Goodell from Kraft’s fellow owners, their glee that the Patriots were brought to heel, and the notion that this was a months-long effort by Goodell to get his swagger back.
From the story:
But to the many owners who saw the Patriots as longtime cheaters, it really didn't matter that Goodell appeared eager, perhaps overeager, to show the rest of the NFL that he had learned the lessons of Spygate. One team owner acknowledges that for years there was a "jealous ... hater" relationship among many owners with Kraft, the residue of Spygate. "It's not surprising that there's a makeup call," one team owner says. Another longtime executive says a number of owners wanted Goodell to "go hard on this one."
Many other owners and executives, who feared alienating Kraft, did so privately, insisting that Goodell's willingness to take on the Patriots has helped him emerge in a stronger position with most of his billionaire bosses, managing the expectations of his 32 constituents with the savvy of a U.S. senator's son.
"Roger did the right thing -- at last," one owner said after Goodell upheld Brady's punishment. "He looks tough -- and that's good."
"Pleased," said another longtime owner.
"About time," an executive close to another owner said. "Overdue."
Those quotes are buried in the final paragraphs of the story which -- to be blunt -- is an embarrassingly transparent effort by ESPN to egg the Patriots franchise prior to Thursday night’s opener.
ESPN has an armada of insiders and reporters, and they all have their own sources and viewpoints. The report that spawned national outrage in January -- that 11 of 12 Patriots footballs were underinflated by as much as two psi -- came from ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. The network recently apologized (in the wee hours of a weekday morning) for falsely reporting the Patriots taped a Super Bowl XXXVI walkthrough by the St. Louis Rams. Their legal analysis from Lester Munson throughout the last month was stridently anti-Patriots . . . and knee-bucklingly wrong. And even the highly-respected Bob Ley’s tone in discussing the story was seen to be accusatory, condescending and -- it turns out -- uninformed.
While ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss and the dean of information purveyors, Adam Schefter, have kept things objective, that hasn’t stopped significant blowback from the New England fan base and the Patriots as the story carried on.
Today's story smacks of, “You wanna play rough? Spygate.”
Even the graphic accompanying the story which bullet-points the meaty stuff with an “Among the Findings” headline shows that very little new was found.
It reads:
-- Deflategate is seen by some owners as a "makeup call" over Spygate.
-- From 2000 to 2007, the Patriots videotaped the signals of opposing coaches in 40 games.
-- Goodell's handling of Deflategate turned around owners still simmering over Spygate; some say he is now more secure in his job.
Since it’s out there, though, a few of the Spygate-related details are worth delving into. Billing this tidbit as something that “has never been made public,” the reporters reveal that NFL executives literally stomped on tapes until they were smashed to bits.
One important detail omitted, however, is that not every tape was destroyed. The idea that nobody knows exactly what was on the tapes keeps the Patriots boogie man alive, well, and hiding under the NFL's bed. Among those opining on this failure to give the league closure was ESPN analyst and former Colts president Bill Polian.
"I wish the evidence had not been destroyed because at least we would know what had been done," Polian told the reporters.
However, at the 2008 NFL owner's meetings, which served as the backdrop on which the reporters begin their narrative, video tapes of sideline signals taken by the Patriots were screened for NFL owners, executives, general managers, head coaches and media. Those tapes, I was told this morning, belonged to Matt Walsh, one of the Patriots employees who did some videotaping. Included on the tapes, in addition to shots of the scoreboard and the opposing sidelines, was video of cheerleaders shaking their buttocks, and one opposing coach waving to the camera.
The actual video is far from sinister. Additionally, it wasn't until a 2006 memo was put out by the league that anything in writing regarding sideline videotaping was specifically addressed.
The report is replete with opposing coaches, general managers and players lamenting that the Patriots must have cheated in key games because of how well-prepared they were. Interestingly, this report will coincide with the release of a documentary called "Do Your Job" that delves into the game-winning interception secured by Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler and shows that Butler had been beaten on a similar play in practice prior to the Super Bowl.
Instead of spilling a whole bunch more words trying to dislodge entrenched and bitter complainants, better to just point at that Butler play and wonder whether the Patriots needed the videotapes in the first place at all.
Tom E. Curran serves as Comcast SportsNet's NFL Insider. Read more from Tom here, or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
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