Not good, if your name is Bill Belichick.

A former New England Patriots employee has sent the N.F.L. eight videotapes showing the team recorded play-calling signals by coaches of five opponents in six games between the 2000 and 2002 seasons, in violation of league rules.

But the group of tapes does not include video of the St. Louis RamsÂ’ walk-through practice the day before the 2002 Super Bowl. The employee, Matt Walsh, had been linked to such a tape by news media speculation.

Walsh emerged as a pivotal figure in the spying controversy that enveloped the Patriots last season after they were caught taping Jets defensive signals in the season opener.

Walsh, who worked for the Patriots from 1997 to 2003, agreed to turn over the tapes and other evidence by Thursday under an agreement reached last month between lawyers for the N.F.L. and Walsh. The agreement indemnifies Walsh from all future legal fees.

WalshÂ’s tapes show that the Patriots recorded the signals of offensive and defensive coaches in regular-season games against the Miami Dolphins, the Buffalo Bills, the Cleveland Browns and the San Diego Chargers and against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2002 American Football Conference championship game. In that game, the tape has been edited to show Steelers coaches signaling plays, followed by two different camera angles of the actual plays that were called.

I guess I remain unfazed by the whole thing.

Yes, the tapes appear to show a rules violation.

But I've never understood why it OUGHT to be a rules violation -- after all, signal-stealing in baseball is a fine old tradition and a respected part of the game. And since the signals can be viewed openly by anyone in the stadium, recording them seems trivial.

But the point remains that the tapes DO violate league rules -- and there must be an appropriate penalty. Will it mean the end of one of the NFL's top coaches? Let's wait and see.

Posted by: Greg at 10:38 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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