WASHINGTON -- Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter called today for an independent investigation into the Patriots' illegal taping practices, citing what he called an obvious conflict between the interest of the NFL and the public interest.

One could assume this to mean just the Patriots'.  However, Senator Specter was quoted as saying:

"After a lot of consideration it's my judgment that there ought to be an impartial investigation, an outside investigation, like the [steroids] investigation that baseball had with former [Maine] Senator George Mitchell," said Specter at a Capitol Hill news conference.

This would indicate to me a wider net will be cast.  Why?  Read carefully the statement, "...there ought to be an impartial investigation, an outside investigation, like the [steroids] investigation that baseball had..."  baseball = organization = NFL.  I'm sure it could be taken either way - just the Patriots or the entire NFL.  Only time will tell.

Mad props to Ogor's fanpost where you can read all about it.

Source: nfl.com

That's right.  The official governing body of professional football teams in the United States, the National Football League, has declared Spygate is no more:

Goodell said "the fundamental information that Matt provided was consistent with what we penalized the Patriots for."

Goodell said he did not anticipate any more penalties against the Patriots.

Goodell also said he was able to verify there was no walkthrough tape, no one asked Walsh to tape the walkthrough, that Walsh was unaware of anyone else taping the walkthrough, and that Walsh had not seen such a tape.

Matt provided them with copies of what Belichick had ALREADY provided them with.  Which shows Belichick, while caught violating league rules regarding taping of opponents, was doing everything he could to fairly and honestly comply with the NFL's investigation on the subject of Spygate.  He may have stuck his hand in the cookie jar, but at least he admitted it.

Now, before I delve too far into the Homerism Abyss and lose all credibility, I am angry.  I am angry at Belichick for doing this.  And, I am confused.  Confused because they didn't need this to win; the 2007 season proved that.  Clearly the most dominant team in football, it wasn't even close - except for 2 teams.  The New York Giants earned bragging rights and will forever be known as the team that stopped the juggernaut from New England.  The second team is an unhealthy Colts.  I hate winning in that situation because there's always a question mark in my mind.

Back to the death of Spygate - for the Patriots...

This matter was over and done with in September of 2007, but the NFL and Goodell grossly mishandled aspects of this controversy.  The  penalty  levied by Goodell was for the totality of Belichick's coaching career with the New England Patriots, not just the incident with the New York Jets.  Had this been made clear up front, we could have avoided a dumptruck full of crapola.

That brings us to the alleged Rams's walkthrough tape.  As reported in a Boston Herald Story , a "source" close to reporter John Tomase claimed a member of the Patriots's video department recorded the Rams's pre Super Bowl walkthrough.  This was later discredited by Walsh, himself a member of that same department:

We were also able to verify that there was no Rams walkthrough tape. No one asked him to tape the walkthrough. He’s not aware of anybody else who may have taped the walkthrough. He had not seen such a tape. He does not know of anybody who says there is a tape. He was in the building at the time of the walkthrough along with other Patriots video personnel. They were doing their job prior to the game. He in fact was even on the sidelines in his Patriots gear while the Rams were practicing. So it was clear that there was not an overt attack addressing access into the Rams walkthrough.

To be fair and balanced, Walsh was asked about what he saw on the field by an assistant coach:

[Matt] Walsh was asked during the interview today whether after the [Rams] walkthrough, anyone asked him about what he had seen. He said 'yes'. He saw Brian Daboll, who I understand is an assistant coach for the Patriots -- or was at the time -- and Daboll asked him what he saw. Walsh said two things -- one, he had seen Marshall Faulk in a formation to receive a kickoff or a punt, and he had been asked about offensive formations, particularly about the use of the tight end. My understand is that is not consistent with what we had learned prior to the interview, during the course of the investigation. At this point, it's uncorroborated, but it's something the league is going to look into.

Call it a stretch, but I don't think that would help you win a Super Bowl.

Yes, Spygate is officially over according to the NFL.  There will be many who will continue to stir the pot because it makes for good muckraking.  Blogs will have tons of hits, plenty of papers will be sold and we have something to talk about during the off season.

But, I don't want Spygate to be over.  I want it to continue.  I want it to go on.  Now, before you run me out of Boston on a Duck Tours boat, hear me out.  I want it to be expanded.  I want EVERY team in the NFL investigated for possible cheating practices.  How else could the NFL gain back credibility?  How else could other teams hold their noses up at the Patriots and poopoo them with an asterisk?  Wouldn't they welcome that sort of investigation?  Apparently not.

There's at least 2 smoking guns leading me to believe this is far more widespread than just the Patriots - and #1 comes from Rooney and Polian.  Steelers's Chairman Dan Rooney stated , "The New England Patriots' taping of opposing coaches' signals did not affect the outcome of games against the Steelers, including two AFC Championship games."  And Bill Polian, president of the Indianapolis Colts asserted pretty much the same thing:

I think it's fair to say we [as a committee] were satisfied with the explanation, satisfied with what was done. It's behind us. It's time to move forward.

Many Patriots fans, including myself, heralded this as proof positive Spygate should go away.  If Polian, one of our most hated rivals, says it's over then it's over.  Whoo hoo!!  Hallelujah!!  A hole has appeared in the clouds and sunshine has shone through, showing the way.  But, the more I thought about it, the more it disturbed me.  There was too much of this "moving on" talk from places where it shouldn't have come from.  It was inconsistent.  Almost as if owners, league and team officials had circled the wagons and decided to make this go away.  Polian was the league's mouthpiece because, on the surface, it would be more plausible.

In their eyes, this had to go away.  It was bad for business and don't ever forget sports fans, this is a multi-billion dollar business.  In addition, the league just didn't want any more light shined squarely on them (Senator Specter ring a bell?).  Which leads me to the second smoking gun.

Many of us Pats fans defended Spygate with an "everybody's doing it" mantra, but until now, we had no proof.  You can find this story on Cold Hard Football Facts:

...one element of the story remains strangely absent from the discussion. On Feb. 2, 2002, on the eve of Super Bowl XXXVI, on the very same day Walsh was allegedly filming Rams practice, the New York Times reported that somebody was seen spying on the Patriots as they prepared for the big game.

 

The most interesting aspect of the story? League officials themselves saw the spy, at least according to the Times story filed by Judy Battista.

 

The key passage from her 2002 report:

 

“Club and league officials (our emphasis) said a telescope was clearly visible in the window, according to a pool report, and that 15 minutes later, a person appeared at the window, and then vanished.”

From Mike Reiss's blog :

Goodell said "the fundamental information that Matt provided was consistent with what we penalized the Patriots for."

Goodell said he did not anticipate any more penalties against the Patriots.

Goodell also said he was able to verify there was no walkthrough tape, no one asked Walsh to tape the walkthrough, that Walsh was unaware of anyone else taping the walkthrough, and that Walsh had not seen such a tape.

Further commentary to come...

I've been sooooo caught up in the draft.  Mayo this.  O'Connell that.  Will Crable be effective right out of the gate?  Will Wheatley come up to speed fast enough and can Hobbs step in for the departed Samuel?  I've been so caught up in the draft, I've forgotten about the guys that have brought us this far.  The guys who were grinding it out when the New England Patriots were struggling to form themselves into the juggernaut they are today.

Guys like Tedy Bruschi.  His player bio says it all.  Over his 13 years with the Patriots, he's pretty much broken all of the teams's tackling and defensive records.  He's a force to be reckoned with on the field both from a physical standpoint and as the brains of the defense.

But there's more.  In February, 2005 Bruschi suffered a stroke .  Many rival fanbases immediately heralded this as proof he was using steroids.  They were later completely and utterly SILENCED when it was discovered Bruschi had a hole in his heart.  After surgery to repair this hole, it was questionable whether or not he would return to the gridiron.  But he did.  Courage...defined.

I am waxing nostalgic because the new guard is upon us.  Tedy has been such an iconic figure on the Patriots's defense that it's hard to imagine him not being there.  It's hard to imagine not having Tedy whipping his teammates into a frenzy.  It's hard to imagine no Tedy to throw snow into the crowd during a classic New England snow storm.  It's hard to imagine the absence of number 54 in the locker room.

"Who loves Tedy Bruschi?"  AAAWWWHHH YEAH!!!

A big shout out to all the Moms who put up with and participate in this obsession.  Have a great day!!

*I tried to lead MaPatsFan into answering this one for me on Stampede Blue since I didn't have the time to research it when it first popped into my head, but he didn't either so I did it once I had the time.*

The Patriots spent all but one of their picks in the 2008 draft on defenders, but how long before this influx of youth brings young starters to an old D. Here's a breakdown of the Patriots starters last season and how long it took them to become starters.

06/07 no defensive starters, Meriweather (round 1) the only defender from those drafts on the roster.

2005
Ellis Hobbs (3rd round), full time starter in his 3rd season, Games started by year- 8,9,16
James Sanders (4th), starter 3rd year, GS-2,5,15

2004
Vince Wilfork (1st), starter 2nd year, GS-6,16,13,16

2003
Ty Warren (1st), starter 2nd year, GS-4,16,16,15,16
Eugene Wilson (2nd) starter 1st year (lost starting job in 2007), GS-15,14,16,4,6
Asante Samuel (4th) starter 3rd year, GS-1,8,15,15,14

2002
Jarvis Green (4th), 6th season, GS-4,7,1,5,4,10

2001
Richard Seynore (top 10), 1st season, GS-10,16......

2000-1997
No defenders currently on roster drafted

1996
Tedy Bruschi, 4th season, GS-0,1,7,14,16....

Picks by other teams
Rosevelt Colvin  signed by Patriots after 4th season in the league. Became a Pats starter in 3rd year on team/7th in league.

Mike Vrabel  signed after 4th season. Started in 1st season with Patriots/5th in league

The only current defenders to start for the Patriots as rookies were a 6th overall pick and a safety who later lost his starting job. None of the current LBs were starters before their 4th year in the league and Colvin needed two years of experience in the Pats system in addition to 4 with the Bears before he became a starter. D-linemen find there way into the lineup the fastest with Seymore starting as a rookie and Vilfork and Warren starting in their second year. 3 of the 4 starting DBs drafted by the Pats started in their 3rd season. LBs took the longest with none of the starters seeing the majority of starting time before they had been in the league for 3 or more years.

The Patriots' future on D might have been improved, but it will probably take 3-4 years before this draft has any real effect to make the Pats D younger. Mayo is a fantastic player, but the demands of Belichick's defense will likely keep him on the bench for one, two or maybe up to three years. Wheatley might be able to work his way onto the field in a secondary depleted by free agency, but he'll likely follow the path of Hobbs and Samuel before him and spend 2 years learning before he's ready. Crable is an even surer bet to take years to be ready to play LB since early round picks made their way into the Pats lineup faster (really?, who'd have guessed that). The Pats have found DBs in the 4th round so Wilhite may contribute eventually. After the fourth round the majority of Pats draft picks especially on defense are cut and disappear off the map or spend their careers on the bench.

*I'm sure you guys will be able to point to a few mistakes and wrong assumptions I made here. I used Pro Football Reference for the games started info and NFL.com's draft history for the draft history.*

Coming off back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons and averaging 94 yards per game, undrafted free agent BenJarvis Green-Ellis left the University of Mississippi as one of the most productive backs in school history .  "Blessed with a rare combination of size, agility and acceleration," NFL.com goes on to describe Glenn-Ellis as a "durable workhorse and a secure ball-handler ."

At 5'11", 215lbs, Patriots' new number 42 gets rave reviews for his power game and soft hands.  The Draft Guys, Cecil Lammey and Sigmund Bloom, evaluated Green-Ellis and praised how he "runs low, allowing him to win collisions and bounce off on contact ."

"He only had two receptions in 2007," but in their opinion, "film reveals that he trusts his hands and smoothly transitions in and out of his catches."  Lack of experience in receiving might be an area of concern for now, but he has great role models in veteran running backs Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, and Lawrence Maroney to help fine-tune his skills.  Maroney, criticized in the past for dancing at the line of scrimmage , silenced his detractors last season.  NFL.com has raised similar flags with Green-Ellis, cautioning that he "can be an impatient runner who rushes into the hole instead of allowing his blocks time to develop."  With coaching, time and experience, this rookie can overcome this "impatience" tag as well.

The Draft Guys were also very impressed with his "vision" and how he uses it to "make subtle adjustments and pick the right hole without ever stopping his feet."  Draft expert Russ Lande from the Sporting News agrees.  "He showed the quick feet, the burst through the hole, and the vision that we didn't expect to see.  This kid is a tough, hard-nosed running back who plays a lot bigger than his size ."  Sound like a Patriot yet?

Having an outstanding, reliable, and consistent 3rd down back has been vital to keeping Tom Brady and the offense on the field.  Kevin Faulk won't be with us to fill that role forever, and BenJarvis Green-Ellis just might be the perfect  protégé to follow in his footsteps.

You just have to laugh :

After more than two months of negotiations, lawyers for the league and Walsh finally reached an agreement on April 23 on terms that will allow him to talk with Goodell. They include an agreement by the Patriots not to sue Walsh and to pay his legal expenses and his airfare to New York from Hawaii, where he is now a golf pro.

Not only have the New England Patriots and their fans endured months of unwarranted bashing due to this guy, they now have to pay his airfare AND legal fees!! My only hope is that his flight from Hawaii to New York is on one of these:

In a stunning...YAWN...revelation...YAWN...we find that the stolen videotapes in Matt Walsh's possession contain taped signals of games from 2000-2002.  In addition, there's no tape of the St. Louis Rams's SB XXXVI walkthrough, as reported by the Boston Herald .

Matt?  Meet Geraldo.  Yeah, there's nothing of relevance in your safe , either.  As many of us blogged about and surmised that Belichick wouldn't be stupid enough to have both himself and Kraft further deny any wrongdoing and then have Matty come out with evidence which proves it.  And, just to be crystal clear, Roger Goodell has stated he will only levy additional punishment IF and only IF, The New England Patriots taped the Rams SB walkthrough:

Belichick has emphatically denied taping the walkthrough.

"I have never taped a practice, certainly not that one," New England's coach has said repeatedly.

Roger Goodell is fully prepared to crack down again on the New England Patriots if his meeting with Matt Walsh uncovers a tape made of the St. Louis Rams' final walkthrough practice before the 2002 Super Bowl.

No Rams's tape?  No more punishment:

Goodell explained that the league's penalty against the Patriots early last season was for the totality of the team's videotaping actions, and that coach Bill Belichick acknowledged he had videotaped opposing signals since the start of his Patriots head coaching career.

BTW, this quote from Goodell was conveniently left out of the New York Times article.

Again, no Rams's tape, no more punishment.  Hopefully this isn't hard for people to understand.  Done.  Fini.  Moving on.  But, Arlen can't let it go.  In a stunning, but to be expected, case of government abuse of power, the senator from Philadelphia will meet with Walsh as well.  Sure, let's fly Matty all over the place on the taxpayer's dime so he can tell the EXACT SAME STORY he's already told the NFL.  Sour grapes senator, sour grapes .  Unfortunately, none of his constituents will cry foul because they think it's perfectly ok for Arlen to reach into their pockets to fly a criminal around for their team's honor.  Good luck, Pennsylvania.  You reap what you sow.

Matty?  Welcome to your 15 minutes of fame.  Too bad it was built on a house of cards.

Props to NESilver for this fanpost .

Boston Globe story .

Boston Herald story .

New York Times story .