Please, end “Spygate.”
Really, is there any reason to keep it going?
The Patriots have paid the price — literally — for their “misinterpretation” of the NFL’s rules. Now that former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh has handed over all of his tapes, eight that he hung on to for a reel to show to future NFL employers, everyone needs to move on.
New England lost out on the second-to-last pick in this year’s draft because they taped opposing team’s defensive signals several years ago. No big deal considering the Patriots had the 7th-overall selection, which they acquired in a deal from the San Francisco 49ers during last year’s draft. They ended up flipping their seventh to the New Orleans Saints for the 10th-overall pick, and still ended up grabbing one of the top linebackers (Jerod Mayo) on the board.
The team and coach Bill Belichick also had to open their wallets for a combined $750,000 in fines because of “Spygate.” That’s nothing compared the money both raked in with marketing deals after the team went 16-0.
And, speaking of 16-0: New England was caught taping signals in the first game of the season. From then on out – except for the Super Bowl — they dominated every team that appeared on their schedule. Taping signals or not, they were great, not just good.
Do you see the trend? Every time things looked bad for the Patriots, they turned out better than expected.
After months of negotiating with Walsh, the NFL has finally picked his brain. What they learned was nothing except that a Patriots player practiced with the team while on injured reserve. Not exactly a headline to lead off “SportsCenter” with.
The Patriots may have been the second best team in the NFL last season, but they weren’t the smartest. The world now knows and that’s a good enough penalty in my book.
It doesn’t matter though. They’ll be just fine no matter what.