Projo Pats Blog

May 2008 Archives

AP photo / Winslow Townson
Bill Belichick at Wednesday's Celtics game with his girlfriend, Linda Holliday.

We are wrapping up this week at camp and we will start back up on Monday with our full team. These three days we’ve had players that haven’t played as much - rookies, guys coming from other teams and guys that didn’t play that much last year. [Also] players like Mike Richardson that were on IR. We are just giving guys reps that haven’t had too much with this team. So it’s good. We have had some good opportunities with the wind and throwing in different conditions. It’s been good for the guys to get used to handling the ball and so forth. We have gotten a lot of exposure and we are trying to get a lot of teaching done and we will resume that on Monday when we get everyone back in. From a team standpoint, we have a lot of work to do. We are just plugging along but we are getting there.

How’s Victor Hobson working at that position? It is a little different than what he was doing with the Jets.
Good. He is playing inside linebacker for us. He had played a lot of outside linebacker the last two years down there. I think he is a smart guy, runs well, he’s got some experience in the system and certainly playing inside. I think he has a good combination of experience, toughness and athleticism to the position.

What do you look for in this offseason in regards to him playing a different position than he is used to? Do you look for signs like ‘this could work’?
It is pretty much the same for everybody. We teach them what to do, different plays, how to cover routes, how to defend and cover different running plays and what their reads. Then we give everyone a chance to do it. All the players that play that position are all getting the same amount of reps, so then when the get the chance to execute in training camp we will evaluate them based on how they do then. It is really more of a teaching opportunity and an opportunity for those guys to get reps that haven’t had as many. That’s all.

How had Jerod [Mayo] been doing on defense?
Good. He has done fine. He has a long way to go but we are plugging along.

How valuable is it to have this one on one time with rookies, newcomers to the team and have this time on the field with the assistant coaches and yourself?
It’s good. It’s what everyone has. Actually, we probably do fewer days than what most teams do. We try to give everyone a good base so we can make the competition as even as possible for when we get to training camp. We have a lot of guys on this team that have run our defense and offensive system for a number of years. We have guys who have taken a lot of snaps and guys who haven’t. We are just trying to level the playing field a little bit so everyone has a chance to compete in training camp.

Looks like [Kevin] O’Connell has been focusing on some different mechanics. Is that fair to say?
I think everyone is working on new techniques and trying to improve on what they have done in the past so we will put everyone in that category.

Back in the owners meetings in late March you mentioned Junior Seau, at that time it probably wasn’t the best time to say which way that would go, but as we get deeper here in the off-season is that situation anywhere reaching a point where we will know either he will be back or won’t be back?
I think it is closer to reaching that point. I don’t think it is any closer to having any kind of commitment one way or another. We are just not there yet. But we are closer to being there. We just don’t know where that is.

Have you gotten your crystal ball out to tell when that is?
I’d say it will probably closer to training camp than mini camp.

Just to clarify, I know the veterans aren’t out here but are you doing meetings with these guys this week?
Not in meetings, no, but there are a lot of guys who are still working out in the off-season program. In the Spring, guys have different schedules and different commitments so it is kind of a make up week that some guys are making up and other guys aren’t.

Have you enjoyed following the Celtics in their playoff run?
I sure did. I enjoyed it last night. What an awesome performance. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, [Rajon] Rondo, [Kendrick] Perkins played great and Paul Pierce. It was an exciting game to watch. So was the first one. I feel like the team mascot.

You scored some pretty good seats too.
The seats are awesome. There is a lot of contact down there. It looks like a lot of tight ends playing and bigger.

I know you have a friendship with Terry Francona. Do you have a good rapport with Doc Rivers or anyone else on the Celtics?
Yeah. Doc and I have talked several times over the last few years. He has been really supportive of us and I really appreciate that. The Celtics take great care of not only me, but you also see a lot of our players at the games. I know all the guys love to get over there and watch those great athletes perform. The Celtics have been great. They have been very supportive of us and they have taken great care of us and we appreciate it. We are pulling for them. Hopefully, they won’t have to come back from Detroit and play them Sunday. Hopefully, they can wrap it up in Detroit - we are pulling for that.

With the punters, you have the two veterans and the rookie. Do you envision it to be similar to evaluating over a long stretch of time to see the consistency or is that harder to do this year that you have some roster restrictions?
I’d say it is going to be harder this year given the roster restrictions. Right now without contracts being signed we can carry a little bit over the 80, but once those guys sign contracts it is a hard 80 number. We will have to make some decisions there. I’m not sure that we will be able to take everyone we want to, to camp. The numbers have been lower than they have been in previous years with the Europe guys with those type of exemptions.

Is this camp about teaching or evaluating?
Teaching. We don’t have pads on. Some of these guys are doing things for the first time. It is hard to evaluate anybody when they do something once. You teach it to them, if they don’t do it well than you come back and teach it to them the next time and the next time. Once everyone comes back and they have a little bit of confidence and they have done something previously, than they have a fair chance to go out there and do it to somebody else. Then we will go out there and evaluate when everyone has a better understanding of what to do.

AP photos / Stew Milne
Bill Belichick talks with defensive lineman Santonio Thomas.

Rookie quarterback Kevin O'Connell

Owner Robert Kraft watches O'Connell work.

Tight end David Thomas runs through drills.

Rookie wide receiver Matthew Slater, foreground, and defensive back Willie Andrews leap for a pass. Trailing the play is defensive back Mike Richardson.

Hey all -

Unlike last week's Patriots passing camp, which had nearly 100 percent attendance, the sessions the team is holding this week are more sparsely attended.

In all, we counted 36 players on the field (if you really want a list we can provide it), and big names like Tom Brady, Randy Moss and Richard Seymour were not among them. This was more for rookies, players new to New England this season and some vets like Willie Andrews and LeKevin Smith.

Once again, reserve defensive back Ray Ventrone was in a white (offense) jersey and talked a bit about his move to offense after the session. Ventrone said his experience as a receiver is limited, but he's working at the move.

Team owner Robert Kraft was on the field for a while and spent some time talking with special teams coach Brad Seely.

Though rookie Kevin O'Connell was on the field, second-year QB Matt Gutierrez took most of the snaps, and completed a pretty 45-yard pass to CJ Jones at one point. Jones beat Mike Richardson on the play.

Tight end David Thomas was on the field, though he skipped some drills as per head trainer Jim Whelan's instructions. Thomas said he's feeling good and taking things day by day.

shalise

DENVER (AP) - Former punter Todd Sauerbrun, whose 13-year NFL career included a brief 2006 stint with the New England Patriots, pleaded guilty Wednesday to disturbing the peace in a confrontation with a taxi driver last December and was sentenced to perform 24 hours of community service.

County Court Judge Andre L. Rudolph ordered Sauerbrun to perform the community service through NFL Charities by Oct. 1. He also sentenced Sauerbrun to a year's unsupervised deferred judgment, meaning if he stays out of trouble for a year the charge will be wiped from his record.

An assault charge was dismissed as part of the deal, his lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, told The Associated Press.

Sauerbrun said he took the plea to avoid a lengthy trial so that he could get on with his life and pursue a free agent job with another team. The Broncos cut him shortly after his arrest on Dec. 7.

New England wide receiver Wes Welker is being honored tonight by Pop Warner Little Scholars Inc. (PWLS), the largest national youth football and cheerleading organization in the U.S.

Welker is receiving the 2008 Pop Warner Inspiration to Youth Award for his record-breaking season with the Patriots and his commitment to working with youth through his 83 Foundation, which he established to provide underprivileged children in his hometown of Oklahoma City the opportunity to play football.

“We’re honored to present Wes with the 2008 Pop Warner Inspiration to Youth Award. His commitment to the game of football and the way he plays the game is inspiring to all Pop Warner participants,” said Jon Butler, Executive Director of Pop Warner Little Scholars, in a release. “What’s more impressive is his commitment to youth off-the-field with his work with the New England Patriots and his 83 Foundation. The New England Patriots, the NFL, and Pop Warner are all fortunate to have athletes like Wes as role models for today’s youth.”

Past Inspiration to Youth winners include Drew Bledsoe, honored in 2001, and Junior Seau, who was honored in 1994.

Former Pittsburgh linebacker Joey Porter, who is now with the Dolphins, taped an interview with ESPN's "NFL Live" today and went off on the Patriots, saying that when it comes to Spygate, the team deserves an asterisk next to its accomplishments, and that the NFL tried to cover something up by destroying the tapes and evidence the team submitted as part of last fall's investigation.

"They cheated, there should be an asterisk. They cheated and they got caught," Porter said.

Then he brought the league into the discussion.

"Why, if you have nothing to hide, would you destroy [the evidence]? That's how I've looked at it from the beginning. Why destroy something that doesn't have to be destroyed? Let everyone know what was on the tapes. Why would you destroy them so fast?"

Among the tapes that former video employee Matt Walsh submitted to the league last week was one made during the 2002 AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh against Porter's Steelers. New England won the game, 24-17, and went on to its first Super Bowl win.

"If you're to tell me that happened, there's no way I can look at it and feel like I didn't get cheated," Porter said.

According to the veteran linebacker, he's not the only one that feels this way: "Anybody I know that lost to them in big games, they're very upset about it," he said.

PROVIDENCE -- Former Rhode Island senator John Celona not only sold out his public office ––he tried to sell out his New England sports allegiance, too.

Celona, who is serving a 2½-year federal prison term after pleading guilty to selling his office, is the star government witness in the bribery, fraud and conspiracy trial of two former CVS executives John R. "Jack" Kramer and Carlos Ortiz.

Kramer and Ortiz are accused of hiring Celona to help promote CVS’ legislative agenda at the Rhode Island State House.

According to evidence introduced today at the trial in U.S. District Court, Celona, the fan who proudly flew a New England Patriots flag outside his North Providence house and once tried, as a senator, to get the Patriots to build a football stadium in Providence, sought work from the New York Jets.

Sports is a major interest of Celona’s, as evidenced by his testimony today about his efforts to promote the CVS Charity Golf Classic and Downtown 5K road race in Providence on his cable-access television show.

Then, toward the end of today’s testimony, defense lawyer Scott Corrigan showed jurors a letter that Celona wrote in 1997, when he was seeking work following the failure of his family’s lawnmower store.

The letter was to Bill Parcells, who had just bolted as coach of the Patriots following a Super Bowl loss to the Green Bay Packers, to take charge of the team’s arch-rival, the Jets.

In his quest for work to support his family, Celona acknowledged sending out hundreds of resumes. On March 10, 1997, he wrote to Parcells pitching a new consulting group he had formed, The Image Group.

"With perception so important," Celona wrote, "we at The Image Group can train you and your team to manage the news and the media in a way that is positive and beneficial to the Jets."

A few minutes later, sparring with a defense lawyer over how many times he had met with FBI agents, Celona paraphrased the words of another Pats football coach and one-time Parcell's disciple, Bill Belichick: "If that’s what it is, that’s what it is, then that’s what it is."

Read more on the trial.

-- Journal staff writer Mike Stanton

Journal photos / Mary Murphy
Tom Brady

Tom Brady and Sammy Morris

Bill Belichick and Mike Vrabel

New acquisition Victor Hobson

New acquisition Fernando Bryant, talking to our own Shalise Manza Young

The Patriots just finished up the second day of a four-day passing camp on the fields behind Gillette Stadium, with nearly 100 percent participation.

Some observations from the session, which lasted about an hour and 45 minutes:

* Missing were: CB Ellis Hobbs, G Stephen Neal, WR Wes Welker, TE Benjamin Watson, TE David Thomas, DL Jarvis Green and DL Mike Wright.

* Special teamer Ray Ventrone, listed as a safety on the roster, yesterday was wearing a white (offense) practice jersey and did some drills with the the receivers.

* On more than one occasion during a route-running drill, Chad Jackson drew praise from offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and new receivers coach Bill O'Brien.

* Marcus Pollard wasn't moving too well. The veteran tight end seemed stiff, and there was a hitch in his walk. He did have a knee injury with Seattle last season.

* Undrafted rookie punter Mike Dragosavich -- one of three punters currently on the roster (Chris Hanson and Scott Player are the others) -- was drilling punts, just as he had during rookie mini-camp a couple of weeks ago. But this time, without the roof of the Dana-Farber Fieldhouse to limit him, Dragosavich was showing off his hang time. He did have a couple of shorter punts, but those may have been situational-type kicks.

* Making the most of their time: during one stretch where they weren't needed, Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi worked together between the two fields, getting some ab work in with a medicine ball... After all of the other players had left the field, Matt Gutierrez, who spent last season as the third quarterback, and rookie Matthew Slater spent some time working together. Last year, it was not uncommon for Gutierrez to be the last player off the field, though he was often working with a ball boy or low-level assistant.

* Neither Tom Brady nor Randy Moss addressed the media; team officials said the pair had a lunchtime event with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to attend.

We've just left Campanelli Field in Brockton, home of the Brockton Rox, where Kevin Faulk is holding his second annual Celebrity Softball game to raise funds for the United Way.

More than two dozen of his teammates lent their support, making for a crowded field since all of the members of a team played defense together.

Jarvis Green served as umpire.

Randy "Griffey" Moss - as he requested his name be for the night - was the star attraction for the crowd, though Matt Cassel may have gained some fans with his bootie shaking dance-off win over Kelley Washington.

Faulk felt that the high turnout was a sign of the respect his teammates have for him; assistant strength coach Harold Nash and New England legend Doug Flutie took part as well.

He was also pleasantly surprised to see a full parking lot at the stadium; Rox officials said fans began lining up at the gates at 4:30 p.m., 90 minutes before they opened.

"It's turned out to be a great event," Faulk said.

CBS News has posted an extended version of reporter Armen Keteyian's Friday interview with Pats coach Bill Belichick. The nearly 15-minute video gives more of Belichick's comments and explanations than the three-minute report on last night's CBS Evening News.

As we suspected last night watching the televised package, it was highly edited and clips from here and there were patched together. Belichick speaks in great detail about Walsh, and says that "more than one person" had told him that Walsh claimed to have taped the Rams' walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI, and "now that story has changed. It seems like he has an agenda, I'm not really sure...what the agenda is. He has a way of embellishing stories, and that continues to be the case."

See it here.

The chance of a Senate investigation into Spygate -- which Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., hinted at in his news conference Wednesday -- appear to be remote after two members of Specter's own party on the Judiciary Committee said they don't think Congress should get involved in the scandal.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that Republicans Jon Kyl of Arizona and Lindsey O. Graham of South Carolina both said the National Football League is capable of policing itself.

Kyle told the Post "there are far better matters for our time." And Graham said: "I don't believe there's much sentiment that we should get involved. If there's a groundswell of support for us getting involved in this football escapade, it is news to me."

Read the entire story here.

New England head coach Bill Belichick spoke exclusively with CBS reporter Armen Keteyian this afternoon, and the interview was just broadcast on the CBS Evening News. Belichick spoke on camera for the first time about Matt Walsh, the former video assistant who spoke with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Sen. Arlen Specter this week about the Pats' videotaping practices when he was an employee of the team.

Here's what Belichick had to say:

On Walsh and his possible reason for becoming part of the Spygate story:
I don’t know what the agenda is. You know, again, he was fired here for poor job performance. There’s not a lot of credibility. He’s tried to make it seem like we were buddies and belong to the same book club and all that is really a long, long stretch.

More on Walsh and his role with the team:
For him to talk about game planning and strategy and play-calling and how he advised coordinators is…it’s embarrassing, it’s absurd. I mean, he didn’t have any knowledge of football – he was our third video assistant.

On Walsh's assertion that he was told to avoid detection while taping; the Patriots gave CBS tape which show Walsh behind a camera, in plain sight, and in team gear:
Why say he was told to avoid detection? I never told anybody to tell him that. All I can tell you is what the facts are – you look at the tape, you’ve seen film of the game. You tell me how discreet it is.

On the memo circulated by the league outlining illegal videotaping practices, which Belichick knew of and found to be in violation of:
I made a mistake. It was wrong. I was wrong.

What Belichick says to those who say his team cheated its way to Super Bowl titles:
I’ve said to you…I’ve told you the truth.

CBS has provided a transcript of Arman Keteyian's interview with Bill Belichick that will air Friday night at 6:30 p.m. on the CBS Evening News

Keteyian (narration): In the latest episode of the NFL's "Spygate," a defiant Bill Belichick decided to break his silence today to challenge the charges and motives of former Patriots video operator Matt Walsh.

Belichick: There was no deception.

Keteyian (narration): It was Walsh who shot video during Belichick's first two seasons in New England, 2000 and 2001. He went public this week -- calling the coach "arrogant." Walsh claims Belichick's contention that he just "misinterpreted" league rules prohibiting taping of opponents signals was false. AND, that the taping was actually a deliberate, illicit scheme by the Patriots to cheat their way to victory. Today, in an exclusive interview with CBS News, Belichick questioned Walsh's credibility.

Belichick: I don't know what his agenda is, again, he was fired for poor job performance and for audiotaping his superior. There's not a lot of credibility. You know he's tried to make it seem like we were buddies, and belong to the same book club and all. That's really a long, long stretch.

Keteyian (narration): Belichick says Walsh was in no position to know.

Belichick: For him to talk about game planning and strategy and play calling and how he advised coordinators, it's embarrassing, it's absurd. He didn't have any knowledge of football. He was our third video assistant.

Keteyian (narration): During Walsh's entire time with the team Belichick said he operated under the belief that the NFL's bible -- its constitution and bylaws -- allowed taping as long as it wasn't used to "aid a team during the playing of a game." He says Walsh was instructed to shoot the game, including hand signals. In plain sight. Wearing Patriots gear. And he provided the video to the league -- and CBS News -- as evidence.

Keteyian (question to Belichick): So why would Matt Walsh say he was told by his superiors to avoid detection, not wear Patriots clothing, and to lie about what he was shooting?
Belichick: I never told anybody to do that. All I can tell you is what the facts are. You look at the tape. You see him filming the game. You tell me how discreet it is.

Keteyian (narration): Belichick acknowledged when the rule was clarified by the league in September 2006 -- outlawing "videotaping of any type" DURING a game -- he stepped over the line.

Keteyian (question to Belichick): Bill, you got the memo, ,I mean you couldn't be any more clear than . . .
Belichick: I made a mistake. I was wrong. I was wrong.

Keteyian (narration): In the end, Spygate will not likely be remembered for illegal tapes or even Matt Walsh, but for its impact on the legacy of a three-time Super Bowl champion coach and how his team achieved greatness.

Keteyian (question to Belichick): People have said you flat-out cheated. What do you say to those people?
Belichick: What I said to you. I told the truth.

Bill Belichick will address charges made by Matt Walsh, his team’s former videotaper, that he knew the taping of opposing teams was wrong in an exclusive interview conducted by Armen Keteyian on the CBS Evening News Friday night. Belichick spoke with Keteyian earlier Friday in Boston.

During his interview with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday, former Patriots employee Matt Walsh confirmed that he did not tape the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI, but mentioned that he did talk to then-New England assistant Brian Daboll about what he saw during the walkthrough.

On Wednesday, the NFL interviewed Daboll, now the Jets' quarterbacks coach, again. He was first interviewed earlier this year, after the Feb. 2 Boston Herald story which said the walkthrough was taped by a member of the Pats' staff.

Today, the league released this statement:

"Our security department re-interviewed Brian Daboll on Wednesday and he has no recollection of a conversation with Matt Walsh about the Rams’ walk-through practice. Even if such a conversation occurred, it would not be a violation of NFL rules. Matt Walsh was authorized to be in the stadium to perform his job duties along with other members of the Patriots’ video department, members of the Rams’ video department, and other people preparing for the Super Bowl. Mr. Walsh told the commissioner that he was wearing Patriots’ attire at the time and did not conduct himself in a clandestine manner. He said that he saw Rams employees while he was there and also was on the sidelines. He stated clearly to the commissioner that nobody from the Patriots requested or directed him to observe or report on the Rams’ walk-through."

From the release sent by the team:

Patriots fans who wish to purchase tickets to individual games in 2008 will have the opportunity on Friday, May 16, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. The New England Patriots annually cap their season ticket sales, leaving a limited number in reserve for fans throughout New England who wish to attend just a couple of games each season. Those tickets will be released for sale through Ticketmaster. Visa, a proud sponsor of the National Football League and the New England Patriots, will be the only form of payment accepted.

All ticket orders will be processed through Ticketmaster. Tickets will NOT be sold at the Gillette Stadium Ticket Office. Ticket orders can be completed online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone. Ticketmaster phone numbers vary by area code, please check your local listings. In the greater Boston area, please call 617-931-2222. Once again, all phone and online orders must be made exclusively with a Visa credit or debit card.

If recent years are any indication, fans can expect all regular season games to sell out within minutes. If that occurs again this year, 2008 will be the 15th consecutive season that the Patriots have announced a complete sellout prior to the start of the regular season. The Patriots streak of consecutive sellouts is currently 149 games and began in 1994, the year that Robert Kraft purchased the franchise. The streak includes all preseason, regular season and postseason games since Sept. 4, 1994. If the Patriots sell out every game again this season, the streak will extend to 159 consecutive games by the end of the 2008 regular season.

The Patriots season ticket waiting list remains in excess of 50,000 fans.

See what they have to say here.

The New York Times has posted the entire transcript of an interview Wednesday in which Matt Walsh discussed his Patriots career with reporter Greg Bishop. It was Walsh's first interview with the news media, the Times says. The text casts much more light on how Walsh describes his duties with Patriots than most news stories could, including just what he was doing in the days before the Super Bowl against the Rams. The question that no one has definitively answered: How much did all this help the Patriots?

Click here for the transcript.

A day after its front-page apology to the Patriots made national news, the Boston Herald today is running an editor's note defending John Tomase, the reporter whose story about the Rams Super Bowl walkthrough eventually led to the apology, and reported that Tomase himself will write about the controversy tomorrow.

"We thought our story was solid. It wasn't. And we owned up to it," said the letter, signed by editor and chief Kevin Convey.

"Nevertheless, I continue to stand behind the work of the Herald sports department and John Tomase, a talented journalist who has dealt with this difficult matter professionally while continuing to do his job under intense pressure."

Click here to see Convey's full statement.

HBO has just sent out an announcement saying that it will have the first interview with former Patriots' video assistant Matt Walsh on this Friday's edition of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Andrea Kremer snagged the interview with Walsh, who was interviewed by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter on Tuesday but did not answer any questions from media.

Some excerpts from the interview, provided by HBO:

Walsh, who served an internship in the Patriots media relations office before joining a new supervisor in the team’s video group in 1999, recalls being asked to make the switch:

MATT WALSH: “I said, ‘I’ll be honest with you, I really don’t know anything about video.’ He said, ‘That’s okay, we’ll teach you everything you need to know.’ “
ANDREA KREMER: “Boy, did they.”

Walsh says that knowledge of and participation in the video spying/signal stealing operation began at the top levels of the coaching staff — and extended to the team itself. He recalls a conversation he had with a Patriots player after the first game of the 2000 regular season. At the time, Patriots were not an elite team and Tampa Bay was on its way to the playoffs.

MATT WALSH: “I had spoken with one of our quarterbacks, uh, that said, he was called into Coach Belichick’s office shortly before the Tampa Bay game. In the office was Ernie Adams, Charlie Weis, and Coach Belichick. They closed the door, Charlie said to him, “You know, we’ve got tape of the Buccaneer’s coaches defensive signals. What we’re going to do is have you learn this, then we’re going to have you next to Charlie on the sideline, when he’s calling in the play to Drew [Bledsoe, the starting quarterback], over the coach to quarterback communication system. Drew’s got the, the earpiece in the helmet, and you're going to tell Charlie the defense that’s being called, and we’re going to relay the information, or use that in calling the play into Drew.” Um, the quarterback, you know, later told me that within two to three seconds of when [Tampa Bay defensive coordinator] Monte Kiffin sent a play call into [Tampa Bay safety] John Lynch, Drew Bledsoe had it in his helmet.”

Walsh says that a Patriots quarterback also told him that the spying effort had yielded remarkable success.

MATT WALSH: “After the first game when we played the Buccaneers in the first season, after the tapes would have already been utilized, and I went up to one of our quarterbacks, because, you know, running the offense, I figured the quarterback might know something about this. I said, you know, was this, was the footage that I shot of the opposing coaches’ signals, you know, any use for you guys? Did it help at all? And one of the quarterbacks told me, he said, probably about seventy-five percent of the time Tampa Bay ran the defense that we thought they were going to run.”

Walsh suggests that Bill Belichick has not owned up to his responsibility in this affair, or admitted his true familiarity with Matt Walsh and his actions.

MATT WALSH: “He was, he was always friendly, you know, when we talked. Um, cordial, he, him and his wife Debbie, bought us a Christmas gift in 2001.”
ANDREA KREMER: “So how does that give with Bill Belichick saying, “I couldn't pick Matt Walsh out of a lineup?” “
MATT WALSH: “Um, it’s funny, the first time I heard that was when somebody in Hawaii brought the quote to me too. And my first hand answer to them was, well, I wonder if he can pick me out on one of the three team pictures we’re in together.”
ANDREA KREMER: “Why do you think he would have said that?”
MATT WALSH: “I don’t know, if I was just that forgettable and he can't remember me, or if he was just trying to distance himself from this whole situation as best as he could.”
ANDREA KREMER: “What do you think?”
MATT WALSH: “I think Bill’s got a pretty good memory.”
ANDREA KREMER: “Bill also has a great knowledge of the game, so when, when Bill Belichick says he misinterpreted the rules of what can be shot during a game, who much do you believe him?”
MATT WALSH: “When I was doing it, I understood what we were doing to be wrong. We went to great lengths to keep from being caught. Just saying that the rules were misinterpreted isn't enough of a, an apology or a reasoning for what was done. I mean, we live, you know, in a very forgiving nation, you know. People, if you come out and you admit a mistake you made or something you did that you shouldn't have done, people are usually very forgiving of that, accepting. When people try to get around answering it, or giving an explanation, or you know, admitting culpability, that’s usually when people start to question your motives.”

MATT WALSH: “Coach Belichick’s explanation for having misinterpreted the rules. To me, that really didn’t sound like taking responsibility for what we had done, especially considering the great lengths that we had gone through, uh, to hide what we were doing.”

According to Goodell, Walsh at one point during their meeting on Tuesday referred to Belichick as "the man behind the curtain," which leads one to believe he may not have had much interaction with the Pats' coach. - smy

Walsh discusses how his recent public ordeal has affected him.

ANDREA KREMER: “What’s the thing that really bothers you the most about this whole situation, I mean granted, you did what you…were instructed to do, but what bothers you the most when you reflect back on it, years later?”

MATT WALSH: “Really just a lot of…what myself— I can’t speak for them but I have to imagine Steve Scarnecchia and Matt Estrella, you know, have had to go through, and experience, um, simply for being young kids and doing what we were told to do. Um, all the attention this has gotten and how…you know, the Patriots through the media have tried to smear my character. And I hadn’t even come out with any definitive information against them. I never said that we videotaped the Rams’ walk-through, I never came out, I was very, you know, as non-committal as I could in any of the answers I gave, yet they still went to great lengths to try to discredit me. You know, and still to this day, you know, the commissioner says I’ve just presented information that he already knew? Which would mean information before I even talked in the first place? So, well, why put me through all this. If I didn’t do anything to them. And the same thing with Matt Estrella and Steve Scarnecchia. I mean you know, my life, my friend’s life, my family lives, have been turned upside down, supposedly for nothing new.”

Real Sports will debut Friday at 8 p.m.; it will be re-aired throughout the month.

Here's the statement:

"We respectfully disagree with Senator Specter’s characterization of the investigation conducted by our office. We are following up after yesterday’s meeting with Matt Walsh."

Following is the text of the statement that Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., put into the record of today's Senate floor proceedings shortly before his midday news conference at the Capitol.

Editor's note: Specter's office, at 5:35 p.m., e-mailed a corrected version of the statement, saying:

Attached please find a CORRECTED version of the floor statement Senator Arlen Specter entered into the Congressional Record today.

The previous version contained two factual errors:
1) The correct date of the Patriots-Steelers game is September 25, 2005, not October 31, 2004.

2) Sheldon Brown is a cornerback for the Philadelphia Eagles and was referencing the Eagles-Patriots 2005 Super Bowl.

>> Continue reading: Update: Complete text of Arlen Specter Senate statement

FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) - New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft complimented the Boston Herald on Wednesday for apologizing for a story that said his team videotaped a St. Louis Rams walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl.

He's "very disappointed," though, that the newspaper "wrote a story that was completely false and unsubstantiated," Kraft said in an interview with The Associated Press.

He also said he doesn't know why former New England video assistant Matt Walsh didn't refute the story soon after it came out on Feb. 2, the day before the Patriots lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants, 17-14, ruining their quest for an unbeaten season.

"I must compliment the Boston Herald for doing what is unprecedented in terms of recognizing their error in a major way," Kraft said. "I'm really delighted with that, but I wish it never happened."

The apology came a day after a meeting between NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Walsh produced no major revelations about the team's taping procedures.

"I think I speak for all Patriot fans," Kraft said. "We're relieved that this is over and you see that this is nonsense and we were unfairly accused and we're moving on."

Kraft spoke by telephone before Sen. Arlen Specter said in Washington that he wants an independent investigation of the Patriots' taping of opposing coaches' signals similar to the Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

Patriots spokesman Stacey James said the team had no immediate comment on Specter's remarks.

Walsh told Goodell he did not tape the walkthrough and had no knowledge that any other Patriots employees did so, Goodell said. The commissioner also indicated he considered the investigation over after meeting with Walsh on Tuesday.

Goodell fined coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the team $250,000 and took away a first-round draft pick this year after an investigation found the Patriots violated league rules by taping New York Jets coaches on the sideline during the season opener.

Kraft said he didn't think the investigation that began then would leave a lasting stain on the club.

"I was unhappy with what transpired in the fall, the actions of some of our employees, and we were penalized severely for that," he said. "We said back in September that we had disclosed all of our actions as an organization to the league. You can see this is true.'

"The erroneous story really led to a second round of inquisitions after September, and it really was a distraction. The sad part (is) that it took away from an 18-0 Super Bowl season."
The Herald's story cited unidentified sources and was released Feb. 2.

In the apology, published in the newspaper's Wednesday edition and posted on its Web site, the Herald said the story was based on sources "it believed to be credible."

"We now know that this report was false, and that no tape of the walkthrough ever existed," the paper wrote.

"We should not have published the allegation in the absence of firmer verification. The Boston Herald regrets the damage done to the team by publication of the allegation, and sincerely apologizes to its readers and to the New England Patriots' owners, players, employees and fans for our error."

The newspaper featured a front-page headline reading: "Sorry, Pats." It placed the three-paragraph apology on the back inside page of the newspaper.

We recorded this interview with Shalise Manza Young this morning. She discusses covering the Spygate news conference yesterday in New York, whether the story will live on in the hearts of non-Patriots fans around the country, and whether the disclosures on the eve of the Super Bowl might have affected the team's performance in that game.

Click here to listen to the file.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., called today for a "transparent and independent" investigation into allegations that the New England Patriots tried to spy on opposing teams, asserting that the practice went on more frequently than has previously been known.

Specter, who met with former Patriots' videographer Matt Walsh yesterday, also criticized what he called the National Football League's investigation into the matter.

Earlier in the day yesterday, Walsh met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who announced after yesterday's meeting that further sanctions against the Patriots over the Spygate controversy were unlikely.

Goodell said Walsh affirmed that he does not have, nor did he make, a tape of the St. Louis Rams’ final walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI, in 2002.

Speaking to reporters in Washington today, Specter charged among other things that, although Walsh did not tape the St. Louis Rams walkthrough practice, Walsh and several other Patriots' personnel "were present to observe most if not all" of the practice, including running back "Marshall Faulk's unusual positioning as a punt returner."

Specter, citing reports by the late journalist David Halberstam, said Patriots' coach Bill Belichick spent much time before that Super Bowl "obsessing about where the Rams would line up Faulk."

Specter, based on an interview with Walsh and other research, also asserted that although Walsh did not tape opposition practices between 2003 and 2005 -- a gap much remarked upon in the sports media -- other Patriots' personnel did tape such sessions during those years.

Specter also criticized the NFL for permitting the Patriots to have representatives on hand during yesterday's NFL questioning of Walsh. Former prosecutor Specter asserted that such a practice ran counter to the principles of objective investigations.

-- Specter criticized NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in stinging terms for what he called the league's "dribbling out" of facts about the so-called Spygate scandal and for destroying the first significant evidence in the case, tapes that the Patriots surrendered last September after the disclosure that they had videotaped New York Jets defensive signals during a game.

Specter also charged that Goodell settled on a penalty against the Patriots before he viewed the videotaped evidence of the rules infraction.

Specter did not specify who should do the investigation, but he did hold out as an example the investigation of steroids use in baseball by former Senator George Mitchell.

-- Journal Washington bureau John Mulligan

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa, is scheduled to hold a news conference at noon today after meeting yesterday with former Patriots videotape assistant Matt Walsh.

Earlier in the day yesterday, Walsh met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who announced after yesterday's meeting that further sanctions against the Patriots over the Spygate controversy were unlikely.

Goodell said Walsh affirmed that he does not have, nor did he make, a tape of the St. Louis Rams’ final walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI, in 2002.

Specter has helped keep the Spygate situation alive with comments critical of the league’s handling of the situation. Many have said, however, that his ties to Philadelphia-based Comcast, which is locked in a battle with the NFL over rights to the NFL Network, is driving him. Also, the Pats have had success in recent years over the league’s two Pennsylvania-based teams, the Eagles and the Steelers.

Specter was initially scheduled to hold a press conference yesterday.