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Porter sounds off on Patriots

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.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 7:05 PM | Permalink | Comments 2