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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

Click here for the transcript.

"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.

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.

"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."

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.

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.