Belicheat to walk away free from Diegate
by STEVE SERBY, New York Post
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But, oh, to be a spy on the wall during that tete-a-tete:
Goodell: "You have no smoking gun, Mr. Walsh."
Walsh: "I never said I did."
Goodell: "The problem is you never said you didn't. You did the league and the Patriots a disservice by giving the perception that you did. You made Bob Kraft, one of our very best men, twist in the wind by placing him and his coach and his players under a cloud of suspicion."
Walsh (nervous chuckle, attempts joke): "I guess I was too busy celebrating the Giants' Super Bowl win, sir. The Patriots DID fire me, sir."
Goodell: "A remarkable game that provides irrefutable evidence of the NFL's popularity and growing global reach. You might want to mention that to Sen. Specter when you visit with him."
Walsh: "That will probably be like one of Sam Ervin's grillings. Remember the Watergate hearings, sir?"
Goodell: "President Nixon lost a lot more than a first-round draft choice and $750,000, if memory serves. (Patriots' GM) Scott Pioli was quoted as saying that he fired you for secretly tape-recording private conversations with him while you worked for the club."
Walsh (clears throat): "On advice of counsel ... I can assure you I'm not secretly recording our conversation, sir."
Goodell: "I would certainly hope not. Well, Mr. Walsh, you've had your 15 minutes of fame, and then some. Thank you for your, ahem, cooperation and your time. Have a safe trip back to Hawaii."
Walsh: "Thank you for the all-expenses paid trip to New York, sir. I know you can't wait to put an end to this, what with the integrity of the league at stake and the 'Pacman' reinstatement issue. But he'll always be Belicheat to me."
We'll never know how much the spying benefited Belichick. He can always point to the fact that of the eight tapes involving six games that Walsh handed over to the NFL featured three games the Patriots lost. But one of the games the Patriots won was the 2002 AFC Championship game over the Steelers, 24-17, in which Kordell Stewart was intercepted three times.
"Oh, they knew," Steelers receiver Hines Ward said in September. "They were calling our stuff out. They knew, especially that first championship game here at Heinz Field. They knew a lot of our calls. There's no question some of their players were calling out some of our stuff."
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is running a poll — voting began yesterday and ends tomorrow:
"More videotapes are surfacing that reportedly show the New England Patriots taped other team's signals, and gave special attention to the Steelers in the 2002 AFC title game. What should happen now?
A. Fine the Patriots even more.
B. Suspend the Patriots' coach.
C. Let the players call their own signals.
D. Replay the 2002 AFC title game.
E. Make the Patriots a Juneau, Alaska expansion team.
How about F? Diegate.
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