Former Patriot Employee Walsh Turns Over Tapes

Former New England Patriots employee Matt Walsh has sent the NFL eight tapes showing the team recorded the signals from coaches of five different teams for six games from the seasons of 2000 to 2002.The tape most people are looking for, one of the St. Louis Rams practice before the 2002 Super Bowl, is not included in the tapes.Many were looking forward to what Walsh could provide after the Patriots were caught taping the New York Jets during week one of last season.The tapes do show more evidence of how deep the spying really was, as reported by Greg Bishop of the New York Times: Walsh's tapes show that the Patriots recorded the signals of offensive and defensive coaches in regular-season games against the Miami Dolphins, the Buffalo Bills, the Cleveland Browns and the San Diego Chargers and against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2002 American Football Conference championship game. In that game, the tape has been edited to show Steelers coaches signaling plays, followed by two different camera angles of the actual plays that were called. On Tuesday, Walsh is scheduled to speak with Commissioner Roger Goodell and Senator Arlen Specter in separate meetings. Walsh could provide additional information at that time, including how the taping worked, how extensive it was, which Patriots employees were involved and the significance of the evidence he handed over.Since head coach Bill Belichick's first season in New England, when the Patriots finished 5-11, they have gone 86-26 in the regular season, a .768 winning percentage. It remains unclear whether the league will make the tapes public. During the initial investigation into the Patriots, the league accepted seven tapes gathered by the team, dating to 2006, while collecting a written promise that it possessed no more. The N.F.L. destroyed the tapes that the Patriots turned over. Walsh's layer, Michael Levy, confirmed the specific tapes listed above and claimed that if there is a tape of the Rams' walkthrough, it is not in his client's possession. League spokesman Greg Aiello claimed that the league didn't really learn anything from the tapes that they didn't already know.The Patriots were hit hard by Goodell after it was discovered they were spying against the Jets as a total of $750,000 in fines was forced on the team and coach. Not taping opponents didn't seem to hurt the Patriots last season as they went undefeated until losing to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.According to Steelers' chairman Don Rooney, his team does not think their losses to the Patriots had anything to do with the taping.For more news on the Patriots reported by the Biz of Football check here.  More recent news from around the league can be found here. Here's what's being reported across the Business of Sports Network: On the Biz of Baseball, Maury Brown reports: Robin Ventura to Sub For Steve Stone this Weekend.On the Biz of Basketball, Michael J. Senno reports: Billy Knight Resigns As Atlanta Hawks GM.On the Biz of Hockey, Michael J. Senno reports: Don Cherry to Debut on ESPN Tonight.On Maury Brown's Biz of Sports, Brown reports: An Update on a Sports Writer's World When He Learns His Child Has Autism. Posted by Business of Sports staff member and Biz of Football Editor of Content Bill Jordan. (Visit the Biz of Football Author's Page for contact details) more...