As Spygate Scandal Grows, Will NFL Run Interference?
Press Action
Sunday, February 03, 2008
http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/spygate02032008/
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican, plans to dig deeper into speculation surrounding the NFL engaging in some form of cover-up over the so-called Spygate scandal.
It’s outrageous that U.S. lawmakers are wasting taxpayer money looking into whether the NFL conspired with the New England Patriots to sweep under the rug certain information related to the Spygate scandal, just as it’s ridiculous that Congress has once again scheduled hearings into the use of steroids in baseball. These congressional investigations are examples of how the federal government loves to meddle in areas where it has no business poking its nose.
Having said that, it is curious how the Spygate scandal has unfolded. After the league investigation into the original Spygate incident following New England’s victory over the New York Jets in Week 1 of the NFL season, Goodell fined Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000, the maximum amount, and docked the team $250,000 and a first-round draft pick.
And then the Spygate scandal became a bigger issue this past week when it was revealed that the NFL destroyed the five or six tapes that it had confiscated from the Patriots. NFL security took the tapes from a Patriots employee during New England’s 38-14 victory over the Jets. The employee was accused of aiming his camera at the Jets’ defensive coaches as they signaled to players on the field.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell contends the league destroyed the tapes because they had no need to keep them after levying the penalties against the Patriots and because the league didn’t want copies of the tapes getting leaked. “People are implying that this is some type of cover up,” Goodell said. “I think it’s exactly the opposite. We were the ones who brought these facts out to light.”
I agree with Specter, who has said there is something fishy about Goodell’s explanation for destroying the tapes. Given its reputation for having a top-notch security program, couldn’t the league figure out a way to store the tapes without them getting leaked or stolen?
What could ultimately tarnish the Patriots’ reputation more than Spygate I are the new revelations surrounding the alleged videotaping of the St. Louis Rams’ last practice before the 2002 Super Bowl. Such taping could have given the Patriots a competitive edge by allowing their coaches to see which offensive plays the Rams planned to use.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick could be in trouble again if these new allegations prove true. Was he involved in another Spygate on the eve of the 2002 Super Bowl? The Patriots did defeat the heavily favored Rams. If there are further allegations which are proven, there is greater pressure on Goodell and the New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft to punish Bill Belichick beyond the $500,000 fine which was levied for taping the New York Jets coaching signals in the season opener.
All of this talk about cheating and scandals made me think of Dan Moldea’s excellent book, Interference: How Organized Crime Influences Professional Book. In the 1989 book, Moldea alleged that there had been many attempts to fix NFL games.
Here’s an excerpt from the prologue to Interference:
To ensure its investments, the underworld had infiltrated every level of the NFL—from the players’ locker rooms to the owners’ luxury boxes. For years, mobsters, bookmakers, and big-money gamblers have maintained relationships with NFL team owners, coaches, players, trainers, and game officials—relationships that have threatened the integrity of professional football. And these associations pose more far-reaching dangers to the game than the specter of a fixed game.
At present, the NFL confirms that there have been only two attempts to fix NFL games. The first was in 1946 when gamblers tried to bribe two New York Giants players to throw the NFL championship game. The other was in 1971 when a player with the Houston Oilers was allegedly approached and offered money by a former teammate to shave points. According to the NFL, neither attempt was successful.
However, this is also myth. This book will provide evidence that there have been many other attempts to compromise the integrity of the game – with far greater success.
Moldea sued the New York Times for an inaccurate review of Interference but lost. Here’s how NameBase describes the fallout from the book:
If football is the American religion, and the NFL its Vatican, then Dan Moldea is a heretic and excommunication is already in progress. Moldea is fighting back with a $10 million libel suit against the New York Times for its review of this book by sportswriter Gerald Eskenazi, an NFL mouthpiece.
It’ll be interesting to see if the NFL continues to run interference for the Patriots as the team faces new questions over Spygate II.