Bob Kraft pushes the Mueller report off the front page

Can we just call Kraft #DeezNuts now?

First, for people who say "journalism is dying," put a sock in it.

Yesterday, at the Jupiter PD's first presser on the the bust of massage parlors that led to today's news of the Bob Kraft arrest for soliciting prostitution, a reporter first asked if any NFL players were involved and, IIRC, got a "no." Reporter then asked if other NFL-connected people, including owners were involved and got a "no comment."

Obviously, this reporter had a tip and a good one. So did someone on Reddit Thursday. Especially since Red Satan is now having people throw stuff over the transom claiming that Kraft may not be the highest profile person involved. They may or may not be sports people, but that seems most likely. (What's even more likely is ESPN doing a big cover-up for Bob Kraft's Schweddy Balls.)

And, according to Deadspin's analysis of the probable cause affidavit, Kraft got his Schweddy Balls twice in 24 hours — once the day of the AFC title game.



Jethro Jerry Jones, who has a past shady history with easy women, is already being mocked on Twitter. I joked that Jerry didn't go himself; instead, he sent Jason Garrett to get takeout sloppy seconds for him.

And, Mr. Elin Nordigren, aka Tiger Woods, lives in Jupiter. (I don't think that Jupiter would let a declasse place like Perkins Pancakes in the city limits, so breakfast may be out of town.)

So, higher profile? Stay tuned.

(Update, March 8: The Orchids of Asia founder, who sold the biz in 2013, was at a Super Bowl watch party ... with President Trump. And, reportedly, the spa gave "wax jobs" under her ownership, too. Update March 12: She also was allegedly grifting on her Trump connections, selling Mar-a-Lago access and medium-term visas.)

Jupiter PD said a total of 25 people were caught in this bust. They also did not say, one way or the other, if this was the only bust. The story above reports that at least eight massage parlors in West Palm Beach had been targeted.

Too bad our old legal beagle, Chris Chopin, aka #ActualFlatticus, isn't still alive. He'd surely be on the case, having lived in West Palm and fighting for some sort of truth, justice and the Flatty way.

Unless his dad, Trump lover L. Frank Chopin, is involved.

More more seriously, while I'm not sure we should have blanket decriminalization of prostitution, I am at least open to the idea.

As for rumors on Red Satan that Kraft might not be the biggest get? Florida officials have rejected that. For all I know, it might be ESPN whitewashing to have floated that claim.

That said, the link above notes that the warrant is "non-extraditable." In other words, as long as Bob Kraft doesn't visit Florida again, nothing could be done to him.

Reality? This will die down and at some point in the future, Kraft will quietly accept a deferred adjudication offer and everybody will move on.

(Update, March 19: Or, Kraft will get offered the equivalent of deferred adjudication with no deferment. What's stopping his lawyer from taking the offer? Oh, and did Kraft pay for a prosecutor's kids to go to the front of the line at Princeton, a la the college cheating scandal? Well, maybe neither. In what's not totally shocking, as of March 20, apparently Kraft has decided he can beat the rap and outspend prosecutors. He's filed to have the evidence quashed. He reportedly doesn't want the tie to sex trafficking in any way, any how. He also doesn't want the video released; sorry, but I agree with the sheriff, both as a private citizen and someone in the media. It's a public record now. Period.

Update, March 23: Kraft has now released a statement that "I am truly sorry [I got caught]." And, Deadspin gets as smug about "everybody (falling) for Robert Kraft's 'apology'" as the ESPN it likes to ridicule. I, in turn, like ridiculing Deadspin for stuff like this.)

Update, April 3: Kraft is the gift of rich insolence that keeps on giving, now officially alleging an illegal search. And, like the kid who kills his parents then throws himself on the mercy of the court as an orphan, his legal beagles claim Jupiter police, at the same time, had enough evidence to shut Orchids of Asia before he was arrested.

Update, April 5: Well, per USA Today, Kraft's lawyers may damned well have case, if their claim is correct. Using a fake bomb threat to get into Orchids of Asia to install spy cams, especially if a trafficking claim was connected? Quash the indictment — but, of course, not just for Kraft but everybody.

That said, this still shows why there's two levels of justice in America. Some poor shlub could never afford legal beagles to nail that down.

Side note: The type of warrant involved became allowable after the Patriot Act. Thanks Shrub for creating it. Thanks Dear Leader and Dem Congresscritters for not repealing it.

Who stole Tom Brady's jersey — allegedly worth $500K? (found!)

Tom Brady

A rundown of the story to date on who apparently stole the jersey Tom Brady wore in Super Bowl 51. (And one from his previous SB 49 win.)

Update, March 20: Found! And, per an NFL presser? A "credentialed member of the international media" is reportedly involved. Oops! I guess Brady's friend Trump will have to block entry into the US of international media. That said, this was hinted at (less the "international" part) six weeks ago.

More from ESPN — as the Eff Bee Eye investigates, it appears that one of them Mezzicans may have been the thief! An former editor with paper Diario La Prensa is reportedly being eyed, and the jerseys were found down there.

Add in that FBI head cheese James Comey just told Congress today that he hates the Patriots and we got us a conspiracy theory cooking!

James Comey says during congressional hearing that he hates the New England Patriots. #ComeyHearing 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/Zu31UyotUa

— The Shadow League (@ShadowLeagueTSL) March 20, 2017

That said, I have a further tie-in.

Aaron Hernandez is Hispanic, right? On trial for murder right now, right? Needs money for trial lawyers, right? Possibly still able to access the Pats' locker rooms, right?

Surely he'd have motive to steal Brady's jerseys and sell them to fellow Hispanic Mezzican reporter guy, right?

(This relates someone to my update, Feb. 9: Oooppssss? It appears maybe the jersey wasn't stolen after all, possibly just misplaced. And, is Tom Terrific taking a page from his BFF Donald Trump about the ebil media?

“I went in to take my eye black off and they had opened up [the locker room] to, I don’t know, the media,” he said Monday on WEEI. “And I walked back to my bag and it was gone. Same thing happened two years ago [in the Super Bowl against Seattle]. That sucks, but, oh well.”

Well, there you go. The haters in the non-New England media did it.)

Now, why can't even the Texas Rangers find it? Maybe a transgender person took it into the bathroom not of his or her alleged "biological" sex, so the Rangers, following on Lite Guv Danny Goeb, are befuddled.

Update, Feb. 21: Yes, per the header, that piece of cloth is allegedly worth $500,000. If Houston cops really think it is, and Brady's boo-hooing that much, then pony up some reward money!

That said, that baby's impossible to resell now except on the totally black market now. Maybe the thief just wanted a souvenir, but if he or she wanted money, not at all likely now.

Of course, there is one other option, as NFL staff were in that locker room too.

Roger Goodell did it, as a last pound of flesh!

Other possible thieves?

Tony Dungy for being accused of cheating by Deion Sanders.

Deion, to set up the story.

Bob Kraft, to make Goodell look bad.

Bill Belichick, to set up a rallying cry for next year.

Dan Patrick (the Lite Guv known as Danny Goeb, not the sports guy), to promote the bathroom bill.

Meanwhile, as of Feb. 13, it appears that the game ball from James White's winning touchdown was never lost in the first place.

Astros 2, Cardinals 0

That's not a game-day score in interleague baseball. Instead, it's the number of draft choices the Redbirds have to forfeit to the Stros, courtesy of Rob Manfred, Commissioner Corleone, dropping the hammer (actual report) on owner Bill DeWitt and GM John Mozeliak for former scouting officer Chris Correa's cybersnooping on the Astros' scouting computers. The local angle is offered up by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

For his part, via ESPN, Correa stands by his claim when caught, and through his trial, that the Astros stole first. I have a follow-up blog post about those ideas here.

My first thought? Mo has shown a bit more urgency in going after mid-level free agents, signing Dexter Fowler this year and Mike Leake a year ago. But, Jhonny Peralta's front-loaded contract three years ago was the only other real move in the last decade. He passed on resigning Albert Pujols, passed (fortunately, so far, it seems) on Jason Heyward, and passed on Matt Holliday (probably also fortunately) as far as renewing players on the team.

Fowler was probably an overpay, especially if Mo had any advance inkling the hammer would come down this hard. Leake a year ago was a definite overpay and I said so even before he put on the 2016 Birds on Bat uni.

So, Mo in general in free agency, like Dave Dombrowski, has no problems letting a veteran go rather than extending end-of-career contracts, and he's generally been right on that. (Had Pujols stayed as healthy as Tiger counterpart Miggy Cabrera, we'd be questioning that, though.) But, his track record is mixed in chasing players from other teams, when he does.

Peralta = good;
Leake = already bad, known in advance;
Fowler = jury out
Not signing David Price = jury out so far.

And, Mo has so far shown himself somewhat adverse to signing players with opt-out clauses and absolutely allergic to double opt-outs like Heyward's. Will he change in the future?

Meanwhile, was the punishment too light? Critics are already boo-hooing, but I don't think so, and I don't think I'm being too much of a homer. Correa was a rogue operator, and this was the first time something like this happened. And, it's fun to watch Jeff Passan, and even more, Buster Olney (or anybody else at ESPN) fulminate over this. I mean, Manfred took several months on this after the feds lowered the criminal hammer on Correa. The Cards fully cooperated from the start. The idea that this is a Deflategate, that Bill DeWitt is a Robert Kraft, or that the Cardinals are the New England Patriots is crap.

Mark Saxon of ESPN says it's comparing apples to mangoes, this punishment vs. what the commish had for the BoSox in what was an organized club effort, then retracts that with the other hand, but saying this still seemed "far less stringent." Well, yes, and you explained why. Let's add that the Cards cooperated with Manfred from the start, AND that we've not been told publicly how much, or how little, this affected Astros signings. Tim Brown at Yahoo also gets it wrong, in insinuating that surely Correa wasn't all alone for three years. Both you guys are journos; if you've got somebody in either Manfred's office or US AG's office who's got info to leak, move forward. If not, STFU.

Related: The Houston Chronicle has a new story on documents from Correa's criminal trial, now unsealed. The feds don't seem to have ever, since the early part of the investigation, have seen anything to convince them that Correa was anything other than a rogue operator, too.

Besides, at least for public consumption, and no leaks indicating otherwise, the Astros say they're OK too.

Now, as for the Astros' possible success off this?

The pics are actually a second round and a compensatory balance pick. But, lots of players are available in those second and third rounds. Google away for past successes. Or note that Pujols, Mike Piazza and Keith Hernandez all went 10th round or later.

The Stros also get the Cards' draft money slots for those two picks. So, IF Jeff Luhnow still has the magic touch he often did in St. Louis, that relatively young Houston team could add serious prospect depth for years to come.

#Spygate Part 2 ahead?

Per Poynter, a journalism industry tracker, Don Van Natta of ESPN says that he and partner Seth Wickersham could have MORE stuff, beyond what they had earlier this month, about the details of the New England Patriots' spying on other teams.

Van Natta, who co-wrote the story with Seth Wickersham, says they have received more than a dozen calls from various league sources since the story was released.

And, not just the Patriots, either. Van Natta said something about "other teams."

He did say a couple of the leads involved other teams, although the Patriots remain the main focus. 

“We heard from people we didn’t even interview who were confirming the storylines in our piece,” Van Natta said. “It confirmed the anger and paranoia around the league about the Patriots.”

Given that, in the original, as I blogged about it, the Patriots' spying was extensive, and covered all the last six years of former NFL Commish Paul Tagliabue's reign, and he (and apparently, other owners), kind of shrugged their shoulders, I wouldn't be surprised at all if other teams were doing this.

And, Roger Goodell, the current Commissioner Almost, has been a bumbler in general, and now he’s playing in the major leagues:

Prior to coming to ESPN, Van Natta covered the White House, Pentagon, the CIA, and spent three years interviewing intelligence officers in Europe for the New York Times. He jokes that all of that experience proved to be “a good training ground” for doing investigative stories on the NFL.

Getcha popcorn.

And, start wondering when the owners will get some balls, or else enough embarrassment, or else enough lawsuits, to buy out Goodell’s contract.

#Deflategate and #Spygate: Lawsuits, leakers, players

ESPN’s bombshell linking New England Patriots’ coach Bill Belichik’s Spygate and quarterback Tom Brady’s Deflategate has several sidebars to it.

One, from outside the league, is, is there any chance of lawsuits?

One could conceivably come from either a Vegas or a non-Vegas sports book, convinced it lost money on point spreads on some games. Given the duration and depth of the spying, more than previously known (outside of the Boston Globe reporting the Patriots had spied on a St. Louis Rams 2002 Super Bowl walk-through practice, then the NFL forcing a retraction, even though that appears to have been true), I’m sure major sports book companies can find all sorts of game to look at.

Starting with that one.

Per Vegas, the Rams were a 14-point favorite in an expected 53-point total. Actual final, as NFL fans know? Patriots 20, Rams 17.

And, about that game, and the filming of a Rams' pre-game walk-through, we know, as largely reported before:

During the walk-through, the Rams had also practiced some of their newly designed red zone plays. When they ran the same plays late in the Super Bowl's fourth quarter, the Patriots' defense was in position on nearly every down. On one new play, quarterback Kurt Warner rolled to his right and turned to throw to Marshall Faulk in the flat, where three Patriots defenders were waiting. On the sideline, Rams coach Mike Martz was stunned. He was famous for his imaginative, unpredictable plays, and now it was as if the Patriots knew what was coming on plays that had never been run before. The Patriots' game plan had called for a defender to hit Faulk on every down, as a means of eliminating him, but one coach who worked with an assistant on that 2001 Patriots team says that the ex-Pats assistant coach once bragged that New England knew exactly what the Rams would call in the red zone. "He'd say, 'A little birdie told us,'" the coach says now.

Sounds more than just a bit suspicious.

Or, let’s say a centimillionaire or higher rent guy is a big NFL fantasy sports fan, and has played in leagues with serious betting. Is he going to sue for losses?

And ... in a civil suit, there's no Fifth Amendment to plead.

The second is from inside the league.

Thinking like a journalist (rather than thinking like a pot-stirrer regarding a potential Vegas suit), the big question is:

Who started leaking to ESPN and why?

Is it the same (anonymous) owner who called the original Deflategate decision a make-good, and now feels HE got burned? (That said, per the tail end of the ESPN piece, other owners had similar sentiment.) Does the attempt to call John Mara in as a mediator last week make it less, or more, likely, that it's him?

It could be one of those disgruntleds, but which one? 

Or, could it be ...

Stan Kroenke, trying to get leverage to move the Rams back to Los Angeles? Even though a lot of fellow owners reportedly dislike him? Or, maybe precisely because a lot of fellow owners dislike him? Obviously, as owner of the Rams, he’s got a direct connection on the story. And, as 2002 Super Bowl loser, even as Vegas had things pegged totally differently, he has leverage, too. (Meanwhile, he becomes more loathed by the day in St. Louis. Even though the city and/or county may shell out for his every stadium demand and more at end.)

Let's say Kroenke knows even more, because at this point, there may well be an "even more" still lurking. He threatens to drop that other shoe ... or sue, the league, Goodell, AND Kraft and the Patriots, knowing Goodell once was, until Deflategate, Kraft's fair-haired boy who shielded Kraft and the Pats during Deflategate.

Kroenke's price for silence? A guaranteed 75 percent of owners supporting his move to LA, no matter what.

Meanwhile, back to the 2002 Super Bowl ...

#Brady or #Goodell: Who's the bigger #Deflategate liar?

Goodell vs. Brady: Battle of the network lying stars

As Deflategate theoretically rumbles toward resolution, here's a good Houston Chronicle column by lawyer Stephanie Stradley.

And, an exchange of emails by her on the issue, which is informative — but not so good.

Per the exchange of emails, Mara is being asked to step in to try to mediate between Goodell and Kraft. At some point, they're all going to agree that Brady gets suspended as well as fined, even if less than four games. After that, then Kraft has to tell Brady to STFU.

(Maybe Mara will bring in Paul Tagliabue, since Tagliabue has bailed out Goodell before.)

Speaking of, when you're a worse liar than Goodell in a situation, which I believe Brady is, you're pretty bad.

And, speaking of believability, Ms. Stradley, Brady's oath was to Goodell, not in a court of law. The NFL might attempt to introduce it into a court of law, but Team Brady can almost surely get it thrown out. His claims as to why he destroyed his cell phone are laughable. And thus, yes, I do think he's probably a bigger liar than Goodell on this issue.

The case matters, yes, because Goodell's arbitrary justice can't be trusted. 

So? We knew that before with Ray Rice.

And Brady can't be trusted either. Yes, Brady's camp offered Ted Wells of the Wells Report a list of all contacts on his cell phone. But, just as Richard Nixon offered Congress "excerpts" from White House tapes, there was surely a catch with the list, and that catch would have been that the list would replace the actual cell phone.

Why people who attack Goodell's credibility do so, in part, at a blanket defense of Brady's credibility, is beyond me. But, per Twitter exchanges with "The Sports Police," there are people who do that. That said, as I tweeted this person, he or she is not just anti-Goodell, which is fine and dandy, they're also a Pats homer, and so, need to be taken with a grain of salt. Or two or three. And, there's now another Tweeter, who may hate Goodell because of Adrian Peterson; he's a Vikings fan.

Ergo, this case doesn't matter as much as Stradley thinks. And as for Zach Abramowicz, her email dialogue partner, I'd like Goodell to get his comeuppance, too, but there's a LOT of better vehicles than this, starting with the concussions issue. And, per Stradley, things like that matter a lot more than Deflategate — but that lack of mattering cuts both ways. If you're a lawyer, and you see a pattern that "goes to credibility," you still take the strongest case in that pattern.

And, speaking of, though this is the first clear Brady brush with NFL justice, it's not the Patriots', of course.

(I've already Tweeted Stradley. Her first response is that Brady's oath, while given to Goodell, was eventually to be introduced into court. Given that nobody knew this case would go to court at that time — though that was already a possibility then — I think that's, if not a slim reed, a medium-weight one at best. I've Tweeted back asking her about Brady's credibility on his cell phone destruction. Stand by. If you want in, her Twitter account is here.)

I do think she's right that, no matter what Judge Berman rules, this case is't over.

Speaking of, Judge Berman has officially said no settlement, and he will rule by Friday, possibly by tomorrow.

That said, my opinion is that this is becoming the NFL equivalent of the 1970s New York Yankees eternal "love" triangle of George Steinbrenner, Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson.

Is the #Belichick era closing in New England?

Two assistant coaches leaving the team. One, Pepper Johnson, on that first link, unhappy he didn't get to move up to defensive coordinator. The other to leave, O-line coach Dante Scarnecchia, takes 30 years with the club off the table.

Tom Brady likely on his contract before retiring, although maybe he'd like some post-Belichick time, and, with four years left, could have that happen. But that's not likely. I doubt Belichick will retire before Brady does.

Belichick going off half-cocked on Wes Welker, as I blogged about here.

Don't get me wrong, he's been a great coach. But, like Phil Jackson and Tony LaRussa, maybe he's hit his expiration date.

And, for that matter, the Patriots probably have an expiration date, too. No telling how good, or not, Vince Wilfork is next year. Even if Aqib Talib is healthy, they still have a thin secondary. And, he's not totally young, in NFL years, for a cornerback anymore.

Losing your O-line coach, the one who's been there more than a decade, won't help the vaunted rushing game. Nor pass protection. And, speaking of passing ...

Post-Welker, post-Aaron Hernandez, and an iffy Rob Gronkowski, Brady has a thin receiving corps.

That said, let's not blame all of his overthrows in the Broncos game on his receiving cast, although he kind of went there himself. Albeit on a worse weather day, Brady had plenty of miscues the week before. And in the last couple of weeks of the regular season.

At least they were overthrows, so Pats fans know his arm isn't near to being shot.

Unless he was overcompensating.

Seriously, throw out game-winning drives this year (which mean you were behind in the first place), and Brady's been on a steady decline for several years. Throwing out his one-game injury season of 2008, he had a sub-90 season quarterback rating for the first time since 2003. And, while a fair amount of that may be blamable on all of the above issues plus a run-heavy offense, is all of it?

Meanwhile?

Miami will be hungry after this year's playoff near miss, and Ryan Tannehill will be better with experience. Ditto on Geno Smith in New York. (I think. If he can get worse, the Jets are in a lot of trouble.)

And, if Brady is aging, and all of these other things, maybe Belichick won't stick for four more years after all. If the Pats had won it all this year, an imminent retirement wouldn't have surprised me.

Get rid of the extra point? Or add a new "extra point"?

Get rid of the extra point? Or do something with it?

Pretty interesting piece here from NBC. Not sure which change I favor, but, in line with New England Patriot head coach Bill Belichick, I do favor some change. And, about any change would, per modern analytic football, make going for two more valuable yet. That said, per NBC's offerings, if you forced me to support one idea, I'd say put the extra-point conversion line at the 20. It makes an extra point somewhat less valuable, plus makes a blocked extra point a bit more likely to be returned by the other team for a point the other way.

That said, speaking of points, here's a change I'd like to see in the NFL, both coming from our friends up north.

Even with the smaller end zone, per Belichick's comment on special teams in general, allow the CFL's rouge point for punts the defense touches down in the end zone. Instead of coffin corner kicks, you'd want a boomer. And, would give coaches yet another strategy on fourth and 3 from the opponent 40. Now, instead of kicking a 57-yard field goal, going for it, or punting to try to down it inside the 10, punt to try to down it in the end zone.

Related to that, it would stimulate more quick kicks on some third and long plays.

That said, per CFL rouge rules, when the "single" is scored, the touchback comes to the 35, not the 20. If the NFL kept that part, too, it would force more of a gamble vs. coffin corner punts.

Unlike Canada, though, I wouldn't count it on missed field goals. And, because of the shorter U.S. field, I wouldn't count it on kickoffs. I might even tweak the CFL rule on touchbacks on punt rouges to put them at the 20 instead of the 35. It would still be an added twist to the U.S. game.

Speaking of, what about putting men in forward motion before the snap and allowing multiple shifts?

Will the NFL join MLB before the bar of Congress?

Yes, if Sen. Arlen Specter has his way. And, we can only hope.

Specter said he’s disappointed with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s piecemeal handling of Spygate, the New England Patriots’ taping of other teams’ signals.

“The lack of candor, the piecemeal disclosures, the changes in position on material matters, the failure to be proactive in seeking out other key witnesses, and responding only when unavoidable evidence is thrust upon the NFL leads to the judgment that an impartial investigation is mandatory.”

He wants the NFL to do the equivalent of baseball’s “independent” Mitchell Commission, which, given George Mitchell’s ties to both the Boston Red Sex and Florida Marlins, was no such thing.

Also, Specter claims that Pats ex-coach Matt Walsh, who spilled the beans on more taping beyond the original Spygate issues that got the Pats in trouble, fined and stripped of a draft choice, told him more than he did Goodell.

Walsh claims the Pats also were taping in 2003-05, but that Goodell never asked him about that. Now, why would he not tell? Not trusting Goodell? An ace in the whole against that lack of trust?

Sounds about right to me.

Bye-bye Belichick and hello Vegas lawsuits?

Advance word on the Matt Walsh-Roger Goodell tete-a-tete today suggests that the New England Patriots not only DID tape other teams’ offensive signals in 2000-2002 (the story forgets to mention Super Bowl XXXVI opponent Los Angeles Rams, taped in a week-11 2001 regular season game), but were analyzing signals, based on game action of the ensuing play being spliced with signals.

From what I’m hearing, Goodell has enough goods to lower the boom on Belichick hard enough for at least a suspension.

And, I think he has to.

Question is, since the NFL does not have an antitrust exemption, unlike Major League Baseball, is the league now open to a shitstorm of lawsuits for fraud, false advertising, etc? And, I’m not just talking about Joe Fan, either.

What about Vegas sports houses?

I mean, if any of the games we know the Pats taped had results that were way off the book numbers on W/L, spread, over-under, etc., we’re talking millions of dollars, potentially.

Beyond that, the irony of sports bookmakers suing the NFL would probably be lost on Goodell as he tore out his hair.

I’ll have more on this later, as it becomes more clear what all Walsh revealed.

Free polls from Pollhost.com

Is Belichick lying about not taping offensive signals of other teams?

Yes No

Spygate – Pats partially off the hook

Former New England Patriots assistant coach Matt Walsh did not have any info on the Pats taping the St. Louis Rams’ pre-game walk-through at the 2002 Super Bowl, but did have info about the Pats taping regular-season games in 2000-2002. That includes new revelations that Pats head coach Bill Belichick has denied in the past:

While the tapes reportedly include recordings of opponents' offensive signals, an NFL official cited in today's Hartford Courant said Belichick did not admit to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell that the team taped offensive signals. Belichick had previously admitted to taping opponents' defensive signals.

And Greg Aiello is speaking the party line for Goodell, it appears:

“This is consistent with that the Patriots had admitted they had been doing, consistent with what we already knew,” Aiello, the NFL’s senior vice president of public relations, told the Associated Press.

Sounds like pretty thin ice for Belichick. Given that all the games that Walsh has allegations on occurred before the Patriots’ first Super Bowl victory, even if the Rams’ walk-around wasn’t taped, Belichick is not close to being totally off the hook.

Unfortunately, Dillon appears to be swallowing Aiello’s line as well. Referencing Aiello’s comment, he says:

In other words, the NFL isn’t expecting to discover anything it doesn’t already know.

Well, Dennis, expectations can be wrongly focused as well as set too high.

And, you just have what we know so far. Walsh still has a meeting scheduled with Roger the Dodger May 13. He also has one scheduled with Sen. Arlen Specter, who’s been pushing the league on this because his Philly Iggles lost to the Pats three years ago.

That leads me to repost this old poll:

Free polls from Pollhost.com

Is Bill Belichck, regardless of whether any legal action is ever actually pursued

Criminally guilty of "stealing a trade secret"? Civilly liable for depriving Kurt Warner of earnings? Neither

And to offer this new one:

Free polls from Pollhost.com

Is Belichick lying about not taping offensive signals of other teams?

Yes No