MLB New England Patriots

Now that former Patriots employee Matt Walsh has finally come forward and said he did not tape the Rams' final walk-through practice before the 2002 Super Bowl, the Boston Herald is coming under increased scrutiny for its report three months ago that said someone on the Patriots had, in fact, spied on the Rams.

On ESPN Radio this morning, reporter Chris Mortensen suggested that the Herald reported that "scoop" not because the Herald had better sources than other media outlets, but because the Herald had lower standards than other media outlets.

"Other media outlets including ESPN, had this allegation and pursued this allegation for months, and it just didn't meet the standard in terms of what you needed to report it, and the Boston Herald evidently felt they had met the standard to report it," Mortensen said. "They need to come out and say, 'We stand by our story' or they need to have a retraction and apology and deal with the consequences of it, but certainly it's damaging to the Boston Herald at this point, especially if they stay silent on the subject."

Do you want to know why former Patriots video assistant, Matt Walsh isn't talking details about his role in Spygate publicly? The answer is legal maneuvering. His attorney wants a complete indemnification (protection against legal risk and costs) agreement from the NFL to protect his client from being destroyed with legal fees and lawsuits.

I'm here to break the news to you that the NFL will never to agree to that. To explain my thoughts* on why, I'm going to go all Roger Cossack on you.

As you probably know, Walsh, who worked for the Patriots between 1996 and 2003, has said that he has potentially damaging information to the Patriots. He won't say specifically what this information contains.

At the same time, he's been working as an assistant golf pro in Maui, and he doesn't want to spend his salary on lawsuits and lawyers. He may also be sipping cocktails out of coconut shells with umbrellas in them, for all I know. Point being: He wants to fess up what he knows, and he wants to keep his good life.

Notes on a trip to the Super Bowl.

Everyone here in Arizona is talking about the latest spygate allegations, but no one is speaking as strongly as Gregg Easterbrook of ESPN.com, who was one of the harshest critics of the Patriots and the NFL when the allegations first emerged and now seems to feel vindicated that the story is coming back. Easterbrook writes today:

Also Saturday, Mike Fish reported on ESPN that St. Louis' [pre-Super Bowl XXXVI] walk-through was devoted to red zone plays -- all new plays and new formations the Rams had not shown during the season. Going into that Super Bowl, the Rams' "Greatest Show on Turf" was the league's highest-scoring team. In that game, St. Louis was held to a field goal in the first half. The Rams kept getting bogged down, as if New England knew what plays were coming. If the Patriots secretly taped the Rams' walk-through, then stopped the red zone plays the Rams showed in that walk-through, then won that Super Bowl by three points, then logic says New England materially benefited from cheating in the Super Bowl. If true, this would be the worst sports scandal since the Black Sox.

Let's put that in capital letters: IF TRUE. We don't yet know whether the Super Bowl allegations are true. Then again, we are into only the second day of information going on the record and the league finally answering some questions about the subject.

Is Easterbrook correct there? It seems like hyperbole, but the fact is we don't really know what happened in all this Patriots spying stuff, so we don't really know just how big a deal it is.

Notes on a trip to the Super Bowl.

Patriots safety Rodney Harrison began the season by serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy against human growth hormone and will end it in the Super Bowl. But is Harrison the only player on Super Sunday who has used HGH or just the only one who has gotten caught?

I asked Bill Belichick and he didn't answer, but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell provided at least something of an answer during his "State of the League" press conference.

"I don't think there is a significant amount of HGH use, but I have no factual basis for saying that," Goodell said.

The lack of a factual basis for saying that is exactly the point: The NFL doesn't have a test for HGH, and therefore any player who wants to use it can do so, as long as law enforcement doesn't catch on. And because of that, I think Goodell is naive if he really believes few players use HGH.

Notes on a trip to the Super Bowl.

The best Xs and Os conversation I've had with anyone in Arizona this week was with Greg Cosell, the producer of NFL Matchup, a man who works at NFL Films and may have watched more game tape of the Giants and Patriots than anyone not on the Giants' and Patriots' coaching staffs.

And Cosell had an interesting perspective on the Patriots' defense. He believes that three of the biggest names on the defense, linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Junior Seau and safety Rodney Harrison, have declined so much that there's a good chance that Patriots coach Bill Belichick will send them packing before the 2008 season.

Belichick respects all three veteran players, but he's not the type to let sentiment get in the way of doing what's best for the team -- just ask Lawyer Milloy. Bruschi, Seau and Harrison are all in their mid-to-late 30s and just don't have the wheels to play at a high level anymore.

And as for Super Bowl Sunday, Cosell says the Giants' best matchup advantages will come when the Patriots play their base 3-4 defense with Bruschi, Seau and Harrison all on the field. Because of that, the Giants would be wise to avoid three-receiver formations -- that's when Bruschi comes off the field, and that's when the Patriots' defense is at its best.