Commissioner Goodell Defends Spygate Decision
PHOENIX — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Friday defended his decision to have the taped evidence from the Spygate scandal destroyed shortly after he investigated the matter in September.
Facing pressure from Congress about his actions, Goodell said at his annual Super Bowl news conference that the tapes of the Patriots illegally videotaping the Jets’ defensive coaches’ defensive signals in Week 1 were destroyed after he was convinced the Patriots had handed them all in. He also was concerned about the tapes potentially getting into the hands of other teams.
"The reason I destroyed the tapes is that they were totally consistent with what the [Patriots] told me," Goodell said. "It was the appropriate thing to do and I think it sent a message. The actual effectiveness of taping and taking of signals from opponents — it is something done widely in many sports. I think it probably had limited, if any, effect on the outcome of games. That doesn’t change my perspective on violating rules and the need to be punished."
Goodell said he is willing to meet with Sen. Arlen Specter (R- Pa.), who has sent the commissioner a letter asking why the tapes were destroyed.
NFL security confiscated a video camera and tape from a Patriots employee in the first quarter of New England’s 38-14 win over the Jets. The employee, Matt Estrella, was found to be aiming his camera at the Jets’ defensive coaches as they signaled to the players on the field.
Bill Belichick was fined $500,000, the team an additional $250,000, and a 2008 first-round pick was taken away. It was the largest fine ever for a coach and the first time that a first-round pick was removed as a sanction.
Goodell said there were six tapes, some from 2007 preseason games and the rest from 2006. (The Jets tape also was destroyed.) Another reason he destroyed them was that one tape was leaked to the media just after the Patriots-Jets game.
"We wanted to take and destroy that information," he said. "They may have collected it within the rules, but we couldn’t determine that. So we felt that it should be destroyed."
Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the issue could put the league’s antitrust exemption at risk. "I do believe that it is a matter of importance," he said at a news briefing. "It’s not going to displace the stimulus package or the Iraq war, but I think the integrity of football is very important, and I think the National Football League has a special duty to the American people — and further the Congress — because they have an antitrust exemption."
Goodell addressed several other issues:
He said the league would consider revamping the playoff seedings to make sure a larger percentage of late-season games are meaningful in the playoff race. That eventually could lead to a wild-card team hosting a first-round game if it has a better record than the division-winning team it is facing.
The league approved a measure to have the Bills play a regular-season game in Toronto in each of the next five seasons. They’ll play a preseason game in Canada every other year.
He officially announced that the Saints will play the Chargers at Wembley Stadium in London on Oct. 26 in the second game played outside North America.
He said there is no timetable for testing of human growth hormone in the NFL. "We’re not at a point of a widely used test we can be comfortable with," he said. "I don’t think there’s a significant amount of HGH use, but I have no basis in fact for saying that."
He expressed confidence that the NFL and the NFL Players Association can extend or retool the collective-bargaining agreement, which runs through 2010. Both sides can opt out of the deal in November, which would lead to an uncapped year in 2010.