WALSH AGREEMENT COMING TODAY?
Posted by Mike Florio on April 23, 2008, 11:47 a.m.
The lingering impasse between the NFL and Matt Walsh could be ending today.
According to the
Hartford Courant, a source with knowledge of the ongoing negotiations expects an
agreement to be announced on Wednesday, April 23.
The deal will, at a minimum, permit Walsh to talk to the league about what he knows (or what he
thinks he knows) regarding potentially improper practices of the New England Patriots during his employment with the organization. It’s unclear whether the deal will also allow Walsh to speak with Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) or the media, or to show Specter or the press any videotapes that Walsh might have in his possession.
If he has any tapes, we’re fairly certain that he doesn’t have a tape of the Rams’ walk-through practice prior to Super Bowl XXXVI. We’re also fairly certain that no such tape ever existed.
One day after the football world became aware of Walsh’s name, the
Boston Herald reported that the Pats videotaped the practice. We believe that Walsh was the source for the report, that the
Herald and others had been trying for months to get Walsh to go on the record with that claim, and that the
Herald ultimately opted to green light the story with Walsh as an unnamed source because it seemed inevitable that someone would be dropping that potential bombshell.
At the time, the
Herald might have been entertaining dreams of a Pulitzer Prize. In the weeks since then, their thoughts have likely been more focused on the nightmare of a punitive damages award.
