Couple Points:
1. I strongly believe Walsh has something of relevance. Don't think his attorney would be associating himself with him if he did not. The man doesn't get paid $500 an hour because he is an idiot.
2. If he has something, regardless of whether he did it on his own or not, the Patriots will be in trouble. Under a legal doctrine sometimes referred to as "respondeat superior" (Latin for "Let the superior answer"), an employer is legally responsible for the actions of its employees if the employee is acting within the course and scope of employment. In other words, the employer will generally be liable if the employee was doing his or her job, carrying out company business, or otherwise acting on the employer's behalf when the incident took place.
3. Goodell will drop the hammer, and the Patriots know it. Caper's was hired as Plan B, not because we need additional defensive mind power. BB is a defensive genious.
PREDICTION: (I love the Pats, just being real) I think BB will hit the pine for an extended period of time (at least 4 games).
(1) That "something of relevance" could be that the Pats were taping back in 2000/2001. That, somehow, apparently was not public knowledge until after the Walsh story broke.
(2) I'm not sure that
respondeat superior applies here,
unless Walsh can produce a tape that
he made. As has been established already, tapes of the walkthrough might well exist, but there is strong evidence arguing against the Pats doing it. Moreover, the indemnity agreement
specifically states that producing such a tape would
not be considered a normal part of his activities. In other words, it's up to Walsh to provide evidence that it was authorized. [Might they get penalized if he made it and never told anyone in the organization, since Goodell has said no one in the organization has knowledge of this? Yes, it's possible. But it wouldn't be as severe; as someone else pointed out, they didn't hire Walsh.]
(3) Please re-read my posts in the main Hawaii Hack thread. The Patriots
know that Walsh was taping stuff. If they are actually guilty of "illegal videotaping activities", then they have been acting in not just a stupid manner, but a monumentally idiotic manner since late September.
And I'll go you one better:
(4) There is no #%_#@ing way that Walsh would make this tape, currently possess a copy,
and not know exactly where it is; this isn't exactly a tape of a tasty recipe he saw on TV. If he does in fact have an axe to grind--as appears to be the case, from all indications--why not release the tape back in September, when it would have caused maximum damage? Back then, I think it would have been taken by the media as absolute proof the Pats had cheated (regardless of what the facts might be); now, the burden of proof is significantly higher, since Goodell's had plenty of time to investigate.
Can I say there's absolutely no chance that Walsh has anything? No. But I wouldn't bet much money that he has stuff, either.
