To Marshall Faulk ( Sorry its not with crayons in a coloring book)
Walkthroughgate (2002) to top ?home ?awards ?
TEAM: The New England Patriots
SEVERITY:
SUMMARY: In 2008, the local Boston tabloid, The Boston Herald reported -- citing an unnamed and unverified source -- that the Patriots had videotaped the St. Louis Rams' February 2002 walkthrough practice prior to Super Bowl XXXVI. The allegation was vehemently denied by head coach Belichick and the Patriots. The Boston Herald later
acknowledged its error saying "we now know that this report was false." The paper issued a
front page apology for running the story without sufficiently verifying its source or the charges (
page scan for posterity.)
NFL commissioner and former Jets public relations intern Roger Goodell, after meeting with Patriots video man Matt Walsh and 50 other people, cleared the Patriots of any wrongdoing saying "we were able to verify that
there was no Rams walkthrough tape" and "No one asked him [Matt Walsh] to tape the walkthrough. He's not aware of anybody else who may have taped the walkthrough. He had not seen such a tape. He does not know of anybody who says there is a tape."
VICTIM: New England Patriots
PUNISHED? No
PUNISHMENT: When you are consistently outplayed and out coached by the same team year-after-year (or worse, lose to them in a Super Bowl) you
WANT to believe -- you
NEED to believe -- that the only reason you can't match up is because of some mysterious Patriots' black magic voodoo cheating.
To keep your sanity, you
make up fairy tales to soothe yourself. I get that, I really do. I used to feel the same way about the New York Yankees when they were good. I sympathize.
Unfortunately for you, though, your tidy little bedtime story
is a lie. Find yourself a good therapist to help you deal with your issues instead. Get well soon.