Romo 2 Owens:

Capt. Sunshine:

ValleyGMan:

DFan4Ever:

Just one other thing i wonder about. This guy Walsh claims to have been made to sign a non-disclosure contract (can't talk about anything he may have seen while in the employ of New England). Is this a standard practice in the NFL when an employee leaves?

Who knows for sure, but I know of some big businesses/government offices/federal, state, county, and city municipalities which imply the same rules (contract).

In any business where there are trade secrets, particularly ones that you aren't able to protect through other means (copyright, patent, etc.), non-disclosure agreements are fairly standard.  I recently signed an NDA, and it even stipulates that I have to assist the other party in fighting any subpoenas that I might be served with.  If my lawyer and I determine that I must disclose the information or go to jail, I am allowed to disclose whatever I must disclose without penalty.  If I just willingly share the information, though, I could be subject to a lawsuit.

Good to know that non-disclosure agreements legally do NOT apply when information leaked in violation of it is done so under penalty of perjury.

 NDA's are weird little documents. They can be strongly entitled to recourse by the initiating party, but exceptionally weak (damn near non-existent) in cases where the signatory has information regarding a civil or criminal matter.

I had to sign one to work for my Dad's company when I was 16.  Too many blueprints and files at my disposal since I was the print vault gopher.

Romo 2 Owens:

Capt. Sunshine:

ValleyGMan:

DFan4Ever:

Just one other thing i wonder about. This guy Walsh claims to have been made to sign a non-disclosure contract (can't talk about anything he may have seen while in the employ of New England). Is this a standard practice in the NFL when an employee leaves?

Who knows for sure, but I know of some big businesses/government offices/federal, state, county, and city municipalities which imply the same rules (contract).

In any business where there are trade secrets, particularly ones that you aren't able to protect through other means (copyright, patent, etc.), non-disclosure agreements are fairly standard.  I recently signed an NDA, and it even stipulates that I have to assist the other party in fighting any subpoenas that I might be served with.  If my lawyer and I determine that I must disclose the information or go to jail, I am allowed to disclose whatever I must disclose without penalty.  If I just willingly share the information, though, I could be subject to a lawsuit.

Good to know that non-disclosure agreements legally do NOT apply when information leaked in violation of it is done so under penalty of perjury.

In addition, all contracts, which is really what an NDA is, are different.  My client submitted a proposed NDA to me; I requested some changes to protect myself; and then we signed it.  Therefore, Walsh's NDA may have different stipulations than mine does. 

WHEN (not if) the truth ( i feel like i am championing the cause lol) comes out that these low-lifes have been filming illegally since the Rams superbowl- here's my take on the penalties and the fall out. When I suggested this on local sportstalk radio last night they thought it was a good idea but didnt think the league would do it...

Remember, Goodell made the hollow claim that if any add'l indescretions came to light, the penalties would be much more severe. Give them as close to the death penatly as you can have in professional sports.

Bill Bellicheck - Suspended for two years. You have to suspend him for two years to 'force' the Patriots to move on without him. You could have someone interim coach for a year, but two?? You have to move on if you're the franchise.

 Draft Picks - The Pats will lose the 49ers pick this year, and they should lose their first round pick for the following two seasons.

Playoffs - Here's the kicker that I hadn't heard suggested before I called the show. I said, BAN THEM FROM THE PLAYOFFS FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS. Think of the impact that would have on the organization. No playoff share hits Kraft in the pockets HARD. from the ticket revenue to ad space to yadda yadda, all the things that teams cake up on as 'added money' in the budget. Also, which free agents are signing with a team that can't go to the playoffs for two years? Not many.

Finally, I think Goodell loses the commish spot because of this, just not right away. I have to do some research on how often the position is up for renewal. I think he will weasel his way out of responsibility initially- but eventually the cover up will do him in, and good riddance. I think he is a hack of a commish already.

Your thoughts? 

They should also do it like College Football does, and revoke wins and championships. Convert all their wins since the Rams Super Bowl into losses (meaning 6 consecutive 0-16 records on their resume), stricken their playoff records within that timeframe, have them forfeit their division titles to the team that finished 2nd in the AFC East for each season they won it, revoke their Lamar Hunt trophies and have them surrendered to the AFC Championship Game runners-up from those years, and finally, have their Super Bowl titles forfeited to the teams they "beat" those years (Eagles, Rams, and Panthers).

They should strip them of their titles.  Everybody but the Eagles should be awarded a title.

If anybody can prove they lost a gambling debt, the Patriots should have to pay that person back.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will give Matt Walsh legal protection for any information he can reveal about the Patriots' illegal use of videotaping.

This is a key step, as Walsh has made it clear he wants to be covered after signing an agreement upon his leaving the Patriots' organization in 2003. Goodell added that he plans to speak with Sen. Arlen Specter next week.

KD_Kingpin:

WHEN (not if) the truth ( i feel like i am championing the cause lol) comes out that these low-lifes have been filming illegally since the Rams superbowl- here's my take on the penalties and the fall out. When I suggested this on local sportstalk radio last night they thought it was a good idea but didnt think the league would do it...

 

Remember, Goodell made the hollow claim that if any add'l indescretions came to light, the penalties would be much more severe. Give them as close to the death penatly as you can have in professional sports.

 

Bill Bellicheck - Suspended for two years. You have to suspend him for two years to 'force' the Patriots to move on without him. You could have someone interim coach for a year, but two?? You have to move on if you're the franchise.

 Draft Picks - The Pats will lose the 49ers pick this year, and they should lose their first round pick for the following two seasons.

Playoffs - Here's the kicker that I hadn't heard suggested before I called the show. I said, BAN THEM FROM THE PLAYOFFS FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS. Think of the impact that would have on the organization. No playoff share hits Kraft in the pockets HARD. from the ticket revenue to ad space to yadda yadda, all the things that teams cake up on as 'added money' in the budget. Also, which free agents are signing with a team that can't go to the playoffs for two years? Not many.

 

Finally, I think Goodell loses the commish spot because of this, just not right away. I have to do some research on how often the position is up for renewal. I think he will weasel his way out of responsibility initially- but eventually the cover up will do him in, and good riddance. I think he is a hack of a commish already.

 

Your thoughts? 

I like everything you said there except for banning them from the playoffs for two years.  I don't know how much cash the cheatriots bring in every year, but the NFL has this system set up so the richer teams throw cash in the pot to help the poorer teams I think (such as Green Bay), and I don't think they'd want to sacrifice any of that money.  Not to mention a logistical nightmare to have them playing games all season that don't mean anything.  That would dissolve the franchise utterly, and I don't think anyone really wants that (heck, the skins are the only franchise i'd like to see dissolved)

j_welcome:

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will give Matt Walsh legal protection for any information he can reveal about the Patriots' illegal use of videotaping.

This is a key step, as Walsh has made it clear he wants to be covered after signing an agreement upon his leaving the Patriots' organization in 2003. Goodell added that he plans to speak with Sen. Arlen Specter next week.

KD_Kingpin:

Playoffs - Here's the kicker that I hadn't heard suggested before I called the show. I said, BAN THEM FROM THE PLAYOFFS FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS. Think of the impact that would have on the organization. No playoff share hits Kraft in the pockets HARD. from the ticket revenue to ad space to yadda yadda, all the things that teams cake up on as 'added money' in the budget. Also, which free agents are signing with a team that can't go to the playoffs for two years? Not many.

Your thoughts? 

This is just not possible. An appealing idea, but not practical at all. You ban them from the playoffs, you might as well not let them play. Period. And what would happen to the players on the team right now? What would happen to them? 

As someone else said earlier, if you had them play, it would be very hard to plan schedules because most games would probably just be W's for the opposing team. Who'll play for no shot at a championshi?

Mike Florio/The Sporting News
 
SPYGATE COULD SPARK ESPIONAGE INVESTIGATION

In football, success often arises from the ability to deceive the opponent. The zone blitz, the play-action pass, the draw play and the flea flicker, for example, are premised on tricking the other team.

Technically, it's lying. And although there is nothing wrong with lying in that specific context, coaches sometimes don't recognize or respect the line between permissible prevarication (thanks, Tiki) and moral misbehavior.

So one of the overriding goals of football is to fool the opponent. And, in turn, to not be fooled.

This desire to know what the other team is doing can become an obsession for some coaches. As it relates to videotaping defensive coaching signals, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick fell victim to the temptation of "all's fair in love and war," launching a high-tech effort to crack the other team's code.

Based on a Boston Herald report that Belichick's team secretly videotaped the St. Louis Rams' final walkthrough practice before Super Bowl 36, it could be that Belichick's obsession was far more intricate -- and nefarious.

As the media, the NFL and Congress commence the process of determining whether a video employee fired five years ago can prove the Patriots' video operation went far enough to potentially compromise the outcome of an NFL championship, a possibility exists that the federal government will launch an investigation into whether the Patriots took any action that violated the Economic Espionage Act.

Signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, the Economic Espionage Act makes the theft of trade secrets a federal offense. Without getting into the nuts and bolts of the applicable legal mumbo-jumbo, 18 U.S.C. • 1832 makes it a criminal act to steal, take, carry away or obtain by fraud or deception what 18 U.S.C • 1839 defines as a "trade secret."

It's a broad definition, and, as a practical matter, the question of whether a pro football team's game plan constitutes a "trade secret" under this law is something that would be sorted out after a grand jury hands up indictments.

Belichick, ex-Patriots videographer Matt Walsh and employees throughout the Patriots' organization could be required to testify under oath. And like the investigation into the Valerie Plame situation, there could be prosecutions for perjury even if there ultimately is no actual prosecution for the theft of trade secrets.

And that's the most potentially damaging aspect of any investigation that might be launched by United States Attorneys in Louisiana (site of Super Bowl 36), Texas (Super Bowl 38) and/or Florida (Super Bowl 39).

It's not that Belichick or others might face up to 10 years in prison or that the organization might have to pay up to $5 million in fines. It's that such an investigation would provide an unwelcome vehicle for the truth to come out.

An internal NFL investigation with evidence that self-destructs or a dog-and-senator show for ESPN and/or C-SPAN won't necessarily result in the general public knowing the truth, whatever that truth might be. A criminal investigation commandeered by a federal investigator very well could do just that -- and anyone who tries to obstruct that effort might want to talk to Martha Stewart or Scooter Libby before doing so.

If the NFL office does a thorough and transparent investigation that is forthcoming and complete, it could satisfy the congressmen and general public. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's tactic in the first round of Spygate -- "everything is fine, and by the way we've destroyed the evidence" -- won't suffice anymore.

In the Michael Vick case, for example, the federal government got involved only after it became apparent that the local prosecutor either wasn't inclined to pursue a football icon or wasn't capable of conducting a proper investigation.

It is rumored that NFL officials worked behind the scenes to get the feds on the Vick case, and, if true, that makes the league's present predicament all the more ironic. Less than a year after Vick's dog-fighting case sullied the reputation of the league's highest-profile player, the NFL's image could be filleted by a federal case.

Goodell must do more to persuade the general public -- and perhaps more important, the feds -- that a sufficient investigation has occurred and appropriate action has been taken.

============================================================================================

I found this concept very interesting, and bellicheat needs to be banned for life from the NFL. That's just a given. 2 years isn't enough, 10 years isn't enough. Lifetime ban, no Hall Of Fame, done with football in disgrace just like he deserves for the dishonor he has brought upon himself, his team, and our sport.

I don't know what to do with the pantyettes* themselves beyond that, but there is no way they should be seeing a 1st round pick anytime soon, and everything involving them now has an asterisk, I can tell you that much.

*cheat to win

Damn Starbuck. That's a helluva article you found.  Belicheat cheats, faces federal indictment. Wow.

He gets indicted, is that enough for Goodell to axe him from the NFL?  It seems that it was enough to knock Vick out, and by Goodell's own admissions when he suspended Wade Wilson this year, coaches are held to a higher standard.

Ban for life sounds about right. Couldn't happen to a more deserving guy. All that smug arrogance, the lack of sportsmanship, the disdain he has for the game... The only place he would be remotely welcome would be Boston. Everywhere else he'd be a reminder of the disgrace he has brought to the NFL.

Hollywood wouldn't be able to write it any better.

Losing record head coach gets a second chance. Figures out that it's his last chance at this, and signs his deal with his own inner demons to do anything he can do. Finds a new phenom QB. Lays awake in bed at night knowing he's got to do all that he can to win the game he can't win.  Quick flash over to him catching the video camera operator in his peripheral vision. Fast forward to a hush hush meeting in the coach's office with Matt Walsh.

Spring forward several years. He's walking off the sidelines at 42, with time still ticking out on the clock. He passes a TV and sees the ticker on ESPN reporting the latest between Arlen Specter and Goodell and Walsh. Realizes its the beginning of the end and his whole little world is starting to crumble.

Que Morgan Freeman's voice over from the end of Shawshank. "I'd like to think that other than that bullet, the last thing that went through Belichick's head was how did they beat me at my own game."

Capt. Sunshine:

j_welcome:

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will give Matt Walsh legal protection for any information he can reveal about the Patriots' illegal use of videotaping.

This is a key step, as Walsh has made it clear he wants to be covered after signing an agreement upon his leaving the Patriots' organization in 2003. Goodell added that he plans to speak with Sen. Arlen Specter next week.

Last time I checked, Gooddell wasn't a judge, at least not in the legal sense of the word.  Therefore, I'm not sure how much protection he can give Walsh.  Now, he can provide him with lawyers at the NFL's expense if the Patriots try to sue him or press charges.  In addition, the NFL may be able to tell the Patriots that they aren't allowed to sue Walsh, depending on how the league is structured.  Other than that, it's not like he can offer immunity or anything.

Arlen Specter, as head of the Senate judiciary committee, can see to it that Walsh is covered.

SaltwaterServr:

Damn Starbuck. That's a helluva article you found.  Belicheat cheats, faces federal indictment. Wow.

He gets indicted, is that enough for Goodell to axe him from the NFL?  It seems that it was enough to knock Vick out, and by Goodell's own admissions when he suspended Wade Wilson this year, coaches are held to a higher standard.

Ban for life sounds about right. Couldn't happen to a more deserving guy. All that smug arrogance, the lack of sportsmanship, the disdain he has for the game... The only place he would be remotely welcome would be Boston. Everywhere else he'd be a reminder of the disgrace he has brought to the NFL.

Hollywood wouldn't be able to write it any better.

Losing record head coach gets a second chance. Figures out that it's his last chance at this, and signs his deal with his own inner demons to do anything he can do. Finds a new phenom QB. Lays awake in bed at night knowing he's got to do all that he can to win the game he can't win.  Quick flash over to him catching the video camera operator in his peripheral vision. Fast forward to a hush hush meeting in the coach's office with Matt Walsh.

Spring forward several years. He's walking off the sidelines at 42, with time still ticking out on the clock. He passes a TV and sees the ticker on ESPN reporting the latest between Arlen Specter and Goodell and Walsh. Realizes its the beginning of the end and his whole little world is starting to crumble.

Que Morgan Freeman's voice over from the end of Shawshank. "I'd like to think that other than that bullet, the last thing that went through Belichick's head was how did they beat me at my own game."

And what Vick was indicted for was a personal behavior issue. This rends the very fabric of the game itself. Let him join Pete Rose on the sidelines for life.

zoaxanthellae:

KD_Kingpin:

Playoffs - Here's the kicker that I hadn't heard suggested before I called the show. I said, BAN THEM FROM THE PLAYOFFS FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS. Think of the impact that would have on the organization. No playoff share hits Kraft in the pockets HARD. from the ticket revenue to ad space to yadda yadda, all the things that teams cake up on as 'added money' in the budget. Also, which free agents are signing with a team that can't go to the playoffs for two years? Not many.

Your thoughts? 

 

This is just not possible. An appealing idea, but not practical at all. You ban them from the playoffs, you might as well not let them play. Period. And what would happen to the players on the team right now? What would happen to them? 

As someone else said earlier, if you had them play, it would be very hard to plan schedules because most games would probably just be W's for the opposing team. Who'll play for no shot at a championshi?

 how would this affect making the schedule? that doesn't make sense.

the severity of no playoffs... the fact that no one will want to play for them is exactly the point.