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 The former Patriots assistant will meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on May 13 about New England's videotaping of opposing teams. It took a couple of months, but the league reached an agreement with Walsh on Wednesday.
"Commissioner Goodell will meet with Mr. Walsh ... on May 13, the earliest date that Mr. Walsh, who lives in Hawaii, will be available on the East Coast," the NFL statement said. "The agreement also requires Mr. Walsh to return any tapes and other items in his possession that belong to the Patriots. In return, the NFL and the Patriots have promised not to sue Mr. Walsh. They also will indemnify him for any expenses, including legal fees that he incurs in connection with the interview."
During Super Bowl week, and nearly five months after the Patriots were sanctioned for illegal taping of the New York Jets in the season opener
-- a $500,000 fine for coach Bill Belichick, a $250,000 fine for the organization, and the loss of a first-round draft pick on Saturday
-- there were reports of possible other videotaping by the Patriots. Those reports centered on Walsh, who shot videos for the Patriots during his six-year stint with the organization.
Since the Super Bowl, Goodell's staff has sought a meeting with Walsh.
"Today, Mr. Walsh and the National Football League reached an agreement under which the NFL will provide legal indemnification and a release of claims against Mr. Walsh relating to his employment by the Patriots and the Patriots' videotaping operations," said Walsh's lawyer, Michael Levy of McKee Nelson LLP. "I am pleased that we now have an agreement that provides Mr. Walsh with appropriate legal protections. Mr. Walsh is looking forward to providing the NFL with the materials he has and telling the NFL what he knows."
So what might Walsh have and what does he know? The Patriots say he has nothing.
"The New England Patriots are pleased to learn that Matt Walsh is finally willing to come forward to meet with the NFL," the team said in a statement. "We are eagerly anticipating his honest disclosures to commissioner Goodell next month and the return of all the materials he took during his time of employment.
"We fully expect this meeting to conclude the league's investigation into a damaging and false allegation that was originally levied against the team on the day before this year's Super Bowl."
The allegation was that New England videotaped the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough on the day before the 2002 Super Bowl. Although Belichick admitted to Goodell during the Spygate investigation that his team often taped opposing coaches' signals during games, he adamantly has denied anything about that Super Bowl.
"I've never seen a tape of another team's practice. Ever!" Belichick said at last month's NFL owners meetings. "Certainly not that one.
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"I think they've addressed everything they possibly can address. I've addressed so many questions so many times from so many people I don't know what else the league could ask."
In their statement Wednesday, the Patriots reiterated that stand:
"At all times, we cooperated fully with the league's investigation and stand by our initial public statement from Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008: The suggestion that the New England Patriots recorded the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 is absolutely false."
The agreement with Walsh will allow him to "share with the NFL information about activities occurring during his employment with the club from 1997-2003," the league said.
Walsh also will be barred from using any material related to Spygate for commercial purposes "or in any manner that could reasonably be expected to be disparaging to the NFL" or the Patriots.
He also will not be allowed to speak with any third parties before meeting with Goodell.
Belichick has said the videotaping was a misinterpretation of the rule. He told Goodell he was handing over all the tapes in September, and Goodell destroyed them. So if Walsh has any evidence, it could be quite damaging to Belichick and the Patriots.
"It is important to note that there has never been a confidentiality agreement restricting Matt Walsh, and no legal protections were ever necessary for him to speak to the NFL, to media outlets or to anyone else regarding his employment with the Patriots," the team's statement said. "Walsh has been granted a significant number of privileges through this agreement, none of which the Patriots or the NFL were obligated to give."
The agreement requires Walsh to hand over all pertinent material by May 8.
[Associated Press; By BARRY WILNER]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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