NFL, former Patriots video assistant are close to deal
PRO FOOTBALL
The league wants to talk to Matt Walsh, who allegedly has damaging details on additional secret videotaping by the team. He is seeking legal protections before agreeing to interview.
For the NFL, the New England Patriots' tale of the tape is beginning to sound more like a never-ending story.
Since the Super Bowl, the league has been trying to arrange an interview with Matt Walsh, a former Patriots video assistant. He is alleged to have damaging details on additional secret videotaping by the team, footage of opponents that presumably gave New England an unfair competitive advantage.
So far, however, Walsh has been unwilling to talk. He and the NFL, who for weeks have been deadlocked -- each accusing the other of making unfair demands -- say now that they are close to resolving their differences.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said that in the last week, attorneys from both sides "have had intensive and constructive discussions regarding some new and promising approaches" that could help bridge the impasse.
"They have made substantial progress toward an agreement that will allow Mr. Walsh to be interviewed," Aiello said in a prepared statement. "Both sides are optimistic that any remaining issues can be addressed successfully and they are committed to reaching a full agreement as promptly as possible."
Walsh, an assistant golf pro in Hawaii who worked as Patriots video assistant from 1999 to 2001 and was fired two years later, has been asking the league to sign a contract protecting him from legal or financial damages that he might incur because of this case, and to pay his legal fees.
"I have consistently asked the NFL to provide appropriate legal protections for Mr. Walsh," said his Washington, D.C.-based attorney, Michael N. Levy. "In recent discussions I have had with the league's lawyer, we have made substantial progress toward this end, and I am hopeful that we will be able to craft an agreement with the necessary legal protections so Mr. Walsh can come forward with the truth."
The New York Times reported during Super Bowl week that Walsh said he had more information about the so-called Spygate videotaping that he was willing to disclose, but only if the newspaper paid his legal fees and any court damages against him. The paper declined.
Then, on the eve of Super Bowl XLII, the Boston Herald cited an unnamed source saying the Patriots secretly taped a Friday walk-through practice by the St. Louis Rams two days before the Super Bowl -- the most stinging accusation yet.
