Pittsburgh Sports N'at

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NFL | Patriots videotapes on their way to league

By The New York Times and The Associated Press

A former New England Patriots employee has sent the NFL eight videotapes showing that the team recorded play-calling signals by coaches of five opponents in six games between the 2000 and 2002 seasons, in violation of league rules.

But the group of tapes does not include video of the St. Louis Rams' walk-through practice the day before the 2002 Super Bowl. The employee, Matt Walsh, had been linked to such a tape by media speculation. His lawyer denies Walsh has such a tape.

Walsh emerged as a pivotal figure in the spying controversy that enveloped the Patriots last season after they were caught taping Jets defensive signals in the season opener.

Walsh, who worked for the Patriots from 1997 to 2003, agreed to turn over the tapes and other evidence by today under an agreement reached last month between lawyers for the NFL and Walsh. The deal indemnifies Walsh from future legal fees.

Walsh's tapes show that the Patriots recorded the signals of offensive and defensive coaches in regular-season games against the Miami Dolphins, the Buffalo Bills, the Cleveland Browns and the San Diego Chargers and against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2002 AFC Championship Game. In that game, the tape has been edited to show Steelers coaches signaling plays, followed by two camera angles of the plays that were called.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seahawks/2004399860_nfl08.html