Goodell Briefs Competition Committee on SpyGate

INDIANAPOLIS--Commissioner Roger Goodell and league attorney Jeff Pash briefed members of the NFL's competition committee here today on the SpyGate investigation.

Goodell and Pash explained the league's investigation of the videotaping incident involving the New England Patriots in the opening week of the just-completed season. They told committee members about the process that led Goodell to fine the Patriots and Coach Bill Belichick a total of $750,000 and strip a first-round draft pick from the team. They also explained Goodell's decision to have the six videotapes and written notes handed over to the league by the Patriots in the investigation destroyed.

The league's investigation has been criticized by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), but the members of the competition committee said they were satisfied by the explanation they received.

"We were satisfied with the explanation [and] satisfied with what was done," Indianapolis Colts President Bill Polian said.

The competition committee plans to recommend to the franchise owners next month that they approve a proposal by which one defensive player per team be outfitted with a radio receiver in his helmet during games, connecting him to a coach on the sideline. That would put the defense on even footing with the offense, since a club's quarterback already is connected to a coach via a wireless communication device. It would eliminate the need for coaches to signal in defensive plays from the sideline and, thus, eliminate the possibility of those signals being stolen--or videotaped--by an opponent.

The proposal has been narrowly rejected by the owners the last two offseasons, and the competition committee now is tweaking it to try to address past concerns about how to implement it when few, if any, defensive players remain on the field for an entire game. The proposal needs 24 votes among the 32 teams to be approved, and fell two votes shy of ratification last March.

"We're modifying the proposal so we have a better chance of getting it in," said Tennessee Titans Coach Jeff Fisher, the co-chairman of the competition committee.

Otherwise, SpyGate apparently won't produce any rule changes this offseason.

"With respect to this incident, I don't think there's anything else that can be done from a rules perspective," said Atlanta Falcons President Rich McKay, the committee's other co-chairman.

By Mark Maske |  February 21, 2008; 3:09 PM ET  | Category:  League , Patriots
Previous: Steelers Use Transition Tag on M. Starks | Next: Competition Committee Discussing Re-Seeding Proposal

The comments to this entry are closed.