The Football Expert: Bill Belichick flat out lied to Roger Goodell

Bill Chuang of The Football Expert.com has an incisive article today about Spygate. In it, he writes:

"During the AFC Championship Game against the Steelers on Jan. 27, 2002, at Heinz Field, Walsh was instructed not to wear anything displaying a Patriots logo. Walsh said he turned the Patriots sweatshirt he was wearing at the time inside out. Walsh also was given a generic credential instead of one that identified him as team personnel. Walsh was instructed to use a "cover story" if anyone questioned him about the filming.

"This to me is the most damning statement I have heard the past few days because it makes it clear that Belichick flat out lied to Goodell. He initially claimed that he didn’t intentionally cheat, but he simply misunderstood the rules. From the instructions given to Matt Walsh, Belichick clearly knew that what he was doing was against the rules. Goodell severely sanctioned both Pac Man Jones and Micheal Vick with suspensions when they were caught lying to him. Belichick deserves the same punishment. Both players lost years of salary. They each lost multiple millions of dollars for indiscretions outside the football field. Belichick was only fined half a million for indiscretions on the field. Goodell needs to be more consistent. So far, there’s been no comment from Belichick."

My Take: Chuang is exactly right on the double standard for Belichick. NFL Commish Goodell obviously would rather have the whole Spygate and cheating saga swept under the rug, in order to keep the revenues up for the NFL. Could you imagine what would happen with a full investigation of Spygate that might reveal how many games the Patriots benefited from blatant cheating?