Specter rips NFL over Spygate ‘spin’

League statement draws ire of outspoken Goodell critic

NFL. Less than 24 hours after an NFL spokesman said the videotapes former Patriots employee Matt Walsh turned over were “consistent with what the Patriots had admitted they had been doing, consistent with what we already knew,”  U.S. Senator Arlen Specter ripped the NFL for the statement Thursday, saying the league has already gone into full spin control mode.

Specter, one of the biggest critics of commissioner Roger Goodell’s handling of the Spygate matter, issued a statement: “I think it is very unfortunate that the NFL has already started its ‘nothing new’ spin before watching the tapes or finding out what Mr. Matt Walsh has to say. Let’s see where the evidence leads.”

The news broke late Wednesday night that Walsh had delivered eight videotapes to the league in advance of his scheduled meeting with Goodell on the matter Tuesday. The tapes reportedly include signals by opposing coaches of five opponents in six games from 2000-02. However, it doesn’t include video from the St. Louis walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI — Goodell previously has said he was prepared to crack down again on the Patriots if his meeting with Walsh uncovered a tape made of the Rams’ walkthrough.

The Patriots did not comment on the report Thursday, and team spokesman Stacey James told The Associated Press he expected there would be a comment forthcoming after the Goodell-Walsh meeting. Walsh is scheduled to meet with Specter after his sit-down with Goodell.

Specter, a longtime Eagles fan, has been outspoken in his criticism of Goodell on several levels, including the fact that shortly after Goodell levied his original penalty against the Patriots in September, the commissioner had the original evidence in the case destroyed. “There are many matters which have not been explained,” Specter told The New York Times when asked about the case in February. “And the commissioner is stonewalling.”