[burn_baby_burn]

John Clayton's spin.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/column...ohn&id=3394586

Here's the five things we learned Tuesday:

1. Goodell was just in levying his Spygate penalties against the Patriots.
Goodell said he didn't agree with Belichick's position that the taping of coaches' signals during games was legal. Goodell got an admission from Belichick that the Patriots taped signals since he took over as a head coach in 2000. Belichick thought he could tape signals as long as he didn't use the information in the same game. Goodell didn't buy it. He acted swiftly in taking away a No. 1 draft choice and handing out a $250,000 fine to the Patriots and a $500,000 fine to Belichick.

2. Matt Walsh's name never should have gone public. Goodell admitted the first time he ever heard of Walsh was the Friday before the Super Bowl.
It would have helped if Goodell had let the world know Belichick admitted videotaping coaches' signals dating back to 2000. Before Goodell clarified that during Pro Bowl week, the thinking was that Belichick only had admitted to taping the Jets last season.

Had Goodell clarified earlier, Walsh would have known his tapes had no value to changing Spygate.

3. It was probably unfair to have the Patriots under the Spygate microscope for all this time. They were caught spying and accepted the penalty, a very harsh penalty at that. People love spy stories, so the press continued to pursue the story. The Boston Herald is under scrutiny for using a source that accused the Patriots of having an unnamed employee tape a St. Louis Rams walk-through just before the 2002 Super Bowl.

Walsh told Goodell he had no knowledge of any taping of a Rams walk-through or any other taping of an opposing team's practice.

4. Walsh said he was on the Louisiana Superdome field during the Rams' Super Bowl walk-through, and Walsh reported what he saw to the Patriots. He told Goodell that he was setting up video equipment for the next day.

As much as that shouldn't have happened, it's the Rams' responsibility to kick Walsh off the field during a walk-through. He told Goodell he was wearing a Patriots coat. During Super Bowl week, participating teams have control of their practice field and have the right to boot any representative from an opposing team. Walsh is a trained eye, but he wasn't trespassing unless the Rams kicked him out. That one is on them.


5. League reaction is mixed. Most teams are tired of Spygate and are ready to move on. The NFL's competition committee accepted Goodell's report on Spygate back in February. The committee was willing to put Spygate to bed then.


Others wonder whether the Patriots got out of this too easily. Calling around Tuesday, ESPN.com learned there was anger over the Patriots' using an injured reserve player in pre-Super Bowl practices. That's against the rules. Everyone knows Belichick will push rules to the max.


Whatever people think at this point about Spygate doesn't matter. Goodell has interviewed more than 50 people, including Walsh.


In his eyes, nothing has changed since September. The violation was the stealing of coaching signals.

People will have their opinions. Goodell has his verdict, and it stands.