Bill Burt
If you just showed me the resume — a degree in sports management, jobs with the New England Patriots, the Arena League, NFL Europe and a golf pro in Hawaii, all by the age of 30 — I would be impressed. Maybe even jealous.
It sounds like a tour through the world of sports that most fans would jump at if offered.
But resumes sometimes aren't worth the paper they are written on, and I'm not just referring to the standard embellishment or two.
Matt Walsh, the guy with the aforementioned resume, is the paper pusher in this case. Quite frankly, his story and his methods are confusing.
"Spygate" lives on for one reason and that is Walsh and his "evidence" of impropriety by the New England Patriots.
What has followed since has been comical.
There has been a frivolous $100 million lawsuit by a former St. Louis Rams player, Willie Gary, and some Rams fans, which was dropped a few days ago.
There was Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who has spent more time discussing Spygate and Walsh than he has serving our country because of his obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles.
And yesterday another NFL player, San Diego linebacker Shawne Merriman, still questioning the Patriots victories over the last half-decade.
It can be argued that the Patriots are getting what they deserve. Maybe it's a little harsh, but the "arrogance" of the organization and it's obsession with winning caught up with the Pats.
I disagree, at least from what I've heard thus far.
We are in the midst of the sixth week since Walsh became a household name, which appears to have been his modus operandi since he was a little boy.
We are waiting — I would say uncomfortably and impatiently now — to hear what Walsh has to show and tell about one of the world's most successful sports franchises.
Yesterday I went back to one of the original stories, by Mike Fish of ESPN.com, written three days before the Super Bowl, to try and figure this out.
"Obviously, (Jets coach Eric) Mangini knew what was going on and it had been going on for a while," Walsh told Fish. "They tried to catch them doing it last year and weren't able to. So they were just waiting for them to throw the camera up this year on the sideline. But afterwards, I get the impression the league said to them, 'Hey, kind of back down from this; let us take care of it,' because Mangini (New England's former defensive coordinator) probably could have come out and said more, made more of a deal out of it if he wanted to."
This is a bizarre quote. How did he know about the 2006 incident when the Jets "tried to catch them" filming defensive signs?
Have Walsh and Mangini been in cahoots all along? Does Walsh have information about Mangini, too?
And then there is this about the confidentiality agreement he says he signed and the Patriots refute.
"So whether that still covers me talking about things that we did when I was there or not, I'm not completely sure," Walsh said to ESPN.com. "But if it doesn't — if the worst they do is get (ticked) off that I am coming out talking to national media about all these things that I know that they have done and what not, and they just decide to pull my season tickets — well, OK. At the end of the day, what did I get out of it? I lost my season tickets."
I don't get it. He's basically saying he has nothing to gain or lose other than season tickets by exposing the team.
Then he talks about his conscience or lack thereof.
"I'll be honest with you: I can't really be guilted into anything," Walsh told ESPN.com. "Maybe after this whole thing, you don't think I have a conscience because of the people I was exposed to and what they had me doing. ... Really, I just (have) no incentive to really talk to anybody, no reason to do it. For me, personally, I haven't really been able to see the gain in doing it."
Then why is he coming out with this now? Where was he in 2003 and 2004? Fish said among his jobs or hobbies was as a hanger-on with the touring Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he "ate and drank" back stage.
If Walsh had said or admitted to Fish that he is still bitter by the way he was treated by the Patriots, we would understand his animosity. But there is no admission, which probably is smart because it would give motive.
We can only guess and wait until the moment of truth comes, whenever that will be.
The fact that the Patriots, including coach Bill Belichick and his right-hand man Scott Pioli, have come out with statements refuting things said and implied by Walsh, particularly Rams walk-through tapes, makes this a classic "he said, he said" case.
If Walsh indeed has evidence, particularly corroborated evidence, this story will only get bigger.
If he doesn't bring more to the table when he meets with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the Patriots' woes will be softened, but not eliminated. This will dog them, evidence or not, for weeks, months and maybe even a year or two.
In the end, though, Matt Walsh got what he appears to have always wanted — fame.
E-mail Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.
