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Walsh turns over his tapes

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Times Staff Writer

While there might be smoldering anger over the New England Patriots’ video-taping scandal, there doesn’t appear to be a smoking gun that would lead to more punishment.

An NFL spokesman confirmed Wednesday night that former Patriots employee Matt Walsh has sent to the league eight videos shot between the 2000 and 2002 seasons that show the team secretly videotaped the play-calling signals of opposing coaches. The footage is of five opponents -- Miami, Buffalo, San Diego, Cleveland and Pittsburgh -- in six games.

What’s missing from the collection is a purported tape of a St. Louis walkthrough practice the day before the Rams played New England in the 2002 Super Bowl. The Boston Herald reported its existence on the eve of this year’s Super Bowl.

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Rams President John Shaw said he was not surprised that there was no tape of his team.

“We were led to believe that he did not have a tape of us and that was the case,” Shaw said late Wednesday by phone. “I had spoken to the commissioner . . . and there was absolutely no confirmation of [Walsh] having a tape.”

Asked if this closed the Spygate chapter as far as the Rams are concerned, Shaw said, “I felt it had already been closed, but I guess that this confirms that.”

If there were such evidence, it could significantly affect the Patriots’ punishment and could lead to a suspension of Coach Bill Belichick. As it is, the Patriots were fined $750,000 and docked a first-round pick in this year’s NFL draft.

The content of Walsh’s tapes was first reported Wednesday evening by the New York Times.

The league has not received the tapes, which are expected to arrive today, but has a detailed list of what they contain.

According to the list, league spokesman Greg Aiello said, “All the coaching signals are consistent with what we already knew.”

The Herald cited an anonymous source saying that there was a tape of the Rams’ Super Bowl walkthrough but, at the league meetings last month, Patriots owner Robert Kraft denied “the damaging allegation” that such evidence existed.

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“I believe it’s something that never happened,” Kraft told reporters. “If so, why wouldn’t -- two months later -- anything come out? But we live in a society where people can make any kind of allegation. It has to be substantiated.”

Walsh didn’t do that, according to Aiello. The spokesman added that the league’s agreement with Walsh includes a certification that those are the only tapes in his possession.

Walsh, who worked for the Patriots from 1997 to 2003, has been working as a golf pro in Hawaii since leaving the team. After weeks of negotiations he turned over the tapes with the promise that he would be immune from prosecution.

Walsh is scheduled to meet with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday at the league’s offices in New York City, and then separately with Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.).

The tape of the Steelers game is intriguing because of the high stakes. According to the New York Times story, it was shot during the 2002 AFC championship game and featured Pittsburgh coaches’ signals along with two camera angles of the actual plays.

Quoting Walsh’s attorney, Michael Levy, the newspaper said the San Diego footage was raw and shot after Walsh left the team’s video department to work in scouting. That tape does not show plays, instead focusing on coaches’ signals and scoreboard footage of the down and distance.

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sam.farmer@latimes.com

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