Walsh sends NFL eight tapes showing Pats’ illegal filming

Former New England Patriots assistant Matt Walsh has provided the National Football League with eight tapes showing that the Patriots illegally recorded opposing teams’ signals from 2000 to 2002, the New York Times reported on its website on Wednesday.Patriots spokesman Stacey James said in a phone call last night that “all evidence of tapes” had to be turned over to the league by today.Asked whether the Patriots had a statement in response, James said, “This is part of the league’s investigation. It does not involve us.”The issue of illegal videotaping surfaced after the Patriots were caught recording defensive signals in their 2007 season opener against the New York Jets. In an ensuing investigation, the league collected seven tapes from the Patriots, and got a written promise that the team did not have further tapes. The seven tapes it received dated to 2006; the league destroyed the evidence.The violations of league rules cost the Patriots, and coach Bill Belichick, a total of $750,000 in fines and a first-round pick in the 2008 NFL draft.Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, “has left open the possibility that additional evidence will lead to additional penalties” against the Patriots and the team’s coach, the Times reported.The tapes sent by Walsh include seven regular-season games and the 2002 American Football Conference championship matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which the Patriots won, 24-17. New England would subsequently upset the St. Louis Rams, 20-17, for the franchise’s first Super Bowl victory.Despite media coverage earlier this year that claimed otherwise, the tapes did not include the Rams’ walk-through before that Super Bowl.