PALM BEACH, Fla. — They’re sorry.
Sports Illustrated reported tonight that Patriots owner Robert Kraft apologized to NFL owners and coaches for the Spygate controversy.
Hours after Bill Belichick’s comments on his role in the videotaping mess, he and Kraft addressed the NFL league meeting here.
Don Banks wrote on SI.com that Kraft spoke first and apologized to his fellow owners and the league’s head coaches.
The Web site said, “In a short but impassioned address that was said to be unscripted, Kraft asked NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for a chance to speak to the room and wound up telling the owners and coaches how sorry he and his family [were] that his team had caused damage to the NFL and its brand. He expressed remorse that his franchise brought negative attention to the league.”
Banks reported that Kraft’s words were met with “resounding applause.” When Kraft finished, Belichick asked Goodell for permission to speak. Short of an apology, Belichick gave a version of the same explanation for his team’s actions that he had shared with reporters, including The Post’s Mark Cannizzaro, this morning at the AFC head coaches’ media breakfast.
Up until then, Belichick had remained tight-lipped, tersely deflecting questions about the blockbuster allegations or simply not commenting at all.
Facing reporters for the first time since the Giants vanquished his Patriots’ bid for a perfect 19-0 season in early February, Belichick answered a number of questions on the matter, which began with allegations of New England’s illegal videotaping of assistant coaches’ hand signals on the Jets’ sideline in September, a charge that eventually brought a $500,000 fine to Belichick and another $250,000 to the team along with a lost first-round draft pick.
Then came the claim, one that conveniently surfaced on the eve of this past Super Bowl, from former Patriots low-level assistant Matt Walsh that he had evidence of other illicit taping by Belichick, including film of a walkthrough before the Patriots’ Super Bowl victory over the Rams in 2002.
No. 1 on the list of inquiries this morning was the issue involving Walsh, whom the NFL desperately wants to speak to but who’s seeking legal protection from being sued if he does come forward with information.
“Whatever the (Walsh) allegations are, I’m confident that that’s not true,” Belichick said. “Nothing has really happened. Allegations were made before the Super Bowl and I don’t think there’s any new information since then, certainly not anything that I’m aware of. I don’t think those allegations are true.”
Asked if he believes Walsh, who was fired by the Patriots in 2003, has an axe to grind with him or the franchise, Belichick said, “I don’t know; I had almost no interaction with Matt Walsh when I was there. Now, he was there several years before I got there, but I’ve had almost no interaction with him.
“My personal involvement with Matt Walsh when he was there when I was there was very minimal. I mean, there really wasn’t any.”
Asked if he was surprised to hear about Walsh’s allegations, Belichick said, “They totally came out of right field to me. I’ve never seen a tape of another team’s practice … ever … in 34 years of coaching.”
Meanwhile, with regard to the illegal videotaping the Patriots were found guilty of against the Jets in the 2007 season opener, Belichick continued to maintain that he misinterpreted the rules.
“The way the rule is written I interpreted that you couldn’t use (the tape) during that current game, which was never done; I’ve never done that, never used any information from the game in that current game,” he said. “What I should have done was I should have called the league and asked for a clarification of it, but when I re-read that rule I still interpreted incorrectly.
“We paid a price for that mistake. It was my mistake.”
Belichick, sounding somewhat wary, revealed that the league investigated him both after the Jets game incident and again after the season.
“They’ve addressed everything they possibly can address,” Belichick said. “Pick a subject and I’ll tell you they addressed it. I don’t know how the league can do any more.
“I’ve answered so many questions so many times so many ways to so many different people … I don’t know how much more they can possibly do.”
When it was brought to his attention that, because of these incidents, to many, the Patriots’ success in recent years has been tainted, Belichick said, “I know what the truth is. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. I can’t control what everybody thinks. I’m not going to try to do that.”
