Former St. Louis Rams head coach Mike Martz was a central figure in the NFL’s investigation — or lack thereof — following the Spygate scandal in 2007. But was he a willing participant?
In ESPN’s lengthy Outside the Lines report on Spygate and the way the league handled the New England Patriots’ alleged culture of cheating, Martz spoke on the record about how Roger Goodell asked for his help when U.S. senator Arlen Specter was threatening a congressional investigation. Martz, who was the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers at the time, says he received a phone call from Goodell asking him to issue a statement saying he is confident the Patriots did not cheat against the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.
“He told me, ‘The league doesn’t need this. We’re asking you to come out with a couple lines exonerating us and saying we did our due diligence. If it ever got to an investigation, it would be terrible for the league,'” Martz recalled Goodell saying to him.
Despite the fact that he to this day wonders if the Patriots did something illegal with videotaping, Martz agreed that a congressional investigation “would kill the league,” so agreed to he wrote the statement. In it, he said he was “very satisfied” with the NFL’s investigation. However, Martz told OTL that the league edited his statement without permission.
“It shocked me,” he says. “It appears embellished quite a bit — some lines I know I didn’t write. Who changed it? I don’t know.”
Whether the league covered something up or not, the fact that Martz’s statement was allegedly changed without permission tells you all you need to know.
As for the walkthrough before the Super Bowl, no evidence exists of the Patriots filming anything. In fact, ESPN recently apologized for referencing the alleged walk-through tape during broadcasts.
