Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
Commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL destroyed six tapes in the Spygate investigation. Some were from the 2007 exhibition season. Some were from late in the 2006 season, he said. The league also collected notes that may or may not have been gathered in violation of NFL rules, Goodell said. These were also destroyed.
"We felt that was appropriate since we could not determine" how the notes were collected. I'm sure Sen. Arlen Specter will have some additional questions. The league said it didn't receive his letters demanding elaboration until quite recently. "There was no indication that it benefited them in any of the Super Bowl victories," Goodell said. "I'm not sure there is a coach in the league that doesn't expect that their signals are being intercepted by some way by opposing teams. That is why they go to the great lengths (to conceal signals)."
Why destroy the tapes? "It was the best way to make sure the Patriots followed my instructions. I wanted to make sure that bit of information did not appear, that if it did, (the league knew) they did not hand over all the inforamtion. They certified in writing" that all evidence had been handed over to the league.
