Just when you thought "Spygate" has finally become a thing of the past, the New England Patriots and the NFL have been targeted yet again. This time, Arlen Specter, a Senator from Pennsylvania, has publicly questioned the motives of Roger Goodell and the NFL in their destruction of the videotapes they confiscated from the Patriots earlier in the year.
Conspiracy within the NFL or a cheap publicity stunt?
Senator Specter made headlines this week by questioning Goodell's intentions in handling the investigation surrounding Spygate. In fact, Specter wants to bring Goodell in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee to explain why he destroyed the videotapes related to Spygate.
The notion of destroying evidence immediately translates into an inference of guilt. It leads one to believe that the NFL had something to hide in those tapes. And more importantly, it begs the question - Why did the actual videotapes from Spygate have to be destroyed?
But lets be real here people. We're talking about the NFL, not our nation's national security.
Although these tapes were effectively destroyed and the public will never know exactly what was on those tapes, I'm pretty sure the contents of those tapes would be relatively unimportant to members of the United States Senate.
So why is Senator Specter lambasting Commissioner Goodell and his decision to destroy the videotapes associated with Spygate?
Does he really care what was on those tapes? Doubtful.
Are Specter's constituents concerned about Mr. Goodell's actions? No chance.
Then why does Senator Specter care so much?
The answer is simple.
Senator Specter's number one political contributor is Comcast, a major cable company based out of Philadelphia. Comcast has been unsuccessful in persuading the NFL to allow the "Sunday Ticket" (coverage of every NFL game) and the NFL Network on Comcast's regular cable. Instead, the NFL has insisted on making their product a premium.
Specter has now threatened to strip the NFL of their "anti trust exemption," which permits the league to negotiate it's television contracts for the entire league as opposed to each team negotiating their television deals individually.
Interestingly enough, this is not the first time Specter has attacked the NFL on this issue.
In 2006, Specter publicly denounced the NFL's anti trust exemption and vowed to sponsor legislation that would effectively deprive the NFL from negotiating television contracts for every team.
Specter's public condemnation of Goodell and the NFL has nothing to do with Spygate. It has everything to do with Comcast's desires to get a piece of the billions of dollars the NFL is making off television contracts each year.
And as any shrewd politician would do, Spector chose to cry foul right before the NFL's biggest event. How convenient.
