Of course there is more to this story, but we might never get to the truth, because it’s clear that Belichick isn’t the only one whose nose is growing. I don’t doubt the Boston Herald’s original honest efforts in reporting that the Patriots videotaped the St. Louis Rams' walk-through before the 2002 Super Bowl. Their reporting wasn’t fabricated. They didn’t just create this story out of thin air. So we have to assume that Walsh (assuming he was the source) was either embellishing his story back then or is he lying now when he told the commissioner there were no videos of that walk-through.

Yes, you better believe somebody’s still lying, and it’s probably more than one somebody. And even if the Rams were foolish enough to allow Walsh, who was fully dressed in Patriots gear, to roam their sidelines during that Saturday walk-through and have access to their final pregame preparation, please don’t try to blame the victims for the scandal. That’s like blaming a sexual assault on the victim for dressing too provocatively.

History tells us that we can’t trust that the Patriots or Belichick won't bend the rules and break the rules to get any edge possible. So you have to know that all these tapes were being done for the purpose of gaining an unfair competitive edge. If the video wasn’t intended to be used during the game, why was Walsh gathering all that information on teams they weren’t expecting to meet again? If it wasn’t going to be used illegally, why go through the deliberate instructions to Walsh to keep his actions surreptitious?

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Dogs on the ski slopes, motorcycles in the harbor and more madness from the sports world. more photos

So no, this story is not over, not even a little bit, no matter how much the commissioner, the Patriots and even some earnest members of the media want it to go away. We need to continue to keep a suspicious eye on them, because they deserve every bit of our misgivings. Spygate is an everlasting stain. It won’t ruin the franchise or its great accomplishments, it won’t turn Belichick into a phony genius, but it will leave an indelible pockmark that can’t be ignored.

No matter what was achieved in the past, and what becomes of the future, the price that must be paid for this scandal is a slight distortion of the Patriots’ dynastic legacy.

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