MMQB Mailbag: Future of signal stealing, shady Goodell and more

Did Bill Belichick and the Patriots get a relative pass when Roger Goodell destroyed the Spygate tapes? AP Peter King's Mailbag Peter King will answer your questions each week in Monday Morning Quarterback: Tuesday Edition. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Peter King on Twitter

There's so much good e-mail -- clearly one of the best e-mail weeks in the history of this column -- that I'm going to allow you to take it over. I'll just stay out of the way. On with the show:

• YOU MAILED IT IN THIS WEEK, KING. From Scott Clayton, of Philadelphia: "I know that it's the dead zone on the NFL calendar, that you obviously had a busy week with your daughter's graduation and that Spygate was still the big national NFL story of the last seven days. With that being said, I think you could have just gotten away with not writing a column this week and every one of your readers would have understood. That's great that we got the Braylon Edwards-Jay Cutler-Trent Dilfer-Ronde Barber feedback to the story, but the meat and potatoes could have been pulled from probably a dozen columns you've written since last September, most recently just six days ago. C'mon Pete, 31 NFL franchises have a story less beaten into the ground than Spygate. Just spitballing here, but, is the Urlacher situation getting too messy in Chi-Town? Can Ricky make a surprise impact in Miami? How is Tomlinson dealing with the first scrutiny of his career? Why doesn't Lane Kiffin just walk away from his crazy situation in Oakland knowing that he's in a can't-win situation and is young enough and talented enough to get another shot down the road? Talk about the latest developments in the Sean Taylor case. Talk about Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson's supposed break-up, but give us something new and interesting to read. Thank you."

Point taken. You'll have some different stuff next week. I thought Spygate was the story of the week, and the weekend.

• GREAT POINT ABOUT THE STEALING OF SIGNALS. From Ryan Eads, of Champaign, Ill.: "I do not share your optimism that the coach-to-defensive-captain wireless will resolve the capturing of teams signals. In this case I am not talking about hand signals, but wireless communication signals. I work in IT security. Wireless communication technology has a legacy of insecurity. It is broadcast communication that can be grabbed by anyone with the right technology in close-enough proximity. Given the need to keep the technology in the helmet light, I doubt that encryption technology is used because it would add to the hardware that would need to go in the helmet. If this supposition holds true, a 'spy' could conspicuously grab and relay coach-to-player communications and relay them [to the wrong team] in real-time. The gear required to do this would fit in your pocket. Hopefully, the NFL considered this when working with Motorola to deploy the communications gear. If not, I am sure that there are unscrupulous teams with tech-savvy staff who will take advantage of this vulnerability."

Ryan, the league has taken some steps to address this, but I'm not sure how many. Read next Monday's column, and I promise I'll address this, because it's a fascinating topic. Thanks for the idea.

• I HAVE IGNORED THE REAL SCANDAL OF SPYGATE. From Ronn L., of Nashville: "Peter, you are my favorite NFL writer but I am sad to see that even you have buried the lead from Spygate and missed the central lesson -- the NFL's selective transparency. By destroying all of the original evidence from the Patriots without allowing for an independent accounting of its contents -- a verification that could have easily occurred after the season -- commissioner Roger Goodell has effectively told the media, the fans and congress that the NFL retains the right to act as its own judge and jury regardless of the size and potential impact of the scandal. And the vast majority of fans and media have seemingly accepted this remarkable and paradoxical act of executive entitlement. The commissioner is asking us to believe on the one hand that although the Pats' videotaping was a clear violation of NFL rules, it had a negligible effect on the outcome of games. Yet on the other hand, he erases the only evidence that could once and for all confirm this as true and bury the scandal for good."

Good point, Ronn, and I understand your frustration (you are certainly not alone) at the destruction of evidence. But I think we saw enough before last Tuesday's Goodell press conference, and we've not heard a peep of denial from Belichick and the Patriots about it, to know that the Patriots were serial videotapers for seven years. We saw excerpts from tapes from seven different games between 2000 and 2002, and Belichick admitted to Armen Keteyian that probably more than half the games in 2006 were taped after the league re-emphasized the video laws. The larger issue is whether Goodell should be judge and jury. NFL commissioners have been that for decades. Pete Rozelle banned Paul Hornung and Alex Karras for a year apiece in 1963, then ordered Joe Namath to sell a bar that the league thought had mob ties in 1969. He was judge and jury then. Goodell will always claim he acted correctly in destroying the evidence, but my feeling is deep down he wishes he hadn't.

• THE PATRIOTS' SUPER BOWLS ARE TAINTED. From Thad, of Plano, Texas: "One interesting aspect of Spygate that seems to be glossed over, but fortunately you touch on it, is the way it taints the game. Reading the quotes from Jay Cutler and Trent Dilfer, it seems to me that they might be a little out of touch with the fans. I find it completely ridiculous that Trent would claim the game is pure as any game can be. This is utter nonsense. Between Belichick's blatant disregard for the rules and his lack of any remorse, to the steroid scandals just waiting to surface (Shawne Merriman anyone?), football is hardly pure. Casual fans will lose interest rapidly as scandals and the thug element thrive. Just look at the NBA. There was a time when that league was on top of the world, now ratings are plummeting amidst a disconnect between the inmate players and cheating scandals versus the typical urban professional audience. The NFL is on the brink of this same precipice, and I don't see Goodell, or the players, doing anything at all to recover."

You are not alone, Thad.