So now we know what the New England Patriots were taping during their secret video sessions on opposing sidelines.

Cheerleaders.

Former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh disclosed no new rules violations in the Spygate scandal during his meeting yesterday with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell or in the tapes that the league released.

The clips, shown after Walsh's nearly 31/2-hour meeting with Goodell, cut between shots of opposing coaches sending in signals and the plays that followed.

The most scandalous part of the tapes - which were shown to reporters before Goodell's news conference - had nothing to do with stealing signals. The footage showed several minutes of close-ups of San Diego Chargers cheerleaders performing during a 2002 game.

Sounds more like a frat party than the most sophisticated video spying operation in football.

Finally. But the biggest scandal around the NFL is not Spygate. It's the plight of former players who lack medical care.

At 36, Brian DeMarco walks with a cane and is unable to get in and out of a chair without assistance because of a spinal injury.

Mounting bills have left the former Cincinnati and Jacksonville offensive lineman and his family homeless three times.

"Oftentimes in our lives, we walk around and we turn a blind eye to things," DeMarco said. "We see the homeless guy in the street . . . and we kind of just walk on by."

DeMarco is the kind of tragic figure that the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund was established to help - former NFL players who can't get medical care from the league or from their union.

Former Miami Dolphins running back Mercury Morris lashed out at the league and the union yesterday.

"They sit out there as if they're actually doing something when they're really doing nothing. . . . Maybe, just maybe, we need to start litigation and try to find a way to make these people do what they [need] to do."

Gridiron Greats has enlisted the help of doctors at the Surgical Specialty Hospital of Arizona in Phoenix and OAA Orthopedic Specialists in Allentown to provide free treatment to former players who qualify, while the organization covers travel and helps with other expenses.

Post a question or comment

for staff writer Don McKee at

http://go.philly.com/askmckee

or by e-mail at dmckee@phillynews.com.