According to the Boston Herald, Belichick might have had some help against the Rams. Some illegal help. Citing an unnamed source, the Herald reported yesterday that a Patriots employee taped the Rams' final walkthrough on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans.

"I think Mike always suspected something, but I had no knowledge of this," Rams President John Shaw said yesterday in Phoenix, where he is attending the Super Bowl XLII game between the Patriots and the New York Giants.

Shaw declined further comment, but said he would bring up the topic with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell next week. Shaw and Goodell are scheduled to meet next week in Los Angeles, a meeting set up before the latest allegations of cheating by the Patriots surfaced.

The Patriots' victory over the Rams is considered one of the biggest upsets in NFL history, and Martz was bombarded with criticism following the defeat. At the time, the Rams had what was considered one of the most potent offenses in league history — an aggressive, high-powered, multifaceted attack dubbed the "Greatest Show on Turf."

Martz was house hunting in San Francisco, where he was recently hired as offensive coordinator, when reached yesterday by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"I've been aware of this (the taping allegations) for some time," Martz said. "But I'm going to hold off on commenting further until all of this comes out."

The source told the Herald that after completing their walkthrough prior to Super Bowl XXXVI six years ago, the Patriots posed for a team picture in the Louisiana Superdome. And then the Rams took the field for their walkthrough. According to the source, a member of the Patriots' video staff stayed behind after attending the New England walkthrough and illegally filmed the Rams' walkthrough.

At no point was the cameraman asked to identify himself or produce a press pass, the source told the Herald. Except for a pool reporter, Super Bowl walkthroughs are closed to the media.

During walkthroughs, players literally "walk through" plays that the team is planning to run in the game the next day. A Rams source told the Post-Dispatch that the Rams emphasized short-yardage, goal-line, and red zone plays that were in the game plan during the walkthrough that day in New Orleans.

According to the Rams' source, one of the plays in that day's walkthrough was a play early in the fourth quarter when quarterback Kurt Warner fumbled on a fourth and goal from the New England 3. The Patriots recovered the fumble and raced 97 yards for an apparent touchdown. But the play was negated because of a defensive holding call against New England. The Rams subsequently scored to cut New England's lead to 17-10 with less than 10 minutes to play.

A second source said, "We hadn't run that play all year. Our players were upset after the game because on certain plays, especially in the red zone, (the Patriots) were calling the plays and the formation that we were going to run."

The second source told the Post-Dispatch yesterday that he was told shortly after the game that some members of the Patriots' staff "were up all night" studying the walkthrough tapes. This second source said the team never went public with complaints about the walkthrough taping because it would seem like sour grapes in the wake of a devastating loss.

"Had we won the game, I might have said something," the second source said. "You really don't want to believe it anyway. The integrity of the game should be far more important than reducing yourself to cheating to win."

Belichick was fined $500,000, and the New England franchise fined an additional $250,000 earlier this season for illegally taping New York Jets coaching signals on the sideline during the Patriots 2007 season opener against the Jets. The Patriots also had to forfeit their first-round draft pick in the upcoming draft. The controversy was dubbed "Spygate."

Belichick dodged all questions on "Spygate" during Super Bowl week. During his annual Super Bowl address Friday, Goodell was asked if any of the confiscated tapes in the "Spygate" controversy benefited the Patriots in any of their three Super Bowl victories.

"No, there was no indication that it benefited them in any of the Super Bowl victories," Goodell said.

But now, there's a whole new layer of allegations. After his press conference, Goodell said he was unaware of any taping of the Rams' Super Bowl XXXVI walkthrough.

But NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said yesterday, "We were aware of the rumor months ago and looked into it. There was no evidence of it on the tapes or in the notes produced by the Patriots, and the Patriots told us it was not true."