Did Patriots tape Rams' walkthrough?

PHOENIX -- A member of the New England Patriots' video staff taped the St. Louis Rams' last walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl, a Boston newspaper reported Saturday.

The NFL, however, said it was satisfied this was not another Spygate.

"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," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told The Associated Press.

Citing an unidentified source, the Boston Herald reported that a Patriots employee recorded the Rams' walkthrough at the Superdome in the New Orleans a day before the Super Bowl. New England beat the heavily favored Rams 20-17 its first NFL title.

The Herald reported that a source close to the Patriots in the 2001 season said the team held a walkthrough at the Superdome in New Orleans before the game on Feb. 3, 2002. After the Patriots took a team picture, a member of their video department stayed inside the stadium and taped the Rams' session.

It was not known whether the cameraman was told by the Patriots to film the practice or what he did with the tape, the Herald said. The Rams were 2-touchdown favorites, but lost on Adam Vinatieri's last-second field goal.

"The suggestion that the New England Patriots recorded the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI is absolutely false. Any suggestion to the contrary is untrue," Patriots spokesman Stacey James told the AP.

Rams spokesman Rick Smith, reading a statement from team president John Shaw, said, "At this point, we have no comment."