How Do Call Records Prove Anything?
By PackerAaron
Packergeeks cite a Pro Football Talk report about the possibility of the Packers having records for a phone given to Favre by the Packers, the intimation being that this is the evidence the Packers are using in their grievance against the Vikings.
If that is the case, and that is all the Packers have, I don't think the league will do much of anything. Even if those records show he called Brad Childress' number directly, how on Earth do the Packers prove what was talked about? Or even that Childress was the one on the line? Is it suspicious? Of course. But can you prove anything with it? Hardly.
The only way the Packers have a case is if the league finds, or they provide, emails between individuals in the Viking organization specifically discussing acquiring Favre. Remember, the 49ers were disiplined by the leage for tampering with Lance Briggs on the strength of email evidence.
So unless the Packers are working with the US Government, and have recordings of the phone calls that were reportedly made by Favre to Viking headquarters, they can't prove a thing absent an incriminating email or someone in the Viking organization pulling a Judas.
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Comments (6)
July 18, 2008 at 03:21 pm
Well the speculation I have heard is that they have phone records. How would they have those unless they own the phone. If thats the case they also would have text message history.
Also if Favre call Childress or vise versa and the call lasted for any significant length of time then IMO there is no question that constitutes tampering. Farve and Childress have NO history. What reason would they have to be talking?
In everything TT has done I have never seen him go off half cocked. Just based on his history alone I am thinking the Packers have some pretty good grounds for filing this.
PackerAaron
July 18, 2008 at 03:36 pm
That's what makes me think they either have emails or a mole-type inside the Vikings. Remember, the 49ers were the first team in NFL history to actually be punished under the tampering rules - it was the emails that did it.
July 18, 2008 at 03:59 pm
9ers are the first team to be publicly nailed. <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=773857" rel="nofollow">This article on JSO would lead one to think that there have been other times teams have been punished, but probably just fined or something that may not have become public.
QUOTE:
"We're not commenting on that report," Aiello said. "Tampering issues are considered internal matters unless we're announcing discipline against a club. In some cases, it doesn't become public. A team files a tampering charge to determine there was no tampering or insufficient evidence to prove it and nothing is ever said and nothing needs to be said."
Aiello said tampering charges happen "from time to time. It's not every week but there's usually a handful, more or less, a year."
July 18, 2008 at 04:22 pm
According to Peter King at the time:
This is the first time in 13 years that a commissioner has found an NFL team guilty of tampering with another team's employee. That is remarkable. Think about all the tampering that is alleged every year -- agents and teams speaking about prospective players prior to the free-agency period, most notably -- and for this to be the first tampering case to be adjudicated against a team in 13 years is amazing.
So I take back that this was the first time ever - simply the first time in 13 years - but I don't doubt it happens every year and that the NFL is involved with a few cases every off season. Obviously the Packers leaked this one so as to help their PR cause...
July 18, 2008 at 05:13 pm
Wow...I stand corrected...
July 18, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Call records can prove something. For one thing if there is any call from Brad Childress to Favre or a call from Favre to Childress that would prove something was going on. Favre had no prior relationship with Childress and there would really be no innocent reason why they would be talking other than tampering.
Secondly, if the conversations with Bevell increased in frequency around the time Favre started saying he wanted his release that would also provide evidence that there was tampering. For example, if they were talking once a month every month until May of this year and then they are talking a couple times a week along with a phone call the day before Favre asked for his release that would definitely be evidence supporting the tampering charge.
We also don't know what Favre might have let slip to Campen in a conversation. If he overheard anything, that combined with the phone records would be compelling evidence.