One of the biggest questions in the aftermath of the league’s decision to fine the Broncos $50,000 as the employer of a rogue (supposedly) videographer who recorded the 49ers’ walk-through practice prior to the Denver-San Fran game on October 31 was this: How did the matter land on the league’s radar screen?
In the wake of the joint conference call conducted by Broncos COO Joe Ellis and NFL lead in-house lawyer Jeff Pash, that question remains unanswered.
Based on some of the buzz words used by both men, it appears that someone within the Broncos organization blew the whistle on Steve Scarnecchia’s unilateral (supposedly) activities and coach Josh McDaniels’ decision to move forward without reporting the incident to his supervisors or to the league.
“I’m not at liberty to reveal the details of the investigation,” Ellis said when asked specifically how the matter came to light, given that McDaniels opted to move on without disclosing it to club management. “I’m going to defer to Jeff on that. We promised the League confidence on that. I’m not willing to go there.”
Neither was Pash.
“One of the things about our policy and the duty to report is we do make a pledge, and this is not unusual in these settings, we do make a pledge of confidentiality as part of a way of encouraging people to come forward and also protecting people against possible retaliation,” Pash said.
That’s lawyer talk for “someone blew the whistle and we don’t want that someone to be targeted for termination by McDaniels or anyone else, because then everyone would be sued out the wazoo.”
Added Pash, “I think from our perspective I would say our office learned of it, as I say, from ownership and the club’s senior executive. We investigated thoroughly and confirmed what happened. I don’t think in keeping with the promises of confidentiality that it’s appropriate for us to go beyond that.”
So, apparently, someone told Ellis and/or owner Pat Bowlen. They in turn shared the information with the league. And the identity of the persons(s) who told Ellis and/or Bowlen won’t be disclosed by the team or the league.
Moving forward, McDaniels would be wise not to wonder who blew the whistle, even though knowing that someone broke ranks is the kind of thing that can drive a control-driven coach crazy with paranoia and/or rage.
