Sean Pamphilon, the documentary filmmaker who released an audio recording of former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams extolling his players to injure players on the 49ers, has also released a rambling, 6,000-word statement on the time he spent following the Saints to chronicle the life of Steve Gleason, a former Saint who is dying of Lou Gehrig’s Disease. And although Pamphilon expresses gratitude and respect for many in the Saints organization, he expresses contempt for Williams.
Among Pamphilon’s observations are that Williams, in the opinion of Pamphilon, isn’t the only coach who has encouraged players to hurt opponents, but he maybe the only one who wouldn’t stop even after he had been warned that he had to.
“Essentially, Gregg Williams is not entirely unique,” Pamphilon writes. “He’s just the one who was arrogant enough to continue when he was told to stop and eventually, he got popped for it.”
In a lengthy passage, Pamphilon also recounts what he heard Williams tell his players about playing the game his way:
“‘We make no apologies for the way we play the game,’ Williams said in a tone which suggested that he actually had the balls to put on a uniform and do the very things he was ordering his players to do, much less be on the receiving end of the blows he was ordering up.
“I don’t have those balls.
“You don’t have those balls.
“And Gregg Williams most definitely does not have those balls.
“It’s a cowards play to send someone off to do your malicious bidding. I’m sure many of his players would have told him this if they weren’t scared to lose their jobs or look like bitches in front of their teammates. Or if they weren’t 25 and couldn’t possibly have a fully developed perspective on life.”
Pamphilon seems to acknowledge that he didn’t have permission to release Williams’ speech publicly, noting that in doing so he “compromised my personal relationships and risked damaging Steve Gleason’s relationship with the Saints.” But in Pamphilon’s opinion, it was worth it to expose the truth of exactly what kind of coach Williams is. And Pamphilon thinks Williams is an arrogant coward.