Every time we say we’ve seen everything, we manage to see something else that makes us say, “Now we’ve seen everything.”
Pending future events, now we’ve seen everything.
A pair of 20-year-olds somehow managed to record a telephone conversation between Bills G.M. Buddy Nix and Buccaneers G.M. Mark Dominik.
Dubbed by Deadspin (which has published the audio) as “pranksters,” there’s a chance that the state or federal authorities will apply a stronger term.
“We are aware of the report on Deadspin involving a phone conversation with Bills G.M. Buddy Nix,” the Bills told PFT in a statement. “We have made the league aware of the report and are reviewing it with legal counsel.”
The Buccaneers declined comment. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Buccaneers likewise have referred the matter to NFL Security.
Setting aside the specific circumstances, the law generally frowns on secretly recording audio. In many states and at the federal level, at least one party to the conversation must consent to the fact that the discussion is being taped. Some states make it illegal even if one party to the conversation knows that the audio is being recorded.
The kids involved had no malicious intent; it was by all appearances a prank. But if they intended to record the call (and they clearly did) and if Nix and Dominik had no idea that the call was being recorded (and they clearly didn’t), this thing could get interesting for reasons far beyond the things Nix and Dominik said to each other.
UPDATE 1:41 p.m. ET: We won’t be discussing any of the content of the call, for now. Because I don’t have the time to research the law and because I fear that there could be a provision extending criminal or civil liability to anyone who knowingly publishes the content of an illegally-recorded conversation, we’re being careful on this one. For a change. (The wireless connection inside a prison may not be very reliable. Especially with all the barbed wire screwing up the waves.)