Breaking Observations - Yeap. They're Probably Guilty.

"Where are the e-mails or faxes to Rosenhaus that specifically mention interest in Lance Briggs that break the holy laws of sacred tampering?" - Nick, written less than two days ago.

Well I asked for it, and it looks like I may have got it. San Jose Mercury writer Tim Kawakami has posted on his blog that sources close to him know of internal emails that were sent between some of the 49ers' braintrust regarding Briggs.

Kawakami's Take

I'm not going to break this e-mail thing down too much, for a variety of reasons.

First, I'm pretty much convinced at this point that the 49ers are indeed guilty of tampering with Lance Briggs. Whether it was Nolan, Scotty, or any one of these fools, I think it's likely someone just goofed. The 49ers sadly have to pay for that goof now, mostly because the Chicago Bears' front office decided to take advantage of San Francisco's mistake. Goodell then decided to make an example out of the 49ers to the rest of the league. Case closed.

Next, I don't trust Tim Kawakami whatsoever. I simply cannot read anything the guy writes and then assume that it's true.*

How can any reader take the man seriously when he writes articles like this and this? Kawakami writes like a misinformed, Riddlin-addicted, 14-year-old football fan who drank one too many Red Bulls and then decided to sit down at the keyboard and attempt to poorly imitate ESPN's Bill Simmons (which NO ONE should ever do).

Example: Kawakami's latest fabrication of sorts is that there is already a power struggle between Nolan and Scotty because of Scotty becoming the GM back in January. According to Kawakami, Scotty as the GM is the "trigger man," Nolan is just the coach, and all of this off-season's free agency moves need to be closely scrutinized in order to figure out which one of the two wanted which player to join the 49ers.

Did Nolan push Scotty to sign DE Justin Smith against Scotty's better judgement? Was Nolan begging for Scotty to keep QB Trent Dilfer on the team in 2008, but Scotty being the "trigger man" said no? Kawakami seems think so, and he speculates like this ALL THE TIME. Trust me when I say I'd believe him if Maiocco or Barrows EVER mentioned at any time something similar to the claims Tim has made like those written above. Sadly, it hasn't happened yet.

Do I doubt Kawakami has sources close to the 49ers that could drop him some inside information regarding the tampering situation? No, I think he's probably telling the truth.  But can I believe any word of what he wrote on his blog regarding the further content of those e-mails? No way.

So to sum it all up, I think Kawakami's information on the existence of e-mails regarding Briggs is probably accurate. I can't trust anything he says regarding the further content of the e-mails (beyond the idea that they specifically mention Briggs and therefore incriminate the 49ers), but I'll assume the e-mails do indeed exist and they mention Briggs. It makes sense.

Maiocco's Latest Take, which specifically DOES NOT mention Kawakami's latest blog entry or anything about internal e-mails. If in the next few days Matt Maiocco or Matt Barrows confirms the existence of these e-mails AND confirms Tim's claim that there is some "disgruntled-ness" in those e-mails regarding the relations between some of the 49ers top-tier employees, I'll be sure to inform you guys and give Tim his props. Until then, I stand firm on what I've written above.

*So why do we have a link to Kawakami's blog on the Observer then? It's mostly because I feel his completely off-base perspective on all things 49ers makes for a good contrast to what everyone else writes about the team. Yeah, I know that sounds weird, but he's entertaining in that respect. Hell, I even have him bookmarked myself. If and when Tim ever shapes up, I'll be sure to give him his proper due. Until then, I can't help but state how I feel about the way he covers the 49ers.