Filmmaker Sean Pamphilon said he was within his rights to release audio of a pregame speech by former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams encouraging his players to injure opponents, claiming he had not violated his agreement with former Saints special teams stalwart Steve Gleason.
Pamphilon said that his agreement with Gleason, the subject of his upcoming documentary, does not prohibit either party from releasing audio or video before the project's completion.
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"We do have a production agreement that I followed," Pamphilon said, according to Yahoo! Sports. "I can't understand why Steve would think it's in his best interest to prevent me from telling the truth about Gregg Williams."
Gleason said earlier Friday that he did not authorize Pamphilon to release any recordings, including the one of Williams' speech prior to January's NFC divisional round playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Williams named 49ers quarterback Alex Smith, running back Frank Gore and wide receivers Michael Crabtree and Kyle Williams as players the Saints defenders should target.
"Sean Pamphilon and I have an agreement that all recordings ultimately belong to me and my family," Gleason wrote in a statement obtained by NFL.com's Steve Wyche. "Nothing can be released without my explicit approval. I did not authorize the public release of any recordings."
Pamphilon said that he and Gleason disagreed about whether to release the audio, but that a trusted third party backed the filmmaker.
"I feel as strongly today as I have from the beginning that the audio speaks for itself and that the public had a right to hear it," Pamphilon said.
