Gregg William's Affidavit and Why the Signing Date Doesn't Matter

When NFL Network's Albert Breer broke the news with this tweet,

"

NFL produced an affidavit from Gregg Williams today, saying that Vilma put a $10,000 bounty on Brett Favre in January 2010, per source.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) September 17, 2012"

there was a collective "Oh!" from the sporting world. 

When ProFootballTalk.com released this tweet, 

"

Most amazing aspect of Gregg Williams affidavit -- he signed it on Friday, September 14, 2012.

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 17, 2012"

the questions started flowing. 

Why was it just signed Friday if the statement was made in 2010?

Is Gregg Williams just trying to save his own job?

What is an affidavit? 

An affidavit is a written statement taken under oath by an authorized official. Simply put, it's a statement that can be submitted as evidence in court. The statement can no longer be dismissed as hearsay. 

The NFL, up to this point, hasn't produced the evidence in the Bounty Case against Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith, Scott Fujita or Anthony Hargrove. It wasn't necessary. 

Now that the case got a reboot after the suspensions were lifted, the league decided it might need to use some of the evidence they claimed to have as ammunition. In order to present that evidence in a compelling way with lawyers present, they needed an affidavit. 

If the league had intended to use any evidence in their legal case, they would have had Williams sign an affidavit earlier. Because they didn't have a need to share it, it wasn't done until now. 

It's as simple as that. The signing date means absolutely nothing in its significance to this case. 

The only significant thing about the affidavit is that the league is finally starting to show actual evidence.

Will it stop the questions or speculation? Absolutely not.