During much of the legal impasse between the NFL and Matt Walsh, the sticking point was whether Walsh would be required to “tell the truth” in order to achieve and maintain protection against possible civil claims from the Patriots or any third party.

Walsh’s lawyer, Michael Levy, wisely pointed out that truth is in the eye of the beholder.  If the Patriots were to disagree with the substance of Walsh’s account regarding, for example, whether the Rams’ walk-through prior to Super Bowl XXXVI was videotaped or otherwise spied upon, the Pats could claim that he’s lying, and that he therefore isn’t entitled to any protections.

But Walsh could both be wrong and truthful.  Indeed, ten people can witness a car accident, and then give ten different versions of what occurred.  Each would be technically telling the truth, and yet each could be wrong about some aspect of what they remember seeing or hearing.

On this specific point, Walsh has prevailed; still, it was very prudent for the NFL to yield.  The league’s prior position was unrealistic, and put Walsh unnecessarily at risk for a game of “gotcha.” 

In paragraph 2 of the agreement, Walsh is required ”to provide the NFL full, complete and accurate information, in good faith and to the best of his knowledge.”

The indemnification commitment Walsh receives in paragraph 3(a) applies even if there is “alleged untruthfulness” in Walsh’s disclosures to the NFL, unless there is “intentional untruthfulness.”

In other words, Walsh is not exposed to a claim that he’s being untruthful merely if he happens to be factually wrong.  Basically, then, it’s not a lie if Walsh genuinely believes that any factual inaccuracies he discloses are the truth.

Though it sounds Costanza-esque, this dynamic accounts for many of the disputes in witness testimony that arise every day in courts throughout the country.  Sure, some of the witnesses are committing perjury.  More often than not, however, the witnesses who provide incorrect testimony think they’re telling the truth, but simply are misinformed about what the truth really is.