Tiger Woods Voicemail to Jaimee Grubbs: Audio Proof of an Affair?

Los Angeles cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs, who claims to have had a 31-month long affair with embattled golf legend Tiger Woods, released a voicemail via US Weekly that will do absolutely nothing to shed a favorable light on Tiger Woods. The alleged Tiger Woods voicemail to Jaimee Grubbs contains the following message:

"Hey. It's uh, Tiger. I need you to do me a huge favor. Um. Can you please take your name off my phone? My wife went through my phone and may, uh, may be calling you. If you can, take your name off that, and if you can just have it as a number on the voicemail. Just have it as your number. Do me a huge favor. Okay?"

Now, it's possible that it is not the voice of Tiger Woods making the above-noted plea (you can hear the alleged Tiger Woods voicemail by clicking the link below) but it sure does sound like Tiger Woods and, given the fact that he issued a statement in which he admits to having engaged in "transgressions," and that he "let his family down," one would be reasonable to assume that it is Tiger Woods' voice on the tape and he was trying to cover his tracks by placing a call to his alleged mistress Jaimee Grubbs.

All this begs the following question: Has Tiger Woods done irreparable harm to his reputation? By not coming clean sooner, has he ruined his chances of rehabilitating his sullied image?

While it's possible that Tiger Woods' image has been permanently damaged, it's also important to remember that the American people are very forgiving and generally respond favorably to mea culpas. That, incidentally, is an admirable quality that makes me proud to be an American.

You may recall that basketball megastar Kobe Bryant was embroiled in a sexual assault case in Colorado back in the summer of 2003. A 19-year-old hotel employee accused Kobe Bryant of raping her in his hotel room. Ultimately, the case was dropped because Bryant's accuser refused to testify at the trial. Bryant did, however, settle a civil suit with the alleged victim out of court. While Kobe Bryant admitted to having committed adultery, he vociferously denied the allegation of assault.

Despite these very serious charges, Kobe Bryant was able to successfully rehabilitate his image. Unlike Tiger Woods, though, Kobe Bryant went on the offensive early on by holding a news conference in which he confessed to adultery, but, as noted above, emphatically denied having committed rape. This plan of attack clearly worked in his favor.

Thus, it would have been better if Tiger had gotten out in front of the story earlier, but there's still hope for him to successfully put this mess behind him.

Sources:

Tiger Woods voicemail to Jaimie Grubbs, Kalika Moquin new girl, SFGate

Woods says he let family down, The Associated Press