Kirk Reynolds' now-infamous training tape included an impersonation of the San Francisco mayor. AP

I knew what to expect after dialing the cell phone number of former 49ers public relations director Kirk Reynolds yesterday morning. The line rang five times before going to voicemail. So I left a brief message, hung up and figured what I said probably didn't matter much that day. He probably had received hundreds of supportive messages by then while answering more than enough questions about his current problems.

If you don't know by now, Reynolds is the man who resigned from the 49ers last week in the midst of an embarrassing scandal. A training tape he prepared to teach players about dealing with the media was anonymously sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, and once there, it was revealed that the footage was akin to something you'd find while viewing Cinemax late on a weekend night. The film included racial stereotypes, strippers groping each other and several jokes in poor taste. It was the kind of stuff that has turned Jerry Springer into a rich man and, as 49ers safety Tony Parrish told the Chronicle, vaulted Dave Chappelle into superstardom. Unfortunately for Reynolds, he isn't a talk show host or a comedian.

However, Reynolds also isn't the lecherous, homophobic racist that some viewers of the film have painted him as, which is why I'm writing about him today. I covered the 49ers in 1998 and '99 and I've dealt with Reynolds several times in my current position. The guy I know isn't John Rocker in disguise. He's a man who made an ill-fated mistake in his attempt to make players understand the potential consequences of their high-profile lives. That doesn't mean I'm trying to defend the film's material (although I suggest viewing it for yourself; it isn't is nearly as bad as it's portrayed). It does mean I can defend his reputation, which in case you haven't noticed, quite a few other journalists have been doing lately.

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Ask any regular NFL beat writer about Reynolds and I doubt you'll hear many negative remarks. It wasn't just that he helped facilitate interviews and ran a well-organized staff. You could see his talents in the make-up of his staff. His most recent top assistant is a young black man. His next highest-ranking assistant is a young white woman. He's given countless other minorities and women the chance to intern with the team and gain valuable experience in an industry where it's tough to get a foot in the door. Believe me, Reynolds cares about diversity.

What's more, he didn't have to trumpet his commitment to it with the 49ers. He let his actions do the talking. In fact, the roots of this entire scandal date back to the homophobic comments made by former 49ers running back Garrison Hearst in November 2002. In order to deal with the fall-out from that incident, Reynolds created a way to better educate players about diversity issues, with a mandatory diversity training program the following year.

The irony here is that a man so talented at public relations couldn't see when he had exposed his own backside in the politically charged atmosphere of the 49ers offices. Reynolds has told several news outlets that former 49ers general manger Terry Donahue, in hopes of ruining Reynolds' career, played some role in sending that tape to the Chronicle. I have no idea if that's true, although on some level it's funny to think of Donahue doing something cunning at the end of a tenure filled with so many bone-headed decisions. I also will say this: the 49ers lost more when Reynolds left the organization than they did when Donahue vanished.

I understand how all this works. Reynolds made the tape. He starred in it. And he had to pay the price once it all went public. But when I read between the lines of this sordid affair, I can see a few other things. I can see that team owner John York knew about this tape for at least five months and didn't feel a great urgency to cut ties with Reynolds then. Donahue clearly knew about it longer than that, since on the day before his firing, he reportedly handed it over to York. To me, that says Reynolds had enough trust and respect from his higher-ups to feel comfortable doing something as potentially explosive as he did.

Of course, none of that matters now. Reynolds is the scapegoat, the man hoping this experience won't define him as he seeks another job. And it shouldn't. Kirk Reynolds isn't just an embarrassing, overblown story that stunned many people around the Bay Area. He's a decent guy, one who cares more about the message he hoped to send in that tape than his critics will ever realize.