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Did Brett Favre send Jenn Sterger pictures of his junk?

By ArtieFufkin

(Image via NY Daily News)

Yesterday, Deadspin.com broke what could potentially be the biggest off-field NFL story to come along in a while, about one of its biggest stars. If you haven’t seen it yet, here is the post in question, which presents a fairly ugly picture of Brett Favre sexually harassing Jenn Sterger, a former sideline reporter with the Jets. At the time of the alleged incident in 2008, Favre was playing QB for New York, meaning he and Sterger were co-workers.  And that takes the issue from just a private instance of indiscretion to one of legally actionable harassment, which could obviously come with serious ramifications.

Watch the video in the linked article, but be warned, there are photos of male genitalia at the the end.  In it, Deadspin presents MySpace screen shots, voicemail messages, and pictures of someone’s – purportedly Favre’s – penis. The initial contact came to Sterger via a phony Myspace account under the name “Screaming Lord Byron” (a David Bowie reference) and escalated from there, with Sterger being led to believe that Favre was on the other end. The messages & photos came from a cell phone with a Mississippi area code, and the voice sure as heck sounds like Favre. We’ll reserve judgement on the authenticity of the rest of the evidence.

The NFL says they are “reviewing the matter”, and during a Vikings press conference yesterday, Favre refused to address questions about the report. But Fox Sports’ Jason Whitlock wrote an excellent column about the whole saga, which calls out Roger Goodell to step up and deal with the issue at hand swiftly:

“I’m not getting into that,” Favre responded when asked directly about the Deadspin report. “I’ve got my hands full with the Jets.”

Goodell has no such excuse. He elected himself the NFL’s top cop. He can’t brush this off. Again, if true, this is sexual harassment … It does not matter that Jenn Sterger’s on-full-display, fake breasts were her only qualification to land a job with the Jets. She should be afforded protection from harassment. Unsolicited e-mails, phone calls and Full Monty pics are quite different from locker-room catcalls and coaches running pass plays in the direction of a provocatively dressed Sideline Barbie.

Goodell must investigate the Favre-Sterger incident and either clear or punish Favre.

Jenn Sterger. ummm ... yeah

Again, if true, this story has the potential to rock the foundation of the NFL. Yet for some reason, nobody seems to be talking much about it. And in a world where the sexual improprieties of Tiger Woods and Ben Roethlisberger became near-constant fodder for both tabloid and mainstream news, you can’t help but wonder why.  Our guess is that people just aren’t that comfortable talking about, let alone looking at photos of Brett Favre’s penis. Go figure.

But the story itself is fascinating, and the evidence certainly looks bad for Favre.  In fact, reports have now surfaced from two more former female Jets employees, claiming that they received inappropriate texts from Favre as well. Deadspin had initially hinted about the Sterger story months ago, and the timing of its release is certainly intriguing, what with the Jets getting ready to square off against Favre’s Vikings on Monday night. Deadspin says they obtained the smoking gun messages & photos for their report from a third-party – not Sterger, who has yet to go on the record about the allegations.

Again, from Whitlock’s column:

Did the Jets investigate this in 2008-09 or in 2010 when Deadspin originally made mention of it? Did the Jets hold on to the material and leak it just in time for the big game? Did Sterger’s agent leak the material in hopes of boosting her career? Sterger’s the victim. Why shouldn’t she milk it to her advantage? She owes Favre nothing.

… OR, did someone frame Brett Favre? Is this an elaborate hoax?

No doubt that we’ll hear these questions (along with more than we ever cared to hear about Brett Favre’s “little Lord Byron”) over and over during the coming weeks and months. It will be interesting to see if Goodell and the NFL hold their golden boy up to the same standard they demand from the rest of their players.

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