Though it largely has disappeared from the headlines over the last few weeks, the NFL’s investigation regarding whether and to what extent Vikings quarterback Brett Favre sent unwelcome and/or inappropriate text messages to former Jets in-house sideline reporter Jenn Sterger while Favre played for the team continues.
Ten days ago, Sterger finally met with the NFL, after a should-I-or-shouldn’t-I routine that reminded many of Favre’s decision-making skills.
Today, both Adam Schefter of ESPN and Jay Glazer of FOX report that the league has hired a forensics expert to determine whether the most problematic photos (if you don’t know what we’re referring to, we’re glad you finally woke up, Mr. Van Winkle) were sent by Favre to Sterger.
The implication, in our assessment, is that absent sufficiently compelling objective proof, the league will take little or no action against Favre.
Then there’s the fact that the NFL regular season ends only six weeks from today. With appeal rights and other inherent delays in a process that already has taken much, much longer than expected (i.e., “fast track”) as Favre completes the final year of his career, it’s getting harder to imagine that the league would be in position to actually enforce a suspension against Favre, if in the end the league were to decide that a suspension is warranted.
