Their playing careers overlapped by only two seasons. They’ll potentially be getting very acquainted in the coming months.
A day after Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre filed a defamation lawsuit against Pat McAfee and Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe, McAfee said on his weekday show (via FrontOfficeSports.com), “Let’s ride this fucker. I’m excited to see how it goes. I’ll see you in court, pal.”
McAfee also said, via ESPN.com, that he had received a “warning shot” from Favre’s lawyers before Favre filed suit. The lawyers demanded in a letter sent to McAfee that he remove every video from his show mentioning Favre and the welfare scandal in Mississippi.
“I looked at that,” McAfee said, “I said, ‘That is hilarious.’ Of course we’re not doing that.”
McAfee added that Favre wanted a public apology by Wednesday night.
As explained on Thursday, Favre would have been well-advised to not pull the pin on this specific grenade. From giving McAfee and Sharpe license to explore whether the things they said about Favre are true (and truth is an absolute defense to any defamation claim) to putting Favre’s pre-defamation, Crocs-fueled reputation in issue, Favre may regret this one -- especially after he’s placed under oath during a deposition and aggressively questioned about those and other matters for hours if not days.
Of course, McAfee will get the same treatment. But the rest of McAfee’s life and background won’t be relevant to the case. For Favre, since he’s seeking compensation to the damage to his good name, McAfee and Sharpe have a license to explore just how good, or not, that name was before they said what they said.
In my opinion (and opinions are protected free speech at all times), Favre had made a huge mistake here. It’s not going to help him, and if he isn’t careful while testifying it could hurt him far worse than taking his lumps from McAfee and Sharpe and moving on.
Meanwhile, the litigation will provide plenty of entertainment and intrigue, especially with McAfee flashing defiance. He may feel differently, however, once he starts getting monthly invoices from whichever law firm he hires to handle the case.
Vindication in court may be priceless, but it definitely ain’t free.
