It’s fitting, we suppose, that an incident allegedly arising from Jenn Sterger’s reluctance to take Brett Favre’s calls is ending with the NFL refusing to take Jenn Sterger’s calls.
Sterger’s manager, Phil Reese, tells Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal that the league office has failed to return multiple calls from Reese and Sterger’s lawyer, Joseph Conway, placed since Peter King of NBC reported during Football Night in America that Favre likely won’t be suspended and ultimately could be exonerated following an investigation regarding his behavior toward Sterger when both worked for the Jets.
“It would be absolutely heartbreaking if this is the case,” Reese told Mullen. “The NFL has assured us the whole time that Commissioner Goodell was committed to holding players accountable for their actions and would take a stand against sexual harassment in the workplace.”
As to the decision not to talk to Sterger’s representatives at this time, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told Mullen via e-mail, “It is [a] complex situation that has involved a great deal of due diligence. We are trying to wrap it up as soon as possible and will notify everyone appropriately when a conclusion is reached.”
Reese also thinks that the information was leaked to King by high-level league officials, and Reese takes issue with the notion that the NFL was unable to connect the dots from Favre to Sterger regarding the alleged photos of Favre’s penis that allegedly were texted to Sterger. Allegedly.
“No. 1, that is absolutely not true,” Reese told Mullen. “There is evidence that ties the photos in question back to Favre. And No. 2, the photos are one piece of the puzzle. Even if you take those out of the equation, you still have a slam dunk case that Favre was in violation of the NFL’s personal conduct policy.”
(It’s good to see that Reese is an expert on the nuances of the league’s Personal Conduct Policy.)
“I am an eternal optimist,” Reese said. “However, as a result of this report and our phone calls going unreturned, I am very concerned that the league is not going to do the right thing after all.”
But what really is the right thing? Does Reese really know whether or not sexual harassment occurred? Or is he merely trying to resurrect his client’s career by obtaining from the NFL some sort of a ruling that then would allow Reese to line up jobs for Sterger by explaining that the league found that she was the victim and not a willing participant?
The league launched an investigation without even a complaint from Sterger, and Sterger waited several weeks before talking to the league while she weighed options regarding whether and to what extent anyone would be sued. For Sterger to suddenly assume the posture of someone who has wanted justice all along from the NFL is disingenuous, at best.
We also think that Reese is now crowing so that when Sterger starts suing people, her camp will be able to explain that they did so only as a last resort, and that it’s not about the thing that many suspect it’s really all about.