On Friday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appeared on NBC’s Today, and Matt Lauer asked the perfunctory question regarding the status of the Brett Favre investigation. Goodell said that the league has not yet spoken to Favre.
On Saturday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appeared on NBC’s broadcast of the (western)
Michigan-Notre Dame game, and sideline reporter Alex Flanagan asked the perfunctory question regarding the status of the Brett Favre investigation. This time around, Goodell volunteered that the league will be meeting with Favre this week.
Flanagan thereafter reported (and Peter King confirmed) that the NFL has not yet spoken with Jenn Sterger, the former Jets in-house sideline reporter at the center of the controversy. As it turns out, the meeting with Favre will occur Tuesday in Minneapolis, with Favre being interviewed by NFL V.P. of security Milt Ahlerich.
So what does it all mean, apart from the fact that multiple NFL Sunday morning/afternoon pregame producers who surely intended to be the first to break this news cursed simultaneously?
Typically, sexual harassment investigations (which this investigation clearly is) involve the accuser being interviewed before the accused. Reports from last weekend indicated that, indeed, the league would speak to Sterger before meeting with Favre. The fact that Sterger hasn’t been interviewed means either that the league has decided to proceed with the investigation and talk to her later -- or to proceed with the investigation because she has declined to cooperate.
And if she has declined to cooperate, it could mean that she recently has received a large cash payment from a guy who is making $1 million per game this year.
Some may balk at speculation that Favre has made the prudent decision to write a check aimed at securing a release all legal claims and a commitment to full confidentiality. (On Friday, John Clayton of ESPN suggested in a Phoenix radio interview that the unexpected delay in the investigation was aimed at giving Favre a chance to buy silence.) Still, the fact that Sterger’s manager, Phil Reese, has issued a statement that Sterger wants a “proper resolution” that is in her “best interest” undoubtedly means that she didn’t simply decide that the “proper resolution” in her “best interest” consisted of walking away.
Given Reese’s statement, the logical conclusion is that Sterger and Favre treated this matter like a business transaction and worked out a deal. Under such a deal (if there is one), Sterger gets paid, she doesn’t sue, and she will talk to no one absent a subpoena or some other legal compulsion that likely never will come (unless, of course, one of the two massage therapists who allegedly were propositioned by Favre end up suing him). Because the NFL has no authority to force non-league employees to cooperate with an internal investigation, the Favre investigation would proceed without any input from Sterger.
And that would make it impossible for the league to determine that Favre engaged in sexual harassment. Favre could simply tell Ahlerich that all conduct and behavior between Favre and Sterger was consensual and welcome, and the NFL would be unable to prove otherwise.
Favre’s conduct, if that’s his voice and his body part in the Deadspin report, could potentially violates the general catch-all language in the Personal Conduct Policy, which prohibits "[c]onduct that undermines or puts at risk the integrity and reputation of the NFL, NFL clubs, or NFL players.” But we doubt that the NFL will give credence to the notion that Favre did something “wrong” by publicly announcing a decision to fine or otherwise discipline Favre, absent proof of harassment.
If Favre has settled up with Sterger, look for the league to meet with Favre and to announce at some point that the investigation has concluded. It’s possible that the league will state that no action will be taken. It’s also possible that the league will say nothing. If that’s what happens, the season will continue to unfold until the situation has even been forgotten or the media finds other things to ask about.