NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will be pulling $50,000 out of Brett Favre’s final NFL game check after announcing that the League office could not determine whether sexual harassment took place as alleged by a former New York Jets employee in 2008. Jenn Sterger claimed that Favre sent her lewd messages and images of his penis via cell phone. From the league’s press release earlier today:


On the basis of the evidence currently available to him, Commissioner Goodell could not conclude that Favre violated league policies relating to workplace conduct. The forensic analysis could not establish that Favre sent the objectionable photographs to Sterger. The review found no evidence to contradict the statements of both Favre and Sterger that they never met in person, nor was there anything to suggest that Sterger engaged in any inappropriate conduct.

However, Commissioner Goodell also determined that Favre was not candid in several respects during the investigation, resulting in a longer review and additional negative public attention for Favre, Sterger, and the NFL. The commissioner notified Favre that he has been fined $50,000 for his failure to cooperate with the investigation in a forthcoming manner. Commissioner Goodell stated to Favre that if he had found a violation of the league’s workplace conduct policies, he would have imposed a substantially higher level of discipline.

With Sterger’s track record, it’s hard to give her the benefit of the doubt; regardless of whatever relationship she had with Favre, it looks like little more than garden-variety jilted-girlfriend besmirchment. Could those text messages have come out of a legitimate illegitimate affair between Favre and Sterger? We may never find out. All I know is that I’m amazed that a 40-year-old man found out how to send pics on a cell phone.