So, I write for a site called Bleacher Report. At least, I do when I can get into my account. Currently, the site is telling me I'm not a writer and have to apply for an account. Um... my two previously published articles would belie this fact, but whatever.
Anyway, I wanted to post this somewhere so here you go:
NFL - Brett Favre: A Rung on the Ladder of Jenn Sterger's "Career"
I’m going to initiate this missive with the following disclaimer:
Never, in all my 51 years, did I think I would be starting out a discussion on sports with the sentence that begins the next paragraph.
Men—women don’t want unsolicited pictures of your genitalia sent to their phones. Really.
In fact, sending pictures of your "flea flicker" via text message is pretty much the 21st century equivalent of watching a pretty girl walk by and cat-calling, whistling, and making suggestive gestures with your hands. It’s gross, it’s rude, and it’s never called for. Oh, and excepting rare and unique circumstances, we don’t like it.
Yes, yes, I’m talking about Brett Favre. I mean, I know the guy is getting older; he’s not as quick as he once was, physically or mentally. Maybe he’s taken a few too many hits, or partied a little harder than he should have once or twice. But really, is the dude brain dead?
I believe Favre left the voice mails that everyone is talking about, and I believe the pictures involved are genuine. (They also make me want to cry, that a great quarterback is going to be remembered as the pervy old guy who sent pictures of his "special teams" to some sports groupie.) But I do not for one minute believe that Favre left those messages or sent those pictures without encouragement from Jenn Sterger, and I certainly don’t believe that she was an innocent victim of Favre’s misguided lust.
My guess is that, in person, she led him on, calculating how his continued interest could pay off for her and her fledgling career as a Famous Person.
We live in a world where fame and celebrity are mistaken for talent and accomplishment, where being a celebrity is an actual goal, and where loss of fame has driven people to drug abuse, armed robbery, suicide, even to appearing on reality television. In our culture, becoming a Famous Person just because you accidentally appeared on television is an actual career path. People become famous for being famous. Seriously, how else do you explain the notoriety of anyone whose last name is Kardashian?
Is it any wonder, then, that Jenn Sterger took advantage of Favre’s mid-life crisis and faltering ego to get her name and her face all over the media? To call attention to herself and grow the “fame” that began when she managed to get onscreen during a Florida State vs Miami game?
It’s interesting to me that she wears less clothing and exposes more cleavage than a Hooter’s waitress, yet wants us to believe that Favre’s attentions were unwanted and offensive to her. Funny how there was no mention of any of this until she had bit parts in not one, but two, soon-to-be released films.
As a woman, let me say that I don’t condone Favre’s behavior, nor think he is innocent. He’s an idiot. He’s a famous, presumably wealthy man, with a wife and family to think of. He claims to be a Christian. His pursuit of Sterger (and others) was moronic, to be nice about it. But he wasn’t alone in this. He’s an aging athlete who’s losing his ability and his star power and he was looking for something to bolster his self-image, which has to be suffering with his dismal performances on the field of late.
Favre’s antics the last year or so have clearly been meant to draw attention to his flagging career, as if media attention and fan adulation will make his game what it once was. They won't. Time and gravity catch up to all of us, and the idea that soon he will sleep late on Sundays, continue to skip training camp as he has the last two years, and be just another guy watching the Super Bowl from his living room sofa is clearly difficult for Favre to accept. Ms. Sterger is obviously just another straw he was grasping at to try to prove to himself that he’s still the Brett Favre. Sorry, he's just not.
For Sterger, Favre was just one more stepping stone in a “career” that should have ended no more than 15 minutes after it began in 2005. The texts, voice mails, and photos are nothing more than the NFL version of Monica Lewinski’s blue dress, the virtual DNA that will continue to make Sterger famous and elevate her status (and bank account) from sports bimbo to celebrity.
If she was really offended, upset, or disturbed, she’d have handled the whole thing a lot differently. If she meant to "protect" other women from Favre's unwanted and inappropriate attentions, she would not have waited two years to report things. If she was really concerned about Favre's activities and their repercussions (for her, for him, for his family, for other women, for the NFL) she wouldn't be "deciding" if she wants to talk to NFL authorities about the messages, or hiring lawyers and former FBI agents. Her behavior indicates she has something to hide in this situation, or something to gain from it. Or both.
I'm betting Sterger's interview with the NFL will happen, just not until she has another movie or television appearance upcoming, or gets a line of torn and too-small tank tops named for her.
Favre screwed up -- big. No doubt about it, he's clearly on his way to cashing out his NFL career.
Sterger is no better; she’s just trying to cash in.
