Brett Favre and the Dangers of Celebrity Sexting

Oh Brett Favre. For those of you who haven’t heard or who have word sensitive narcolepsy when it comes to “football,” Bret Favre, the man, the myth, the legend, has been getting a lot of press lately for admittedly leaving some indecent phone messages (allegedly) texting x-rated photos of himself to former Jets employee, Jenn Sterger. If you’re interested in hearing the messages or seeing the photos (very nsfw / virgin eyes) you should do at your own discretion.
 
When I first heard this story, I actually though it was quite funny. I’ve listened to the messages and all and hey, we’ve all made really poor judgment calls when it’s late and we’ve been drinking (it at least sounds to me like he’s been drinking). However, now Favre is facing an NFL investigation into the matter and possible suspension for violating their personal conduct policy. To be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about this.
 
On the one hand, Favre’s repeated phone messages and especially the (alleged) texted photos could certainly be deemed as sexual harassment if the circumstances were right. We haven’t heard from Sterger yet so we have no idea what terms the two are on, if this type of thing fell within the range of their typical communications. Because of this, I’m leaving that one on the table as an, “I can totally understand why this is a punishable offense” line of reasoning.
 
On the other hand, doesn’t Favre have the right to do stupid things in his spare time and not get punished “at work” for it? I feel like stories of this nature have been done to death this year, especially after the 24-hour Tiger Woods watch we had to endure earlier this year, but in this case I’m inclined to feel a bit sorry for guy. Not only are these personal messages being slathered all over the news, he’s got Saturday Night Live and every 14-and-up year old talking about his proclivities and small.. erm.. man bits. If I were him, I would want to be under a rock for a very, very long time. Yes, he has pretty much everything else a person could want and/or wish for in life, but still, public mortification is tough! If I were the NFL, and Ms. Sterger took no particular offense to these antics, I’d let it slide simply based on the fact that for the rest of his life he’s going to get mocked for this (alleged) incident.
 
Personal inclinations toward mercy aside, I still didn’t completely understand why this investigation was even taking place, except to appease busy-bodies and the media. So I checked out the NFL’s Conduct Policy and it does state, “Illegal or irresponsible conduct does more than simply tarnish the offender. It puts innocent people at risk, sullies the reputation of others involved in the game, and undermines public respect and support for the NFL.” I guess I can’t argue with that – though my personal take away from that statement is that this wouldn’t have been a punishable offense if it hadn’t gone public.