Brett Favre is apparently going to get the proverbial slap on the wrist from the NFL in regards to the Jenn Sterger sexual harassment case, according to published reports.
Jay Glazer of FOX first tweeted that Favre will be fined but not suspended. That, of course, means that the 41-year-old Favre can play Sunday in what is likely to be the final game of his 20-year career. If the concussion he suffered a couple of weeks ago allows him to.
Pro Football Talk is reporting that the league will fine Favre $50,000, but not make a determination that he violated the league's personal-conduct policy. That seems like an odd decision, but it appears to be what will go down.
Reports indicate that the league will make its official announcement of the fine within 48 hours. Per PFT, the fine is reportedly for Favre's failure to cooperate with the NFL's investigation, not for anything he may have done to Sterger.
Here is more from PFT, which thinks that the punishment is far short of the crime here.
In a nutshell? The league thinks Brett Favre is a liar. But the league doesn’t think he sexually harassed former Jets in-house sideline reporter Jenn Sterger.
"Commissioner Goodell . . . 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 league’s official release states. "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."
PFT, in general, seems to believe that the NFL sees that Favre did a lot of things wrong here, but that they really don't want to punish Favre in any sort of substantial way.
To me, this sounds like PFT is right. More than anything, the league just wants this go away. And they want to do it without sullying the career of one of the greatest quarterbacks the league has ever seen. That is called preferential treatment and, right or wrong, that's how this is apparently going down.