Mark Madden: Jenn Sterger deserves a chance with NFL Network

Jenn (Sterger) Decker is back in the news.

That’s a shame because it means the problem isn’t solved.

Sterger had indecent proposals and photos texted to her by Brett Favre in 2008 when both were employed by the New York Jets: Favre as a quarterback, Sterger as their game day host. Sterger declined Favre’s advances. She has never met Favre.

Sterger was betrayed by Deadspin. She recounted her story off the record, but Deadspin posted it anyway. Sterger was treated horribly by the NFL when the league investigated: “I’m having to answer questions that are so accusatory.” She was victim-shamed on a widespread basis.

Favre was cleared, save being fined $50,000 for failing to cooperate with the investigation. He still does commercials and is considered an iconic figure in football to this day.

Sterger got canceled.

Sterger, 37, is a legit talent, but her career collapsed in the aftermath. She got blamed for tarnishing the legacy of the great Brett Favre.

It’s time to make that right.

As Sterger recently tweeted, “I think sometimes we are so focused on ‘cancelling’ people that we forget about making victims whole again. That’s where we are really failing as a society.”

Amen. Sterger needs to be made whole.

The NFL Network must hire Sterger.

The league ruined her career. The league should fix it.

Sterger is more qualified than most that appear or have appeared on the NFL Network. Ex-Steeler Ike Taylor got fired by the NFL Network in 2018 after accusations of sexual harassment, as did Heath Evans and Marshall Faulk. That network needs to make a lot of things right.

Sterger would be brilliant. She’s been good at every media job she’s done.

Her continued unemployment is one of the biggest injustices in the history of sports media.

ESPN’s Sarah Spain recently talked and wrote about Sterger’s hardship, relaunching the discussion.

It’s odd that Spain is Sterger’s white knight because Spain took Favre’s side when the story broke in 2010.

Here’s a quote from Sterger’s Twitter directly addressed to Spain. “You attacked me at the peak of the Favre reporting saying I was out for $$ & I ‘looked the way I did.’ Trust me that stuff I don’t forget.”

But Sterger did forget, or at least forgave, because she appeared on Spain’s podcast, which formed the basis of Spain’s story at ESPN.com.

Why did Spain come around now? In 2010, she took the position that a sexist man might. But now she rides to the rescue. Spain did a total 180.

Did Spain do that out of compassion for Sterger, to tidy up her own reputation, to make herself part of the story, or all of the above? Does Spain truly regret what she previously said about Sterger, or is this convenience? The situation was never very hard to decipher. (Spain’s piece talked about her own experience being sexually harassed, which is horrible yet terribly commonplace in sports media.)

But what’s important is Sterger be made whole.

If the NFL Network won’t, one of the league’s broadcast partners should. It’s the right thing to do.