Brett Favre's Season

In case you aren't a football fan and don't know what's going on, Jenn Sterger, online columnist and sideline personality, accused Brett Favre, now on the Minnesota Vikings, of sexual harassment. She claims he sexted her, harassed her with explicit photos of himself. The NFL just fined Mr. Favre $50,000 because he didn't cooperate during the investigation.

It is still likely that Ms. Sterger will file suit, and others may follow.

The psychological spin here is that Mr. Favre had his worst season ever following the accusations. He threw 19 interceptions against 11 touchdowns finishing the season with a passer rating of 69.9, the lowest of his career. He also suffered numerous injuries.

Some are saying it's his age, but it could be that he's been a little down, too, never dreamed he would be outed for his overtures to women. When a person is depressed, and we're not saying he is, just hypothesizing here, preferring this to the aging theory, but when a person is depressed, putting out an optimal performance is hard. And if the performance is physical, as it is with athletes, coordination can be compromised. We therapists see people become "accident prone" while depressed and forever are saying, Take it easy. Don't try to do so much. Rest a little more.

At its worst, dissociation is a symptom of depression, and can be pretty scary. You don't control your body as well. You feel apart from it, even while inside your head.

So it's possible this happened to Brett Favre. The wrong kind of attention might have brought him down. Not the kind of way to end his career. We're hoping he rises up from this in any case, owns it if it's true, and no matter, comes out against sexting and models stellar social skill for the fans. It's not that hard, really.

Linda Freedman, PhD, LCSW, LMFT