The Front Row with Tim Dahlberg October 11, 2010

Brett Favre always figured to be the center of attention on this, the fifth week of the NFL season. Even before the Vikings signed Randy Moss, there were story lines aplenty in his return to New York to play against a team he parted ways with on shaky terms.

It's a safe guess he didn't figure on this.

The headlines are still mostly about the game, because the game is about as good as it gets. A good portion of the country will tune in tonight wondering whether the only grandfather behind center in the NFL can pull out another miracle against time while facing a defense that can't wait to get its hands on him.

But they'll also be wondering about something else.

They'll be wondering if it's all true.

The voice mails that are downright creepy. The pictures that are downright obscene.

The scandal, if true, will never let you look at Favre in a Wranglers commercial the same way again.

Stop now if this is all sounding like something we've been through before. We are, after all, fast approaching the one year anniversary of the night Tiger Woods drove his Escalade into a fire hydrant and his secret world came crashing down around him.

That was shocking, almost beyond belief. This is just, well, disgusting.

Assuming, of course, that it's even true.

The website Deadspin certainly thinks it is, and the people who run it better hope so. They paid cash - and lots of it, apparently - for evidence that allegedly shows Favre had an infatuation with a woman who worked at Jets games that went far beyond the "Look at her, she's hot" thing that most athletes tend to engage in when an attractive woman passes by.

Favre was quarterbacking New York at the time and a voice that sounds suspiciously like his is heard on the voice mails that Deadspin obtained, inviting game hostess Jenn Sterger to visit him in his room. That alone would be inappropriate behavior for a married man, but it gets worse.

Much worse.

There are pictures. Lewd pictures allegedly of Favre, all allegedly sent by Favre to Sterger and posted in all their glory on the website.

If the voice mails and pictures weren't from Favre, he should take comfort in the fact the league has top flight investigators who should be able to quickly disprove their legitimacy.

If they were from Favre, he better start worrying about the ramifications of starring in the one drama he wants no role in.

Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg@ap.org.