Keith Mumphery, a once and perhaps future pro football receiver, stands vindicated, cleared of charges of sexual assault that nearly wrecked him. Now he needs someone to hand him back two years of his life.
When last seen on the football field in 2016 with the Houston Texans, Mumphery was building a career as a wide receiver. Then a few months later came the news that his former university, Michigan State, had reinvestigated an old accusation without informing him and then decided that he was guilty of relationship violence.
To the world, he appeared akin to a rapist and the roof of his life fell in.
Michigan State had resisted settlement despite the manifest weaknesses in its case, such as the failure to contact the accused. Mumphery and his lawyer, Andrew Miltenberg, traveled to Grand Rapids for a mediation session. By chance, his old football teammates had gathered at the same motel for a reunion. Mumphery wanted to cover his face.