It was all just a funny, funny prank. That’s what attorneys for Kevin Hart’s high school football coach, Mark Hodges, would like the world to believe. Oh, and they’d also like $20K.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS got some great stuff from one of the attorneys as Hodges went on offense instead of defense.

Here is the best quote string:

Today, a lawyer representing Hodges and Hart said that what really had transpired was that the student had played a “prank” on his classmates, coaches and neighbors in the largely rural community 30 miles east of Reno.

“Kevin really did pull off, I guess, one of the greatest pranks ever on Fernley High and the school district and the community of Fernley,” said Ken McKenna, a Reno lawyer who filed the lawsuit in Lyon County District Court. “My take on it is there was such a desire in that community to believe it was true — that one of their young men could get this kind of attention — that everybody forgot to check it out,” he told The Associated Press. “The sad part now is that some adults don’t like being embarrassed and they want a scapegoat. They want to hang it on somebody rather than laughing it off and saying, ‘Got me,”‘ he said.

Um, I’m not sure that’s quite the approach to take. While there are definitely some elements of humor to this story, it is mostly a sad tale. The good folks of Fernley aren’t likely to laugh it off for quite some time.