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Like a 10-year-old boy who can’t understand why someone is bullying him, I will open this column in a thoroughly immature and childish way.
Brett Favre sucks.
While maintaining professionalism should be high on my list of priorities, I am just following in the footsteps of my boyhood idol and letting juvenile emotion control the way I act.
As reported by ESPN’s Ed Werder Tuesday afternoon, Favre will be meeting with Minnesota Vikings’ head coach Brad Childress sometime this week to discuss a possible return to the NFL wearing an ugly purple color. Earlier this week, the New York Daily News reported Favre wanted to suit up for the Vikings because he is bitter toward Green Bay, specifically general manager Ted Thompson.
Well, if Favre can be motivated to make a life-changing decision based on a petty emotion, I can at least be justified in writing an angry column.
First, let us look at the facts.
Admittedly, Favre did have a really hard time in Green Bay. He won three MVPs and a Super Bowl with the organization, made tens of millions of dollars and became an infallible icon for most of Wisconsin and John Madden.
What a tough life.
He must have tasted freedom from all of that oppression when he went to New York. With the constant media and fan scrutiny, failure to make the playoffs and the general embarrassment No. 4 suffered as he fell apart physically at the end of last season, who wouldn’t want to experience that again?
Apparently though — if Ed Werder’s report is true — Favre is just hopping mad about the way things ended with the team that made him a legend, and he wants another shot to stick it to the Pack twice a year.
This begs the question: What did Thompson say to a grown man that could incense him so much?
Did Thompson insult Favre’s mother? Make fun of his Southern accent? Compare him to any Chicago Bears’ quarterback of the last 20 years? Seriously, I would pay ridiculous pay-per-view boxing prices to hear what Thompson said that was so offensive.
Or maybe, just maybe, the little kid Favre (usually used as a compliment to the man) couldn’t handle that the NFL is a business. You figure he would understand that by now seeing as this business paid him more money than he knows what to do with, but I can’t think of another rational explanation. Favre thought he was golden forever — and in many fans’ eyes he couldn’t do wrong no matter how many interceptions he threw. But Thompson made a decision he deemed was best for the organization he was in charge of, and once Favre announced Favre’s retirement, Thompson held Favre to Favre’s decision.
And to be clear, the “business” decision to go with Aaron Rodgers for the future was overwhelmingly the correct one. As much fun as the “will he, won’t he retire” dance was, the Packers desperately needed to go a different route (read more on this from my Feb. 18 column, “Favre leads packers to one final victory”).
Glossing over the fact he is a washed up quarterback who can’t have success without very good offensive personnel (have fun with him Vikings fans, he will break your heart like he did when he was a Packer), Favre has crossed a line in the minds of any rational Packer fan.
When he first kept us hanging all summer as he contemplated quitting for good, it was exasperating. When he decided to un-retire it was a little annoying. When he whined about Thompson, it was petty and embarrassing for his supporters.
Now, he is nothing short of Benedict Arnold.
There is nothing wrong with Favre wanting to play again. It may be irritating, but I accept that he likes to change his mind on his football career.
There is something very wrong, however, when he takes a perceived slight (emphasis on perceived), and uses it as motivation to get back at the Packers, and more importantly, the Packer fans who supported him through his record amount of interceptions and repeated playoff failures in the last 10 years (3-7 record over his last 10 postseason games).
Favre (and possibly his agent Bus Cook) are either very naive, very arrogant or completely apathetic to the absolute mess his reputation will become if he signs with the rivals to the north.
Favre used to be known for the candid, down-to-earth way he spoke about football.
Let’s hope the next time we hear him is at his Hall of Fame induction speech.
Michael is a junior majoring in journalism. Pissed at Favre? Are you still somehow inconceivably a supporter of Favre? Let Michael know at [email protected]
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I agree with everything you said. I also don’t recall another quarterback acting this childish. I no longer have any respect for him.
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Why are all Packer fans such babies? I would for once love to see a story of a Packer fan, and Brett Favre fan, who still supports Brett.
I am a life long Packer fan and was one of the biggest Favre supporters to walk the face of the Earth. What is everybody so mad about? That Brett realized he was not ready to step away from the game he loves? He wanted to come back to Green Bay - we chose to move on without him. That is great, we get to do that and it appears that it will work out with Aaron Rodgers. That said, once you make that choice you have to let Brett do whatever he wants. He wants to play football, but Packer fans cried “Oh my god what a drama queen!” Now he wants to play on a team, that with him will instantly become a Super Bowl Contender and he is ‘childish?’
I wish the entire state of Wisconsin would get over itself. Brett is not a drama queen, Brett is not being childish - we are. We love(d) him so much that we think he should not be able to act as all athletes do - sign with teams in pursuit of a championship.
Why can’t we just appreciate what the man did for us?
I still love you Brett.
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Hello Michael Bleach. Do you ever right happy thoughts. Apparently not. I hope that someday Tinkerbell teaches you to at least THINK happy thoughts. Just for once, I would like to read an article that is not bashing someone in someway.
“Well, if Favre can be motivated to make a life-changing decision based on a petty emotion, I can at least be justified in writing an angry column.”
If you write one more angry column, Brett Favre would be justified in throwing a football at the Dali Lama’s testicles and then driving his tractor through the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Here are some happy thoughts for you. Be happy that the Packers have Rogers to back you up because if you didn’t you would be missing Favre a lot more than you do. I fully support Aaron, but I also fully support Favre in what ever decision he makes regarding football. If he is playing just to “stick it” to Ted Thompson, then its too bad for both sides, but if he is playing because he still loves to play then cheer him on as he slowly, if perhaps to slowly, finishes his career. Either way, enjoy watching one of the best football players ever while you still can.
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The thing people seem to be forgetting is that Brett Favre is no longer an elite quarterback. This move makes little sense for the Vikings if they feel they are a good QB away from making a super bowl run. They would have been infinitely better served trading for Matt Cassell or Jay Cutler, or even trading up in the draft for Mark Sanchez.
Quite frankly, if they really wanted to take on a high risk/reward QB, why not take a flyer on Mike Vick? He would be lot cheaper, has a lot higher of a ceiling than a Favre thats pushing 40, and if it works out he could be productive for much longer than Favre who is almost certainly a one and done QB.
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Benedict Arnold could not have hit Jennings on a fade route to save his traitorous life therefor I disgree with the title of your thesis.
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Frankly, I am appalled by the defamation of Favre’s character and the lopsided portrayal of Favre’s bitterness towards Green Bay in this article.
Favre did manage to achieve great success at Green Bay, that much is true. He won more games than other quarterback, he won awards, a championship, and for 16 years never did so much as miss a game for Packers. He was a beloved player and character for all Wisconsin (and much of the country) and for that he deserved a better departure from the team that owed him so much. It wasn’t that Thompson insulted Favre with words, it was that he insulted Favre with his actions. Favre is a football player and that we can respect his desire to continue playing the game no matter his age. When that desire arrived in him last offseason Thompson and the Packers responded by refusing to trade him and refusing to let him play on their roster, in effect, refusing to allow the man play the game he loves, even offering a salary to stay retired. If the The Packers owed anything to Favre it was to release him into free agency peacefully after such a prolific career. Thompson had no business treating him in such a way. Make no mistake, the Packers are Favre’s team, not Thompson’s.
In regards to signing with the Vikings; all perceived personal vendettas aside, the Vikings do indeed make sense for him (as hard as that might be to swallow as I feeling nothing but hatred towards the Vikings). Favre’s season last year did not end the way he wanted it to. He wants another ring and the Vikings have been primed for a Super Bowl run the last two years, their only missing puzzle piece being a quarterback. Favre already has a rapport with Brad Childress and the Vikings indoor stadium provides shelter for a veteran who struggled in the cold months of New York. The NFL is indeed a business, but why is it a business for everyone but Favre? He wants a championship and the Vikings seem to be the only team interested.
With all of that said, as a man, who, like the rest of Wisconsin’s youth, grew up watching Favre play, I care about him, and I do wish he would stay retired. I hate to see his reputation and credibility ruined as a result of his desire to play football but I also hate to see his character unfairly attacked.
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I completely agree with this article.
@ 1:36am : I think Jay Cutler and Brett Favre should hang out, they both seem to be having/have had recent temper tantrums…
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I am from Green Bay. I have lived there my entire life (with the exception of Madison during the last 2 school school years). I am a dedicated lifelong Packer fan.
What people seem to forget is that Favre did his stupid “at this point I am undecided” crap for multiple seasons. The Packers knew it was only a matter of time, and while they wanted him to stay, it gets hard to watch a legend flounder in the playoffs year after year and then string on an entire organization for months. Thompson and McCarthy had to look out for the future too, so they couldn’t sit on the hopes he would come back. Too many people think of the 96 season when we won the Super Bowl, and not on his slow decline and the problems he put on the team in the off season for drafting, trading, and summer training by not deciding if he was coming back. I love him for all he has done for my city and team, but at a certain point he needed to come back down to earth and realize he is not God.
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Vince Lombardi: Retired after SB II, came out of retirement to coach one more season after a year off and coached the Redskins.
Forest Gregg: Retired and unretired from the Packers 3 times before coming back one more time for the Cowboys and retiring for a 4th time.
Reggie White: Retired after the Super Bowl, unretired and played one more year for the Packers in 98, took one more retirment and after a year off, asked to be reinstated with his outright release (which was granted) and then he came back for one year with the Panthers before retiring for a 3rd and final time.
And those are just a few. I believe, or have at least heard, Don Hutson “waffled” back and forth with retirement 3 or 4 times and was talked out of it be the Packers, even one time came in after a season had begun. Maybe, maybe not. Sounds interesting though.
So it has been ok for some, why does Favre have to be the dark horse because he still wants to play football???? After all, it is a game.
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Sure, whatever, but the Vikings???