Favre comeback rumors hurting his legacy

[AZ4NE1]

I like Whitlock's take on it..

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8351984?MSNHPHMA

Dear Ted Thompson:

 

Hi, my name is Jason Whitlock. I'm sure you've heard of me. My reputation in football circles is well established.

I'm the guy who told Bill Belichick to stick with Tom Brady over Drew Bledsoe years ago. When Bill Polian was debating Peyton Manning vs. Ryan Leaf, I was the voice on the phone at 2 a.m. the morning of the draft assuring Polian that Manning was the right choice. I told Parcells to take a long look at an undrafted quarterback from Eastern Illinois.

 

I know quarterbacks, how they think, what motivates them and whether they're any good.

 

You're in a jam in Green Bay with Brett Favre. You need me. You need my guidance, my expertise. If you're not careful, you're going to continue to mismanage this situation and go down in history as the dumbest general manager in the history of professional sports.

 

Yeah, the stakes are that high.

 

This thing with Favre is bigger than football. He's a modern-day Babe Ruth, an American sports icon capable of no wrong, a symbol of American might. You realize when Boston foolishly unloaded The Bambino, it caused the Red Sox to go 486 years without a World Series title?

 

Do you want to be responsible for the curse of The Mississippi Hickey?

 

That's what I call Brett, "The Mississippi Hickey." John Madden's lips have been on Brett's ass so long there's a permanent hickey on Brett's right cheek. Greta Van Susteren put one on Brett's left cheek earlier this week with her lust-filled interview.

 

The point is the media love Brett Favre. You can't win this pissing match. No one is really going to be on your side. They might pretend to be on your side in July and August. But by the time we get to December, when playoff seeds are being decided, their support will be totally dictated by the NFL standings.

 

It's just not worth the risk.

 

It doesn't matter that Brett is a little goofy, a whole lot selfish and thinks he knows more about running a football team than you. Get your ego out of this equation. At all times you're supposed to do what's best for your football team in 2008.

 

 

If Favre bolts, just call Ted Thompson the dumbest GM in the history of sports. (Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images)

 

You cannot possibly believe Aaron Rodgers gives the Packers a better chance at winning in 2008 than Brett Favre. If you do, you are the dumbest general manager in the history of professional sports. I don't believe you're that stupid.

 

Brett threw for 4,155 yards and 28 touchdowns last season. He completed a career-high 66.5 percent of his passes and averaged a career-high 7.8 yards per attempt. He led your team to the NFC Championship. He was as good as he's ever been in his career, and the continued maturation of Greg Jennings and the addition of rookie Jordy Nelson are only going to make The Mississippi Hickey even more effective.

 

You don't discard the Pro Bowl quarterback who came within three points of the Super Bowl just because he's a 38-year-old diva who doesn't want to play football in March.

 

Here's my solution. Call a press conference immediately — today, if not sooner. Announce that you're a huge Barack Obama supporter, you got swept up in the mania and wanted to do your part to show America how far we've come in terms of racial equality.

 

Say that you took a dump on Brett Favre to show Ray Lewis that NFL franchises will disrespect any and all of their employees regardless of color.

 

You remember when Rev. Ray Ray went on national TV and claimed that Brett Favre and Peyton Manning, two of the best quarterbacks in the history of the league, would never be treated as poorly as the Titans treated Steve McNair, a three-time Pro Bowler whose career is a shade below Rich Gannon's?

 

After a 4-12, 16-TD, 11-interception season, the Titans had the audacity to cut ties with and lock out their nine-year starting quarterback from the team's training facilities. Oh, the horror, indignity and racism of it all. A fired employee got escorted out of the building. That never happens.

 

 

Well, you can now argue you did Favre much worse. For a decade and a half, the man never missed a game — even when his father passed away.

 

I know, I know playing through pain, injury and grief for 16 years doesn't compensate for the fact that Favre acts like a spoiled baby when you refuse to acquire a quarterback's best friend, Randy Moss. And I know it's really tough on the franchise when Favre's aching, middle-aged body and mood swings tell him to retire in March and play in July.

 

Get over it. The great ones are always a pain in the ass.

 

Seriously, call a press conference today, take the high road by accepting blame for not being more patient with Favre and beg him to return for another season or as many as he wants.

 

You have him positioned perfectly now. All the pressure will be on Brett this season. He'll need to be disciplined and play at a very high level or he'll take all the heat for putting the Packers in an awful position during the offseason.

 

That's my advice. Take it or leave it. The last guy not to listen to me was former Kansas City Chiefs head coach John Mackovic when he passed on Dan Marino and took Todd Blackledge in the 1983 draft.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jason Whitlock

 

[AR Husker Fan]

Farve is saying he plans on reporting to the Packers' camp this weekend...

 

LINK

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

I think Favre should have slipped into retirement quietly. This IMO is ruining his reputation a little.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

This is going to get worse before it gets better. People aren't going to remember his career without this being a black eye at the end of it. That sucks too because I had a ton of respect for the guy and what he has accomplished.

[Micheal]

I think Favre should have slipped into retirement quietly. This IMO is ruining his reputation a little.

i agree, he should have just moved on, still be involved in football, just not playin

[AR Husker Fan]

This is going to get worse before it gets better. People aren't going to remember his career without this being a black eye at the end of it. That sucks too because I had a ton of respect for the guy and what he has accomplished.

You know, that's what everyone always seems to think when this kind of thing happens, but the reality is that it never seems to actually hurt in the long run. Think of Joe Namath or Unitis - both of whom kept their careers going way to long, and both of whom even went to "other" teams to do so. Or Emmit Smith. While it's painful to watch the greats hang on to long, as years pass what they are rembered for is what made them great.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Looks like Favre has been reinstated..............Favre reinstated.......

[I See Red People]

I can't see Brett putting on any other teams' jersey. I think the pack should welcome him back.

[SwiftFan87]

If I was Aaron Rodgers I'd be pissed. Going from "Aaron Rodgers is our clear cut starting quarterback" to having to fight for his job just because Farve is coming back.

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

This is going to get worse before it gets better. People aren't going to remember his career without this being a black eye at the end of it. That sucks too because I had a ton of respect for the guy and what he has accomplished.

You know, that's what everyone always seems to think when this kind of thing happens, but the reality is that it never seems to actually hurt in the long run. Think of Joe Namath or Unitis - both of whom kept their careers going way to long, and both of whom even went to "other" teams to do so. Or Emmit Smith. While it's painful to watch the greats hang on to long, as years pass what they are rembered for is what made them great.

 

I will agree to some extent. Even though some players continued their careers (probably for way to long) with other teams, their "mystique" was lost. It was weird to watch/hear Emmitt Smith with some other team other than the Cowboys. Or Jerry Rice with some other team other than the 49'ers. Or when Dieon Sanders came out of retirement, he sucked.

 

For me, guys like Elway and Barry Sanders etc get the utmost respect out of me. They played hard, they played for one team and when it was time to retire, they did so graciously and quietly. But that's just my IMO.

[KansasHusker]

If I was Aaron Rodgers I'd be pissed. Going from "Aaron Rodgers is our clear cut starting quarterback" to having to fight for his job just because Farve is coming back.

Yeah now they are saying the starting QB is an open competition. What a joke. Whats Favre gonna do, come back for a year and fall short again and then retire, then come back again? Wouldn't surprise me.

[AZ4NE1]

Crazy, what Danny Bonaduce has to say: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8410850?MSNHPHMA

 

Whatever happens with Brett Favre today, chances are it will only leave you more cynical.

 

The shame is that, in the not so distant past, Favre was the pure guy, the untouchable, the great teammate who played for the love of the game. Now he shows up in training camp having spent the last few days contemplating how much it would have cost the Packers to keep him retired.

 

Green Bay didn't meet his price. That doesn't mean he didn't have one, though.

 

And for most people, that's the real price of this maudlin play, starring Brett Favre as "Redneck Hamlet." He's gone from being an icon to just another superstar, another guy who, despite the most earnest proclamations, puts himself above the team.

 

You expected this from Manny Ramirez, who dogged his way out of Boston.

 

Or maybe Kobe Bryant, who demanded a trade after the Lakers didn't deal Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd.

 

But Favre? The Wrangler man, the virtuous every-man who headbutts his own linemen? The guy who made every football fan in America believe he'd play for free?

 

Turns out he's just another guy who held a franchise hostage. And of all people, Favre — who made his non-retirement announcement an annual ritual — should have known better.

 

This year was different, though. By saying goodbye in a tearful, nationally televised press conference, he gave even casual fans an emotional stake in his retirement.

 

Then he changed his mind. Maybe I'm no one to judge that. Certainly, it was fine with the Packers, who chartered a plane to Mississippi to work out the details of the un-retiring.

 

But then Favre told them not to bother. I changed my mind again, he said.

 

The Packers re-accepted his resignation with fresh regret. Aaron Rodgers, Favre's long-time understudy, would finally get his shot. Green Bay also used two draft picks on quarterbacks.

 

Then Favre started to get "the itch." He denied it, of course. Actually, in true superstar fashion, he had his people deny it. Meanwhile, he was telling the Packers, I changed my mind again.

 

Change your mind once, OK. Change it again, less OK. But to jerk people around as Favre has done — issuing public denials while allegedly negotiating with a divisional rival — is not. I don't like taking management's side, but he's humiliated a team that tried to do the right thing by him.

 

Then again, judging from the Packers' Sunday press release, they are a team ripe for humiliation. This is not an outfit schooled in the finer points of crisis management. First, the Packers couldn't trade Favre. Then they couldn't bribe him. Now, they can't figure out what to do. Telling him to show up in Green Bay — but only after the commissioner said he just couldn't keep Favre out any longer — does not amount to a plan.

 

It's a good move only if it helps to trade him. Once in camp, Favre forfeits his right to refuse a deal. But after reading team president Mark Murphy's tortured statement, you have your doubts. Basically, the release calls Favre a liar while saying he'll be welcome in camp. My favorite sentence: "Having crossed the Rubicon once when Brett decided to retire, it's very difficult to reorient our plans and cross it again in the opposite direction but we'll put this to our advantage."

 

Maybe Ari Fleischer had something to do with that gem. The former White House press secretary has been working with the Packers as a consultant. That's no reason to be cynical; he's entitled to make a score. After all, the pros from Washington never claim to be pure.

 

But the last time I recall Ari Fleischer, he was telling everyone about the weapons of mass destruction.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

WOW, that article was brutally honest! It's true though and you can't argue with that. How many people here think that Brett still may get traded to someone once he gets to camp?

[KansasHusker]

WOW, that article was brutally honest! It's true though and you can't argue with that. How many people here think that Brett still may get traded to someone once he gets to camp?

I sure do. I also think theres a chance that he may start for GB next season so go figure.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

WOW, that article was brutally honest! It's true though and you can't argue with that. How many people here think that Brett still may get traded to someone once he gets to camp?

I sure do. I also think theres a chance that he may start for GB next season so go figure.

Wouldn't it be a kick in Favre's face if they started Rodgers anyways and had him ride the pine?! I don't see it happening, but at this point I guess anything is possible.