Brett Favre says NO to a comeback with the Vikings

[ace2000 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ace2000]

This is a perfect situation for Brett. Last year, the Vikings had the best running back in the league and one of the top defenses. They just couldn't throw the ball downfield. Obviously, Favre fixes that problem.

If Favre stays healthy, the Vikings have become the favorite to win the Super Bowl this year. It was a great move by the Vikings and Brett and it'll be interesting to watch.

[starlifter Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close starlifter]

fAARPve

fAARPve

[tennisWalt Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tennisWalt]

The Ego Has Landed.

From the Milwaukee Journal's Michael Hunt

Walt


'The Ego has landed' - JSOnline





Green Bay — Vince Lombardi himself could not have arisen to deliver a more perfect Tuesday morning. The sun was shining, but not too harshly, on Ray Nitschke Field. Seventy degrees, trifling humidity, a soft breeze and bodies flying around the practice pitch.

It was about the time - when all those ringer-silenced cell phones started making sideline noise - that you asked yourself, "What can possibly go weird on a day like this?"

Then came word from Minnesota:

The Ego has landed.

That's one small misstep for the Vikings, yet another giant leap into silliness for everyone else.

"We've all been down this road before," Charles Woodson said from inside the Green Bay locker room.

So many times, in fact, that the rolled-over odometer has finally revealed the truth:

The Vikings - they of the Onterrio Smith Whizzinator, the Lake Minnetonka Love Boat, the four failed Super Bowls and that pup tent of a stadium they play in - and Brett Farce, uh, Favre deserve each other. A match made in Mankato, don't you think?

If there isn't a Waffle House in the Twin Cities, our man Brett is missing out on Tiger-type endorsement money.

Let's see . . . Another private plane, another SUV to greet the royal party, but this time Vikings fans actually chased the thing like it was the Beatles at JFK all over again. Don't these people know what they're getting themselves into?

The head coach chauffeuring the truck was subservient enough, but how much more are the Vikings willing to kowtow to Favre before their logo is replaced with His Likeness atop Winter Park?

Yes, sir, Mr. Favre, you want to wait until we've moved out of those ratty college dorms so you may skip training camp? Of course, we'll accommodate. Anything for you.

If Favre could not be bigger than the Green Bay Packers, he has alit in the one spot on Roger Goodell's grid where it is possible to eclipse an entire franchise. Now that their relentless pursuit of a soon-to-be-40-year-old quarterback who doesn't want to be a full-time player anymore is complete, the Vikings are about four months from the fall-on-their-horn realization that Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson would've thrown half the interceptions for 1/6th the coin.

As evident from the tenor of Woodson's thought, the Packers put on their nonchalant faces between practices.

"To be honest, I don't really care who he plays for, the Minnesota Vikings or the Alaska Huskies," Nick Barnett said. "If he wants to play football, let him play football. I don't care if (Brad) Childress comes out there and plays quarterback."

And you're absolutely right, Nick, except that Favre's primary motivation clearly is not playing football, but sticking it to the Packers and thereby enraging the locals with his association with Provolone Enemy No. 1. And this is the NFC North, not the Iditarod.

Al Harris mentioned that he was happy that Favre would be able to continue to take care of his family, at least until someone reminded Harris about the size of Favre's house.

Of course, the Packers could shield themselves behind the absolute defense that they're getting ready for Buffalo, blah, blah, and Chicago, blah, blah. But come the first Monday night in October, when the big-top element will overwhelm anything to do with football, it will occur to these guys that they might get a free shot at a QB they couldn't touch all those years.

"The red jersey will be off," Aaron Kampman said.

So, yes, bring it on.

[tennisWalt Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tennisWalt]

Brett Favre, Benny Friedman and the Hall of Fame

Brett Favre, Benny Friedman and the Hall of Fame - The Fifth Down Blog - NYTimes.com

July 29, 2009, 6:00 am
Brett Favre, Benny Friedman and the Hall of Fame
By KC Joyner
The Football Scientist, KC Joyner, is a Fifth Down contributor. Lab results from “Scientific Football 2009,” to be published in August, are available for those who order the book now.

One of the rules of the selection process for the Pro Football Hall of Fame is that “a player and coach must have last played or coached at least five seasons before he can be considered [for nomination].”

This rule was put in place in part to help ensure that the Hall was able to keep its focus on honoring historical players. In the case of Brett Favre, this rule may be just what he needs to rehabilitate his image.

Favre’s current situation reminds me a bit of another Hall of Famer, the former Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers great Benny Friedman. Friedman was easily the most dominant passer of the 1920s (his 20 TD passes in 1929 were a record for 13 years). And, given his predilection for taking chances with the ball, he could be said to have been the N.F.L.’s first Brett Favre.

Friedman was one of the most egotistical personalities in the history of the league. He was a prima donna during his playing days and preferred hanging out with the rich and famous rather than with his teammates. That attitude lasted well beyond the end of his career, as evidenced by an article he wrote for Sport magazine in 1953 with the heading, “I Could Play Pro Football — And I’m 48.” He sent letters from his contemporaries to the Hall of Fame pitching his case for induction and also sent notes to The New York Times reminding the paper’s editors just how great of a player he was.

Where this ties into Favre is that Friedman’s me-first approach eventually turned a lot of people against him, and it was a main reason he was kept out of Canton until 2005, 23 years after his death. There were other possible contributing factors that precluded his induction (anti-Semitism, for one), but by and large his oversized ego was to blame.

Favre isn’t about to be kept out of the Hall for his actions in the last few seasons, but I can’t think of another Hall of Famer whose reputation took as big of a hit at the end of his career. The closest I can come is Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath extending their playing days by one season and one team too many, but no one really holds it against a player for wanting to stick around as long as he can.

The difference with Favre is that the negative press he has been getting isn’t related to the extension of his career. It is more because his actions not only clearly showed his me-first attitude, but also because that attitude has been on public display for a few years now.

He started it with the faux retirement in 2006, complete with an outpouring of fan love at what looked to be his last game at Lambeau.

He then came back and led the Packers to within a game of the Super Bowl, but wouldn’t return in large part because he wanted to “stick it” to Ted Thompson. Favre then went to the world’s largest media market and imploded during the stretch run of what looked to be a Super Bowl season, after which two high-profile teammates (Thomas Jones and Kerry Rhodes) criticized him in part for his approach to the game.

If those weren’t enough, Favre then considered coming back for one of the arch-enemies of the Packers, thus making it perfectly clear to the Green and Gold faithful that being a member in good standing of the Packers alumni association doesn’t exactly mean a lot to him.

The good news for Favre is that he does have that five-year waiting period between his retirement and his bronze bust. If that delay weren’t in place and his induction were due in 2010, the rocky end to his career would probably be a central talking point. If Favre uses this time wisely and lets his army of media supporters put together a half-decade’s worth of positive spin (and he forgets about trying to get Ted Thompson canned), it should equal a happy day in 2014 when we can stick to remembering the good parts of his career.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I guess I never did know how to spell kowtow.

Is that the right spelling?