It’s been made pretty clear over time now how Brother Steve and I both feel about the Favre situation. We will be booing (I actually just typed in boozing accidentally right there…that will probably happen too). But I am interested in knowing what you would do if you were in attendance. And why. I recognize that not everyone who reads this website feels the way we do, so I’m interested in getting a good discussion going here.
Have at.
Joshy – thanks for pointing this out. William Henderson apparently said on NFL Live he would be booing Favre. Henderson electing to boo is a big deal. He is one of the classiest guys in Packer history – on and off the field. He also played with Favre almost as long as any other player – sharing a backfield with him as the teams’ FB for 12 years. And, imterestingly, Henderson himself was let go before he wanted to stop playing by the TT/MM regime. And he’s still planning to boo.
Please take a minute to read this article Brother Steve and I wrote for National Review Online on the Favre matter. When Favre retired for the first time in 2008, Steve wrote a glowing tribute to Favre for the National Review. So, we’ve sent this piece to National Review as a sort of correction. The goal was to articulate a fuller account of what happened especially in light of the fact that lately, it seems many national broadcasters/writers have been simplifying the whole thing by saying the Packers just wanted to move on. So we go through the chronology while arguing that really, this is not what happened.
As always, let us know what you think.
I too thought Favre’s comment about this Vikings team being the best team he’s been on was something that might draw the ire of fans/ex-Packers. But then I remembered that he’s said the same thing several times in the last decade heading into seasons with the Packers. I believe one of those years the Pack went 4-12, so I’ve learned take these comments lightly. Anyway, of these Lori Nickel interviews, I think Mark Chmura comes closest to describing how I feel about the whole Favre situation. He says:
“I’m still green and gold all the way. I hate Minnesota; I can’t stand Minnesota. I don’t care if Brett is playing there. It didn’t bother me, him with the Jets. But Minnesota I know personally I could never do it. I would just retire.”
While I became frustrated with his role in the divorce last year and seeing him play elsewhere was difficult, it was Favre joining the Vikings that completed my turn against the guy.
Check out this photo and the nice write-up by onmilwaukee.com’s Drew Olsen.
Though I’m frustrated Ryan Longwell ended up picking the Vikings a few years ago (and frustrated more recently by his apparent role in recruiting Favre), if I recall, his situation was a bit more of the “business decision” some claim the Favre decision was. As I remember, the Pack simply wasn’t willing to pay Longwell what the market was willing to pay when he was an unrestricted free agent. So he took the highest offer.
(Actually, now that I think of it, there may in fact be at least one Favre/Longwell similarity: selfish motives. I remember reading a rumor a few years ago that Longwell actually wanted out of Green Bay because he wanted to kick indoors so that he could improve his stats. Now, I can’t remember if this was ever confirmed but…anyone else ever hear this or am I on my own here just roiling in my hatred for the Vikings?)
Quoting myself here – I just said this to myself out loud so I figured I could go ahead now and put it in quotes and post it. I wanted to write something profound and thoughtful about this whole situation today, but frankly, I’m tired of putting much thought into it anymore. So, I’ll simply leave you with the thoughts that seem to occur to me most often:
Read here for a great Rodney Harrison quote. It’s funny, even though last Sunday’s NBC Broadcast team was a bit awkward (Dungy especially – surprisingly too), I wondered if Rodney Harrison may end proving to be entertaining with his unique brand of…honesty. This comment is entertaining.
Here is a question: what role did Aaron Rodgers’ high football IQ play in the Brett Favre divorce process? At one point I believe in 2007, McCarthy said that the offense under Favre had only learned 1/4 of his total playbook. McCarthy didn’t say this as a crack on Favre – more as a matter of fact. Was Favre reluctant to learn the other 3/4 of the playbook? It’s well documented that Favre has a narrowed preference for all things West Coast and that learning new plays especially later in his career was not something he was much interested in. Did MM ever feel like the true potential of his offensive ideas could only be realized with a potentially more cerebral (or at least more willing-to-learn) QB like Rodgers? Again, I’m not saying Favre is dumb, I don’t think he is, and I know there were lots of other factors in the divorce – but I wonder if this was even a small part of the discussion.
This year, my guess is that we’ll see Rodgers run a huge variety of plays – leaving defenses often guessing and fans once again praising McCarthy’s creativity. While there were times last year when the playcalling was poor/predictable, that seemed to me to be toward the beginning of the year when I think MM was trying to make it easy for Rodgers. But starting with the last 4-5 games of last year through this preseason especially, it seems Rodgers has grown more comfortable calling a greater variety of plays. Perhaps he’s now tapped into the other 3/4 of MM’s ideas.
Your thoughts?
Read this quote from Favre’s press conference yesterday:
“When people start talking about my legacy – it’s mine,” said Favre. “It’s what I think of it. I know the way I play the game. I know the way I’ve handled myself as a teammate, a leader, in the public. If you’re a true Packer fan, you understand. You say, ‘You know what? He chose to continue playing, they chose to go in a different direction, it’s part of the business.’ I don’t have to prove anything to anybody because what I’ve done – it’s down in the books. . . . I’m in it for the right reasons, and if people can’t understand that, I’m sorry.”
So, are you a “true Packer fan”?
