Really? A Bribe?

Is this a joke?  Just when you think it cannot get any crazier, Greg Bedard reports, citing a story from WTMJ in Milwaukee, that Packers offered Brett Favre $20 million to stay retired.

I’m speechless.  I have come up with any number of completely ridiculous solutions to this fiasco, but it never once crossed my mind to pay Brett Favre money that he is not owed in order to convince him to stay on his farm.

Those who have not followed the many twists and turns of this entire drama cannot understand why Ted Thompson is refusing to bring Favre back.  As someone who originally wanted Thompson to do just that and has been pushed to the point where I now want Favre gone, I found myself increasingly sympathetic to the arguments the Packers were making.  Favre’s inability to tell the truth and his public, low-class trashing of Ted Thompson have made him a most unsympathetic figure in all of this.

But he still deserved better than a bribe.  As Bedard writes: “If WTMJ’s report is true, it could potentially cripple the Packers in court of public opinion as it could be interpreted as a bribe to Favre, a player that has said he wants to continue his career.”

There is little doubt that Favre’s camp leaked this and, as noted, they have been known to shade the truth at every opportunity.  So it’s probably wise to reserve judgment until the Packers provide their side of the story — something they’d better do damn quickly.

Here’s an idea: Don’t talk to Favre or Bus Cook again.  Seemingly every time they do — think of the Thompson-Favre conversations this weekend — the Packers end up disputing one or more of the claims Favre and his representatives make in the media.  And then trade him to the Vikings, end this compounding disaster, and beat him twice this year.