Regarding what this means for Jets: I'm with a lot of other people posting here on that: Chrisp22, NY Sack Exchange7, ace_o_spades, even jfelz91, mangold4President, etc. It seems like it's best for both parties, or at worst, has no effect. Regarding what this means for Favre: Before Brett Favre was a man first, a football player second, and a Packer/Jet third. Now he is a man first, a football player second, and ... there is no third. A football team is a profit-oriented corporation first, a group in search of glory (championships) second, and an employer who cares about the well being of it's talent third ... a very, very distant third. For a player a football team is a collection of people (teammates, coashes, and front office). But ironically, in that sense in some ways the Vikings are more connected to Favre as a football team than the Packers or Jets are. He knows most of the coaches from their days at Green Bay, and many of the players as well (Longwell, Sharper, etc). I mean, he even knows the Viking mascot, he's been sending him a Christmas card for years I read somewhere. Whereas with the Jets he knew no coaches or front office personnel, and only KGB as far as players, and even with the Packers the majority of the coaches and players in his final year there had been with the Packers for two or one years only (the Packers had massive coach, front office, and player turnover in 2005 and 2006, across the board). When he "retired" a year ago, there was an article in Green Bay which said, by that point, he actually new and was friends with the front office secretaries and the grounds staff (who'd been working there decades, like him) more than anyone else. This idea that a player "owes" a team is ludicrous. If I am Brett Favre, and I have before me potentially the best chance in over a decade to achieve what fulfills me as a man and football player -- winning it all (sorry if that offends anyone, but if your objective you have to admit that the odds of Favre+Vikings getting there this year are a lot lot LOT higher than Favre=Jets doing it last year, it never was a very good fit for either side) -- I do this too if I'm him, and I'm sure I still want it bad enough. It's a no-brainer. Ppeople should not get pissed at him for doing something that makes a lot of sense for him personally, viewed as purely a competitive athlete who savors being crowned champion again. I've always respected Favre the most because int he final analysis he mostly just cares about the game, and doing whatever it takes to give him and his team even the slightest chance of winning one (and yes, that includes that stat that he throws a LOT of his picks in the 4th quarter when his team is down). That he may be willing to suffer all the slings and arrows of abuse that he knows will be coming his way if he does decide to take this one last best, does nothing to diminish that opinion. The moment that Ted Thompson first refused to let him back on the filed, then went ahead and traded him without consulting him or even TELLING him beforehand -- that is the moment Brett Favre no longer owed the Green Bay Packers anything. If my employer told me they didn't want me anymore, I wouldn't feel guilty about going to work for their competitor either. The Jets ... I agree that is a murkier situation. They were Class A all the way with him, and they deserve his consideration. But the simple fact is, he never made the agreement with the Jets. The Green Bay Packers made the agreement, and he was allowed zero input on it (or, the little input he did have, he said he didn't want it, he wanted either Minny or Tampa). Love you too.
I agree, excellent post. He is gone, and it is over. Time to move on, much like the Packers have done. It is Brett who still has sour grapes, thus his desire to go to Minn.
LOL, I've been mocking the Viqueens on one of their boards for years. :smile: It's as reliable as the sun rising in the east -- except for last year (sort of) -- that their chokes provide opportunity for comic relief come each November-December. This Favre thing could complicate my fun, though. Ironically, if this does go down, what will probably actually happen is that I will have to STOP going to their board for the duration. But it will be Oh So Tempting to even just go there and make like a fly on the wall, to see their reactions. Let me put in terms any Jets fan would understand: Favre coming to the Vikings would be like Brady coming to the Jets. Times ten. The attitude is much more concentrated & fossilized though, because he's been crushing each years' Vikings division championship hopes for much, much longer than Brady has been doing that to the Jets ...
Agreed Let's lock up Favre discussions and throw out the key. I never want to hear about him or his pathetic season in New York ever again.
Favre is going to the Vikings for revenge, my homepage is saying. (already posted this in the NFL thread) Favre has no life down in Mississippi, so staying in the NFL looks good to him. They said this morning on Sporting News that Favre will still be trying to play in the NFL until he is 50....hehehe. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/sh...kers-Brett-Favre-wants-revenge?urn=nfl,161041
lol , no kidding. If he does end up there we can all laugh as he starts to throw pick after pck as his poor wilting arm start to drop off again. Didn't we use him as well though ?
Everyone uses everyone in this business. If Favre has any fault is that he was too naive to understand this, and when he was forced to realize this last year when the Packers took the out he gave them and went with a better long term direction, it was quite a shock to him. The final act the Packers may ever make in their "use" of him -- dealing him to the Jets, without even telling him beforehand they were negotiating it, or asking him what he thought -- left him visibly bewildered during that first Jets press conference in Cleveland (or was it Cincy?) 2009 and the vikings could be different though. Favre will have more time to get in shape and learn the system (which is less foreign to him) and the coaches and players (which are not foreign at all). And the Vikings probably won't be as stupid as Schotty and Mangini, making a 39 year old QB who did no off-season conditioning throw 35 times in a game, even against teams that can't stop the run. Favre's arm is a well that can still serve a team well, if they have the discipline and smarts not to suck it dry. And with AP in the backfield, they'll have absolutely no reason to want to -- unless the defenses they face decide to stack the box and give them the passing game.
Here's another Yahoo sports column. Source: Favre rebuffs Vikings, will stay retired By Rick Schwartz, Yahoo! Sports 1 hour, 19 minutes ago The Minnesota Vikings will not sign free-agent quarterback Brett Favre(notes), a source close to the team told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday. In a phone call that took place sometime in the last day, the source said Favre told Vikings coach Brad Childress that he wanted to remain retired. Favre is expected to publicly explain his decision soon. Favre, who announced his first retirement in March 2008 after spending 16 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, decided to resume his career last summer and was traded to the New York Jets in August. After one season in New York, Favre retired again and was subsequently released by the Jets on April 29. Just days after his release from the Jets, speculation began that the Vikings were interested in bringing in a veteran to compete with Sage Rosenfels(notes), who was acquired this offseason from the Houston Texans. Rosenfels is atop the depth chart heading into training camp, with Tarvaris Jackson and John David Booty(notes) also on the roster.
Honest to God the period between the NFL draft and training camp opening is now called 'Favre Season.' It is better than a soap opera.
Are we still talking about this? Who cares, he's gone! Let someone else deal with the circus, AND the deflated arm.
