An absolute legend - his list of accomplishments is amazing and he always seemed like a good guy too.
I will ensure TFK’s best wishes are passed onto him.
Cant believe he is retiring tho. He had a great season, but a zidane like finish to it as his last ever action on a field was throwing an interception which sent the Giants to the Superbowl. Thought he’d continue on as he looked like Favre of old and as if he’d easily do another year. He’s a gas man too, take a look at this clip of soundbites on the field.
Dead cert Hall of Famer and he is the holder of multiple NFL records. Amazing career
Brilliant QB. Well done Brett, thanks for the memories
Reports are coming out of the US that Brett Favre now wants to play next season. Green Bay had already committed to promoting Aaron Rogers to starter and are said to have been less than enthusiastic to his request. Under NFL rules, he would return to Green Bay and then it’d be up to them to either use him, trade him or release him. Interesting stuff.
Heard about that in New York last week. They interviewed that Green Bay safety (?) whose name escapes me (aggressive dreadlocked guy) on ESPN and he was saying he was talking to Favre and he definitely wanted to come back and the organization should be delighted with the news.
Also bought Sports Illustrated which had a huge feature on Aaron Rogers where he explained how he’d deal with emerging from Brett’s shadow and this was his great chance and he was loving it. But apparently he was shit in training camp so far.
This is still running on as a soap opera.
Favre wants to come back so Green Bay need to sign him as a $12m player or else release him. They don’t want to release him because they’re afraid he’ll join a (divisional) rival but they have planned without him so can’t undo all that. And they can’t afford to keep him as a backup because he costs too much. So they’re trying to trade him but can’t find any takers that aren’t rivals who would still interest Favre and have a spare $12m in their cap.
That’s my understanding of it anyway. Don’t really understand the $12m bit though - why do they need to pay him $12m just because he came out of retirement? Is it because his last contract gets reinstated? And why do other teams have to pay him $12m? Is it because he is greedy or are they just the rules for coming back in.
What
Good piece on this story here in the Guaradian from Paolo. This is quite the story. Isnt it amazing how athletes always try get that extra season out of their careers? Cant blame him I guess, a ferocious competitor.
Favre’s retirement U-turn leaves Packers in a quandry
Brett Favre’s latest announcement has left Green Bay’s fans contemplating the unthinkable: their hero in rivals’ colours
Paolo Bandini
July 16, 2008 3:16 PM
Brett Favre in a Minnesota Vikings uniform. As unthinkable as it might sound, that was the sight that confronted visitors to Sports Illustrated’s website yesterday morning - a photo of Mr Green Bay himself wearing a purple jersey, shouting out orders beside a trail for Dan Patrick’s radio show.
The image was a mock-up, of course, but at this rate it might soon be replaced by a real one. On Monday, after months of speculation, Favre confirmed in an interview with Fox News that he intends to play again this season, reversing the decision he made to retire in March. He also stated that he no longer feels welcome in Green Bay, after the Packers committed to making Aaron Rodgers, Favre’s back-up for the past three seasons, their starter for the upcoming season. As a consequence, Favre said he was asking to be released by the Packers.
Favre and the Packers have differing accounts of how they reached this point. The player claims he was put under pressure to retire and has cited a June 20 conversation in which he says head coach Mike McCarthy told him he would not be the starter if he returned to Green Bay, but that the team could not “envision” him playing for another team, either. McCarthy, on the other hand, insisted over the weekend that “we always wanted Brett back”.
Whatever the truth, the Packers now find themselves in a lose-lose situation. Allowing Favre to return and start would compromise the future of the franchise - Rodgers was a first round pick in 2005 and had been assured by team management, who have invested a great deal of money and coaching time in him already, that he would start next year. Going back on that now would almost certainly cause him to walk away from the team when his contract expires at the end of the 2009 season, even if he were to start that year and excel.
On the other hand, they can hardly make Favre back Rodgers up. Even leaving aside the fact he will absorb $12m of salary cap room, Favre is a Green Bay legend. Through sprains, concussions and fractures he has started the last 254 regular season games for the Packers - 275 if you include the post-season - and even led them to victory over the Oakland Raiders in 2003 on the day after his father died of a sudden heart attack. His likeness adorns billboards, shop fronts and even school offices. Wearing a Brett Favre jersey in Wisconsin is less a show of support than a way of life, as the kid who hasn’t taken his off for four years can attest.
Reporters were surprised, however, when only 200 fans turned out for a rally in support of Favre at Lambeau Field on Monday, while others have been quick to pick up on one unscientific survey that showed fewer than half of fans wanted Favre to return (less widely noted is the fact that even fewer respondents said they wanted him to stay retired). But it is one thing to assess fan interest in July and another to see how they feel come September. As well as being the NFL’s all-time leader in pretty much every worthwhile passing category, including completions (5,377), yards (61,655) and touchdowns (442), Favre led the Packers to a 13-3 record and the NFC Championship game last year. Rodgers has so far thrown 59 pro passes. He will struggle at times next year, and the crowd will not be patient.
But allowing him to leave could be even worse. Packers general manager Ted Thompson has spoken of not wanting to “tarnish [Favre’s] legacy” but the truth is he, like the rest of the team’s front office, realises the implications of allowing him to move on. Last season was Favre’s best, statistically, since 1996, and though great signal callers have rarely found success by moving on in their later years, he is more than capable of leading an otherwise strong team to the Super Bowl. Were Favre to succeed elsewhere - especially for a division rival such as the Vikings, who many feel are just a quarterback away from a championship run - Thompson and his colleagues would forever be known as the men who let him leave. Their future employment prospects in professional football would be close to nil.
For now the Packers are sitting tight, refusing to release Favre and waiting on his next move. He has threatened to call their bluff by turning up for training camp and this saga is fast developing on a scale that would even make Cristiano Ronaldo feel embarrassed. The interview already received top billing on Fox when it was broadcast - ahead of an interview with Republican presidential nominee John McCain - and with the Packers’ training camp still 12 days away, this one is likely to run a little while longer.
None of which is fair on Rodgers, who has waited more than patiently for this opportunity and last year completed 20 of 28 passes for a quarterback rating of 106.0. If he can’t win early and often next season, his career in Green Bay will likely be over before it has begun, as evinced by the tale of Cliff Stoudt - who replaced Terry Bradshaw in Pittsburgh in 1983 after six years as his understudy. Stoudt was heckled so ferociously throughout a season in which he threw 21 picks that he wound up quitting the league altogether at the end of the year, signing instead for the USFL’s Birmingham Stallions. Even then, the fans weren’t done. When the Stallions visited the Pittsburgh Maulers the next season, a capacity crowd (the Maulers’ only sell-out in their one-year history) resumed the assault, showing up in “Boo Stoudt!” paraphernalia and even hurling beer cans at him from the stands.
On the other hand maybe he will succeed, just as Steve Young did when Joe Montana was pushed out of San Francisco in the direction of Kansas City. Then again, Young had already been granted a two-year head-start by the injuries that forced Montana to miss the best part of the 1991 and 1992 seasons. Unfortunately for Rodgers and Thompson, history suggests Favre is unlikely to offer them such an easy way out.
The Guardian
Good read that MBB thanks.
Am I right in saying his old Offensive Co-ordinator is in charge at the Vikings so learning a new playbook wouldn’t be too difficult?
Seems like he may have got himself into trouble by ringing the Vikings from his Packers issued mobile phone:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Brett-Favre-might-want-to-invest-in-his-own-cell?urn=nfl,95401
[quote=“therock67”]Good read that MBB thanks.
Am I right in saying his old Offensive Co-ordinator is in charge at the Vikings so learning a new playbook wouldn’t be too difficult?
[/quote]
No idea to be honest, but Favre would pick up any play book. I’m not sure he should risk the reputation though, he has a lot to lose on this.
Seems like he may have got himself into trouble by ringing the Vikings from his Packers issued mobile phone:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Brett-Favre-might-want-to-invest-in-his-own-cell?urn=nfl,95401
Oh my, thats IOTM reckoning right there.
So Favre has been reinstated to the NFL roster and is a Packers player for the moment.
Means Packers have to pay him $12m or trade him or release him. They’re unlikely to pay him $12m and keep him as a backup (he won’t want that, nor will the fans) so they either decide he’s better than Rodgers and reinstate Favre (a real mess for Rodgers) or they have to let him move somewhere else.
whole thing really is a mess, and the one person who is getting rode is Rodgers. He was guaranteed a starting sopt this year, and I think his contract is up this year. So if he doestn get his spot, he’ll leave for nothing, as I dont think he’d show any loyality (why should he!) to the Packers who fecked him around. Its hard to know what is really going on tho.
- Is Favre being greedy and wants a bit more money and fame?
- Did the Packers sell him out and make him retire?
- What did they promise to Rodgers, and how could they make a guarantee of starting?
- Is it possible to see Favre wear anything other than the number 4 on Lambeu Field?
Not sure whether Favre is being greedy or not - he may be a bit selfish but his retirement was a bit rushed and I think the Packers made too much of ending his era and promising so much to Rodgers that they may not be able to deliver on now.
The other issue the Packers now have is that they may not have room in their salary cap for Faver which means they might need to cut someone. Pretty harsh on them if all their budgeting and planning was done on the basis of Favre not being around.
Definitely harshest of all on Rodgers though. At least he’s getting support from the Packers for the moment but how long will that last? And even if Favre is traded, whatever pressure Rodgers was under as Favre’s replacement, that will be multiplied tenfold with Favre still knocking about the league.
All in all it’s a mess. But an intriguing one.
one thing about it all, its keeping most media out of the Patriots way which I didnt think would happen after the superbowl. I expected a flurry of media once the season was about to start about how they blew the perfect season and how could they rebound. But all the signs are that the players are more determined than ever, and already spouting the usual belicheck cliches and one liners about one game at a time and past games are forgotten. As ruthless as they were for the majority of last year, they failed on the one big test they had, and I hope (and expect) them to redeem that. They have lost feck all on offense other than Stallworth who wasnt really pivotal, and while they lost a couple on defense, they also gained good draft picks and free agents which is enough for them. They were still only one fluke catch away from winning the superbowl.
WRT Favre, i think the salary cap is the main issue. The marquee player retiring would have freed up a lot of room which I’m sure they used on draft picks and free agents. For Favre to come back, either he or other players would really have to work their contracts to fit the cap.
Originally, I was very surprised Favre retired, moreso for the fact that I didnt think he wanted his last piece of action to be him throwing a pick in OT in Lambeu for the Giants to get to the superbowl.
I think the fact that the Giants went on to win may have been a factor in Favre’s decision. If the Patriots had won then they’d be looked on as a potential dynasty and so Green Bay’s time had probably gone. But then he sees Manning and the Giants putting together a decent but not awesome Superbowl performance and they win and all of a sudden he thinks Green Bay can be competitive again. That plus the fact he obviously still wants to play.
more shite today about all this with packers putting Favre on injured list. Cant remember the exact wording of it, but its bascially an injured list where the injury occured away from the football team. but effectively at this time of the year, it just means players are unfit and couldnt complete training camp. they dont know if favre even attended training or did anything to show his fitness.
And I only just remembered this morning too that favre is on this years cover of Madden football. The curse continues!
Favre has been traded to the Jets. Suprising move. Pacman Jones might be reinstated and playing with the Cowboys.
Saw that thrown out there as a theory but surprised it actually happened. Best thing Green Bay could have done really - no point in hanging onto him.
Who was the Jets QB last season? I recall he was rank and couldn’t get the offence moving at all but can’t remember his name.
Pedsomething or other is it not? Longish sort of name. Maybe he’s not there still though is he? Christ I’m helpful.