The Brett Favre Conundrum

Brett Favre this.
Brett Favre that.
Wait, whats the big deal with this guy anyways? Oh right.... he is a leading NFL MVP candidate at age 41. Whats all this hoopla about?

Unfortunately, most of this hoopla is NOT about his stats on the field, but the events that transpired off of it during the off-season. 2 years ago, Brett Favre was leading Cheesehead nation to a 13-3 regular season record and a playoff berth. They fell in the NFC championship game to the NFC wildcard New York Giants.... yes, those New York Giants who beat the Packers at Lambeau Field....and then went on to play, yes, those New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Back to the story though. After the season, Brett begins thinking about retirement, and if he should finally retire or if he should continue to play. Packers management approaches him in March (remember that the Super Bowl just ended), and gives him a deadline to decide his retirement.

A deadline?

To decide when YOU want to retire? I thought that was the players choice to decide when to retire, not the front office's. In any press release you have ever read, has it ever said, "Team chooses to retire player" or more specifically in this case "Packers decide to retire Brett Favre".

I can understand the Packers' wanting to know if he was coming back or not. Favre was 39 at the time, but had just led the Packers' to their best season since losing in the Super Bowl to John Elway and the Broncos in 1997. Favre's backup, Aaron Rodgers, was waiting in the wings. But Favre is a first ballot Hall of Famer, still has plenty left in the tank (his rocket arm still works pretty well), and had just led your team to a 13-3 record. But give Favre a break, he should be able to determine when he will retire.

So he ends up giving that emotional press conference where he retires. But 3 months later, he comes back. And the Packers' still own his rights. And he wants to play. Now if you are the head coach, who do you want to play? Rodgers is very unproven. Favre is legendary. When the 4th quarter comes, I will take the old gunslinger any day of the week.

So now that Favre is back, he wants to play, he doesn't want to be a backup. So management is now in a tough spot. Do they play Favre as a backup, even though he led them to the NFC championship the season before? They decide to have Rodgers take over....which means they needed to trade Brett Favre. So they did. They traded him to an AFC team. They did not want Favre to go to the Minnesota Vikings, an up and coming division rival, who featured superstar runningback Adrian Peterson and a stifling defense.

For one year, Favre ends up playing for the New York Jets, leading them to a startling 7-1 record before losing 6 of their last 7 and missing the playoffs. Those last six games, Favre played with a torn ligament in his throwing arm. The blame for that shouldn't all fall on Brett Favre. His team could have stepped up. Following the season, Favre retires....again.

Now for the fun part. The Jets release Brett Favre. And then Brett Favre is approached by, guess who, the Minnesota Vikings. At first, he decides to forego playing with them, but at last he arrives. He signs a two-year deal with the team. And the Packers are furious, not to mention their fans as well.

Too bad Packers, you had it coming.

You let him go, he was free to do whatever he wanted. Brett wanted to stay. He wanted to play and go for another Super Bowl. But he couldn't, because you were going to play his backup as the starter.

So what did you expect?

Of course Brett Favre was going to sign with a contender when his contract was up (New York knew that, even though they looked like contender the first 8 weeks). Why wouldn't he? He wanted to play with a team that he could possibly win a Super Bowl with. Wouldn't you if you knew that you were a dinosaur in football age?

The Packers could only delay the inevitable by one year.

So to all detractors of Brett Favre and those who hated his decision to play for the Vikings, you need not be angry at #4. Look to Ted Thompson, your GM. He was the one who started the process, and he was the one who traded #4. The Packers weren't going to have Brett Favre anymore, they wanted to move in another direction. The Brett Favre era was over in Green Bay. If the man was going to play, he obviously was going to need to play for another team, because his old team wasn't going to have him.

So to Green Bay fans who now hate Brett Favre for going to the "Dark Side", that's what your team gets when it lets go of its best player of all-time. He doesn't play for your team anymore, your management traded him. Be upset with your management. When Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the LA Kings, Edmonton fans were (and still are) upset with Peter Pocklington, the Oilers former owner and GM. Why aren't you upset with Ted Thompson, your GM who MADE the trade?

Is part of it the fact the Brett Favre has more than enough left and continues to lead his new team to success? Is it that Packer nation is mad that he is still better than their new quarterback, Aaron Rodgers? Or was Packer nation really cheated? Who cheated them? Was it Brett Favre or Ted Thompson?

Brett Favre wants one more Super Bowl. He went to the team that was one quarterback away from becoming a serious contender to win the Super Bowl. They are now 11-2 this season and firmly in control of gaining a first round bye. He hammered on his old team, the Packers, with near perfect efficiency in the two games the Vikings played against them. The old gunslinger has still got it.

Has he got enough to get by his detractors and lead the Vikings to the Super Bowl?

Only time will tell.