Both Favre and the Packers are at fault in my book. When Brett Favre held his 'I'm retiring' press conference, I wasn't feeling very convinced that he was done. Not that I'm Nostradamus or anything, but I just got this feeling that he wasn't finished. I've seen farewell speeches from guys like Jim Kelly and John Elway, guys whose bodies just couldn't take it anymore, guys who couldn't play anymore, and this wasn't one of those. Last season Favre wasn't playing like a guy on his last legs, trying for one last hurrah before he was forced out of the game. The obvious decline has not set in yet for him; the unequivocal evidence that he is no longer physically capable of doing his thing out there. No, he can't run like he used to, but he can still throw it more than well enough. There hasn't been much dropoff there. I remember Dan Marino barely being able to drop back well enough to set up and throw or hand the ball off to a running back, and I remember Kelly's shell shocked play in his final season. Favre was doing none of that. And because he can still go, I had that feeling that he'd want to try and play again, if not immediately then maybe next year. Well, my feeling has been confirmed now that Brett has asked the Packers to release him.
Favre's move has some people bashing him, and others taking his side. He's tried to float the vibe that he'd been pressured by his team to quit so that the new guy, Aaron Rodgers, could get his shot after sitting for three seasons. Now maybe that's true, and if it is then the Packers are idiots. But he's not without blame either. A lot of older veteran players get that 'the heck with this, I'm outta here' feeling at the end of the season, especially one that ends on an extreme emotional note, be it a championship or a disappointing loss defeat of some kind. It's up to the athlete to wait for the feelings to subside before they make a decision about whether or not they want to come back. Favre apparently failed to do so. You combine a bad playoff loss with the presence of your replacement waiting in the wings and chomping at the bit for his chance, and it's easy to make the mistake of thinking that it's time for you to go. But if you have any inkling that you might actually want to keep going, then you don't retire. And if the Packers try to nudge you out the door when you still want to play, then you can ask for your release. But to do things like he is now makes him look like the spoiled child who doesn't want to share.
The Packers are at fault here, too. For one, they know better than anyone else what they're dealing with in terms of Favre, his ego, and his emotions. Why do you draft a guy in the first round to replace Favre when you're not sure how close he is to the end? If Favre was clearly on the way down then yes, you pick up a successor. If there's a prospect available that's just too good to pass up then yes you take him and start the process of moving on. But they got Rodgers with the 25th pick, which means he wasn't considered the next Peyton Manning. Why disrupt the apple cart for a guy who was no better a prospect than you could find in any draft class? You don't draft a quarterback in the first rouund so he can sit for three years; this is 2008, not 1978. The drafting of Rodgers more or less guaranteed that a force out of Favre was going to happen at some point. If that was their intention then they should have dealt Favre a year or two ago, and not held on to him.
Both sides blew it here, and when the divorce does happen, it isn't going to be pretty.
How dare you speak about the God like that
No Favre is wrong. Screw him
why couldn't i have been drafted by the vikings or something
screw Aaron rogers we want brett back
I am the starter
not anymore..