Favre Is What He Is, But Packers Brass Equally To Blame For Feud!

Let me vent for a while. As much as we all can't stand any more Brett Favre unretirement talk, I cannot believe how few people acknowledge that the Packers GM Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy are equally to blame, as Favre, for the "feud" between Favre and the Packers.

Favre is what he is, one of the greatest ego maniacs of all time who needs to be loved and begged to play by the fans. Favre's mistake was not staying in Green Bay last season. If he had of agreed to stay, the Packers would never have kept him as a backup at his salary. The Packers would have released him at the end of training camp and he could have headed straight to the Vikings rather than getting their via a year in New York. What was the reason that kept Favre from staying in Green Bay until he was released? I believe it was, of course, his ego. Favre did not want his legendary consecutive starts streak to end. He knew if he was released at the end of training camp he would miss the first couple of games with a new team while he became familiar with that team. Brett, sometimes you have to lose the battle to win the war. Enough of what you know, I want to enlighten you about how Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy botched this. Actually pouring the gas and striking the match that started this roaring, gaining momentum, becoming out of control wildfire of a feud.

Ted Thompson, the GM, and Mike McCarthy, the head coach, did not want Favre after the 2007 season ended. They wanted to move on to Aaron Rodgers. Why? We can only speculate. I would guess it is a few reasons such as Favre's diva ways of wanting special off season and locker room treatment, Favre's age, and Aaron Rodgers upside. The problem for the Packers Brass was they could not justify not wanting Favre to the Packer faithful. Favre had a very good 2007 season for the Packers. He made the Pro Bowl and took the Packers to overtime of the NFC championship game, before throwing a bad interception that cost the Packers a trip to the Super Bowl to play the undefeated Patriots. Thompson and McCarthy should have came clean and admitted they did not want Favre any more. I read somewhere, the truth will set you free. Well, the failure of the Packers brass to have the testicular fortitude to be truthful has now been an issue and distraction for the Packers for more than one season and could become a bigger more directly impacting issue in the near future, if Favre signs with the Vikings. If Favre plays well and heaven forbid leads his team over the Packers and farther into the postseason, yeah, the issue will be red hot and never going away in Packer land.

These men run a multi million dollar organization. Step to the podium and just say it - "WE ARE MOVING ON WITHOUT BRETT FAVRE". But if they did that then they would have been putting their heads and jobs on the line, if Rodgers and the Packers failed and Favre succeeded elsewhere. So they cowardly, tried to force Favre to stay retired then they tried to pay him $20 million dollars to stay retired. They begged, and I mean begged, him to stay retired. They tried every option but having the guts to politely admit their opinions and gracefully cutting ties with Favre, who has more than earned the right as a Packer to be told the truth and be treated with grace.

Consider this, Favre is one of the greatest competitors of all time, not to mention one of the greatest egos of all time. Put yourself in his mindset. You had a great last season and now for no good reason, your team don't want you. HUH? YOU DON'T WANT ME? I HAD A GREAT SEASON LAST YEAR. MADE THE PRO BOWL. CAME WITHIN AN EYE LASH OF THE SUPER BOWL. EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE FOR THIS TEAM, AND YOU DON'T WANT ME? THE PACKER FANS WANT ME. MOST OF THE TEAM WANTS ME. BUT YOU, THE BIG SHOTS MAKING THE CALLS DON'T WANT ME? Oh yeah, you better believe that will stoke a fire the size of 20 infernos in a guy like Favre. At that moment, Favre wanted to prove to Thompson, McCarthy, himself and the world that they were wrong and wrong in a huge way. Favre knows he can still play at a high level. Look at his numbers for the last two seasons. He finished last season with a hurt shoulder, until the injury he played well for the Jets and had them in playoff contention until the last week of the season.

After failing to keep Favre retired, the Packers Brass decided to trade him but would not release him. They would not let Favre go play for any of their divisional opponents. Why? What were they so afraid of? They didn't want Favre anymore, so he must not be that good anymore, right? THEY KNEW FAVRE COULD STILL PLAY AT A HIGH LEVEL AND COULD POSSIBLY BEAT THEM WITH THE RIGHT TEAM, THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS! The Vikings were the perfect team for Favre and could possibly become the Packers perfect storm if Favre landed there. If you want proof that they feared Favre and knew he could still play well, just look at the stipulations of the trade with the Jets. The terms explicitly stated that if the Jets, or ANY team that the Jets traded Favre to, end up trading Favre to one of the Packers divisional opponents - bears, lions, or VIKINGS - that team would owe the Packers TWO, not one but TWO FIRST ROUND DRAFT CHOICES! The only way for Favre to get in the division would be if he was released.

Again Favre is what he is, but make sure you give the Packers Brass all of the blame they deserve for cowardly lighting a fire in Favre that has created a much larger than usual resentment for the team that he became a legend with. Any great player who knows and has proven he can still play at a high level would feel the way Favre does, REVENGE WILL BE MINE! Yeah, Joe Montana enjoyed it greatly when he beat the 49ers with the Chiefs. If the Packers had of gracefully admitted they didn't want Favre and released him or traded him to the Vikings, the issue of resentment would be all on Favre. Sure he may have came back to haunt them, but they would have been showing they believed in their assessment that the Packers were better with Aaron Rodgers and honestly no longer felt Favre could play at a high level. If Favre failed, the Packers Brass would have been confirmed correct and praised for their evaluation abilities. However, the truth is they wanted their cake and eat it too. They didn't want Favre, but they didn't want him to succeed and definitely didn't want to face him.

I pose this question to you. Would other GM's and head coaches have botched this situation as the Packers did? How did the 49ers handle the Joe Montana situation? What would Parcells or Belichick have done? I am not completely sure, but I am convinced it would not have been the weak, fearing of being canned for a bad decision, having no faith in their abilities path the Packers Brass took.