Jason Wilde Packers 31, Vikings 3: The last goodbye?

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[FONT=&quot]MINNEAPOLIS – If this is it – and Brett Favre left the door slightly ajar to that possibility with his promise to “re-evaluate” his situation – then it was understandable that some folks at Mall of America Field at the Metrodome Sunday afternoon took pity upon the 41-year-old Minnesota Vikings quarterback.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]None of that sympathy, however, was coming from the Green Bay Packers’ locker room in the wake of their 31-3 whupping of their former teammate and his team, effectively ending the Vikings’ season with six weeks remaining.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“None. Not at all,” said Packers veteran cornerback Charles Woodson, who played the 2006 and ’07 seasons with Favre. “This is football, and we’re all after one goal – to win games and ultimately win a championship. What somebody else, another team is going through, means nothing to us. We’re full steam ahead.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Wide receiver Donald Driver, Favre’s teammate and friend from 1999 through 2007, agreed. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Nah, not at all,” Driver said. “I love him, love him to death, but when you play this game, there’s no friends until it’s all over. I think he would have agreed if he would have beaten us. I’m happy that we beat him. Now I can say that I’ve won with him, lost with him and I’ve beat him. I can put that on top of my shelf.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Just 10 months after coming within a hair of a third Super Bowl trip, Favre now finds himself playing out the string – if he decides to keep playing. The quarterback who spent offseason after offseason waffling on whether or not he wanted to play another year now must decide if he wants to play another six weeks for a going-nowhere 3-7 team that barely remains mathematically alive for a playoff berth. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“I’ve never been in this situation,” said Favre, who was on the Packers’ 4-12 team of 2005, a season in which he threw a league-high 29 interceptions (he has 17 through 10 games this season). “I’m just going to try to go home and, as tough as it may be, digest what has happened. Not only today, but the last few weeks and come into tomorrow and re-evaluate things. I have played 20 years because of my passion and competitive nature. I know that hasn’t changed. It sure was hard for me to walk off the field today after a loss like that, last week, and for that matter at any point in my career. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I take so much pride in the way I play and what is expected of me, which is always a little bit more than maybe the next guy. That’s just the way it is. I feel like when I’m out there, we have a chance to win. Every play could be a successful play, could be a big play, and we scored three points. Hopefully all of our guys will take a hard look at themselves. That’s what I’m going to focus on. I’m going to focus on how I played, how I’ve played and come in tomorrow and see where we stand.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Asked point-blank if he’s fully committed to finishing the season, Favre initially tried to deflect the question with a joke.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“As I stand here today, I never expected us to be in this situation,” Favre replied. “I came back for a Super Bowl. I also knew there (was) a chance that wouldn’t happen. Probably a better chance that it (didn’t) – a way better chance that you don’t play near as good as you did last year. It doesn’t mean you can’t have success, but this is a little bit surprising. Again, I’m just going to go home and, I don’t want to say think about this game, just re-evaluate tomorrow.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Further follow-up questions proved fruitless as well. Even though he has publicly feuded with his head coach, been implicated in a sexting scandal and endured elbow, foot, ankle, chin and shoulder injuries, it’s hard to imagine Favre walking away from his $16 million salary – leaving roughly $6 million on the table – and heading home to Mississippi early. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“I’d like to finish the season differently than today and last week (in a 27-13 loss at Chicago),” said Favre, whom FOX Sports cameras caught arguing with offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell following Favre’s second-quarter interception. “I don’t want to sit here and tell you, ‘I’d love to finish the season’ and then go out and lose 31-3. I want us to somehow turn this around. We, us, this team. We all have to play better, me included. I don’t want to finish it the way we’ve played up until this point.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Asked what he meant by “re-evaluate,” Favre replied, “I have no idea. That was just an answer. If I had known it was going to lead to that question, I would have re-evaluated that answer.”[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]Coach Brad Childress, owner Zygi Wilf and the Vikings, meanwhile, are likely re-evaluating their decision to dispatch kicker Ryan Longwell, guard Steve Hutchinson and defensive end Jared Allen to Mississippi in August to beg Favre to return for a 20th season. A red-faced Wilf angrily stormed out of the locker room after the game after speaking briefly with Childress but without speaking to reporters.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“That’s always a concern as a coach,” Childress said. “Everybody’s got to be engaged and has to contribute and have to contribute the best they can. Again, that’s what those guys get paid for. He’s always worked his craft. I don’t think there’s any doubt that it will continue to work as we go forward.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]That said, Favre acknowledged that he, Longwell, Hutchinson and Allen discussed their Mississippi visit during the waning moments of Sunday’s loss.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“They just came over and said to keep (my) head up, ‘I know it’s not what we envisioned when we were at your place,’” Favre said. “They said, ‘Sorry it’s this way.’ But we’re in it together. I’m not going to say, ‘I told you guys’ or, ‘(I) shouldn’t have came back.’ I’m here. We’re in this thing together, either way, win or lose. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]And in defeat, Favre did his best to downplay the disappointment of being swept by his former team after sweeping the Packers in 2009. Last year, he was unstoppable in the Vikings’ two victories, throwing for 515 yards with seven touchdowns, no sacks and no interceptions (103.5 rating). [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]But in his two losses to his former team in 2010, he completed only 33 of 67 passes for 420 yards, with one touchdown, two sacks and four interceptions (49.3 rating).[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“In all honesty, I was over it this year,” Favre said, later adding that he could “totally understand” why the Packers chose to move on without him in 2008. “Last year, when we played those guys, it was a different feeling. I’m not going to lie to you. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Thank goodness we won last year.”[/FONT]



Brett didnt truthfully answer a question?

Shocker

 

ivo610

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Can we send some packers down to MS to get brett in late august? and then tell him its a joke when he gets here?
 

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