I am a Packers fan first, a Brett Favre fan second, and a NFL fan third. What the Packers organization is threatening to do to Favre is not good for Green Bay’s image, cruel to Favre, and horrific for the NFL.
I do not fault Green Bay for not wanting Favre back. I do think it is bizarre that they are turning their back on their best player from the previous season (not to mention the best player in the storied history of the franchise). But I get that they do not want to alienate Aaron Rodgers, do not want to put on the shelf all of the tweaking they did to the offense (seriously, folks, do you think they changed things that much?), and also want to groom Brian Bohm.
It does not make sense to carry Favre on the roster as a backup. That only would increase the pressure on and scrutiny of Rodgers, could divide the locker room, and would be bad cap management. And, unless Favre has fallen off dramatically in the past few months, it would be a plain lie—like when Al Davis refused to let Marcus Allen play just because he did not like him.
The honorable thing, the right thing, the sensible thing, would be for the Packers to simply release Favre and let him do whatever he wants to do. Over the past few years, the Packers have been classy and released veteran players who were no longer in the team’s plans at an early stage of the offseason so they could try to catch on with other teams. Think Robert Ferguson a year ago and Bubba Franks and Koren Robinson this past off season. They have allowed still productive players to leave in free agency that they did not want to afford. Think Darren Sharper, Mike Wahle, Ryan Longwell and Ahman Green. They released injured players who they did not think could play, even though the players themselves still wanted to pursue their careers. Think Robert Brooks, Terrence Murphy, and even Sterling Sharpe.
But they will not release Favre. The man who not only brought football greatness back to Green Bay, but who also helped generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the Wisconsin economy.
And why won’t they release him? Because they know he still CAN play. That even at 38, he is still the best player on the roster (if they would let him back on the roster). They know that if they allow him to play anywhere he wants, he might embarrass the team for letting him go, and perhaps even cost the team one or more victories by beating the Packers in a face-to-face meeting.
They would rather force him into a premature retirement by not welcoming him back and trying to stash him on the roster as a backup, or by trading him to a team he does not wish to play for with the hope that he will choose not to report and head back to Mississippi.
No matter what you think Favre’s wishy-washiness has done to the organization over the past few years, it SO pales in comparison to what he has given the franchise, the city, the state and the league that it is absurd to somehow think Favre is deserving of this unseemly game of hardball that Ted Thompson is playing.
I just cannot believe that the Packers would give more consideration to Robert Ferguson than Brett Favre.
It stinks.
Favre deserves better. The NFL deserves better. All NFL fans deserve better.
You people in Green Bay should not let this happen. If the Packers insist on putting Favre in roster jail, you should picket Lambeau Field. You should demonstrate. You should call the front office.
If I lived there I would do it.
Go ahead and move on into the future with Aaron Rodgers, if you really want to. But let Brett play. Wherever he wants.
I do not fault Green Bay for not wanting Favre back. I do think it is bizarre that they are turning their back on their best player from the previous season (not to mention the best player in the storied history of the franchise). But I get that they do not want to alienate Aaron Rodgers, do not want to put on the shelf all of the tweaking they did to the offense (seriously, folks, do you think they changed things that much?), and also want to groom Brian Bohm.
It does not make sense to carry Favre on the roster as a backup. That only would increase the pressure on and scrutiny of Rodgers, could divide the locker room, and would be bad cap management. And, unless Favre has fallen off dramatically in the past few months, it would be a plain lie—like when Al Davis refused to let Marcus Allen play just because he did not like him.
The honorable thing, the right thing, the sensible thing, would be for the Packers to simply release Favre and let him do whatever he wants to do. Over the past few years, the Packers have been classy and released veteran players who were no longer in the team’s plans at an early stage of the offseason so they could try to catch on with other teams. Think Robert Ferguson a year ago and Bubba Franks and Koren Robinson this past off season. They have allowed still productive players to leave in free agency that they did not want to afford. Think Darren Sharper, Mike Wahle, Ryan Longwell and Ahman Green. They released injured players who they did not think could play, even though the players themselves still wanted to pursue their careers. Think Robert Brooks, Terrence Murphy, and even Sterling Sharpe.
But they will not release Favre. The man who not only brought football greatness back to Green Bay, but who also helped generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the Wisconsin economy.
And why won’t they release him? Because they know he still CAN play. That even at 38, he is still the best player on the roster (if they would let him back on the roster). They know that if they allow him to play anywhere he wants, he might embarrass the team for letting him go, and perhaps even cost the team one or more victories by beating the Packers in a face-to-face meeting.
They would rather force him into a premature retirement by not welcoming him back and trying to stash him on the roster as a backup, or by trading him to a team he does not wish to play for with the hope that he will choose not to report and head back to Mississippi.
No matter what you think Favre’s wishy-washiness has done to the organization over the past few years, it SO pales in comparison to what he has given the franchise, the city, the state and the league that it is absurd to somehow think Favre is deserving of this unseemly game of hardball that Ted Thompson is playing.
I just cannot believe that the Packers would give more consideration to Robert Ferguson than Brett Favre.
It stinks.
Favre deserves better. The NFL deserves better. All NFL fans deserve better.
You people in Green Bay should not let this happen. If the Packers insist on putting Favre in roster jail, you should picket Lambeau Field. You should demonstrate. You should call the front office.
If I lived there I would do it.
Go ahead and move on into the future with Aaron Rodgers, if you really want to. But let Brett play. Wherever he wants.
