Surprisingly, Hauschild, you've actually made some very astute observations here. But I've bolded the points where I think you've erred and corrected them below.
From where I stand, you have absolutely NO idea what you are writing about.
First, "we" is actually Ron Wolf.
Second, Favre didn't "quit" on anybody. He's the antithesis of a quitter. He wanted to play on his terms - he earned the right as a veteran with 17 years of seniority. Ted didn't want Favre to play that way, which is fine. What isn't fine is Ted attempting to Siberia Brett's rear end and black-balling him at every angle - that's chicken crap, ******-like shenanigans. I'm not sure if that comes from Ted's "different" outlook on life or not.
The only people that are disrupted by Favre's departure from Green Bay are those that don't understand the concept of capitalism. I've noticed those that remained in Brett's camp tend to be on the right, whilst those that wanna burn him at the steak for pursuing his dreams float left. It stems from a fundamental refusal to accept how this country has done and does business. Furthermore, why be "loyal" to a sports team whose number one goal is to improve their bottom line? Ted Thompson doesn't care about fans - he cares about winning.
Brett isn't "against" anybody. He chooses to remain gainfully employed. Like 100 percent of employees in America, "who" employs him is of little concern; that he remains employed is the legitimate reason. Why would Brett remain "loyal" to an outfit that was working feverishly behind the scenes to fire him? This makes NO sense. Put yourself in Brett's shoes - not in terms of how much he makes, but in terms of being a highly skilled worker that remains highly productive - what employer in his right mind would want to lose this type of worker??? Also, Brett did retire, but it was only because he felt unwanted by Packers brass. TT could have been more upfront with Favre from the outset and Brett's already admitted he would have had no problem playing for another team. The situation was handled terribly. Let's hope TT learned some people management skills lessons.
The bottom line is that people leave jobs to better their situation every single day. People are also fired every single day. It happens. Get over it. It has nothing to do with loyalty and if you feel it does, you're not thinking reasonably.
OK.
#1. Favre actually did quit. It's called retirement, and it happened on March 4, 2008. What Favre wanted was to skip all the tedious offseason activities....you know, the ones which made 2007 such a successful season....and just show up in time for the exhibition season, like he did with Minnesota this year. You may think he "earned" that by being a vet; IMO, the Packers deserve a full-time QB who can commit to the team and nobody "earns" the right to be a part-time professional QB.
And as far as what Thompson did, he protected the interests of the Packers and that's his job. Why would you trade him to a division rival when you could trade him out of conference? That would just be stupid. And the rhetoric that you employed is shameful and would only be uttered by a guy who wants Favre to beat the Packers because he is a Favre fan masquerading as a Packer fan. And don't deny it or I'll post the link to where you said it.
#2 I understand capitalism pretty well, as my 401K could attest. And politically, I'm a conservative. My disagreement with your statement is that I think it's disingenuous in the extreme to contend that this was "just business." It's not.
#3 Brett Favre has told too many people in too many settings of his desire to "stick it" to the Packers, and he tried unsuccessfully to get his media allies to run defamatory stories about Thompson. Too many of Favre's kin have stepped up to the mike and talked crap about how Favre feels about Thompson. Saying that he isn't "against" anybody is just wishful thinking on your part that ignores FACTS that you don't want to acknowledge.
#4 Brett (and I love how you always use his first name, like he's a personal friend or something) didn't retire because he felt unwanted.....he specifically stated that at his retirement (unless, of course, he was lying through his tears....a distinct possibility, considering how untruthful he's been). He retired because he didn't want to participate in the drudgery of offseason activities. Once the offseason was over, he was ready to play and came to Green Bay waiting to get his job back. If he felt unwanted in March, then why did he suddenly feel wanted in July after he'd been told repeatedly that he couldn't be our starting QB any longer?
I get that you adore and idolize him Hauschild, and you're entitled to your own opinion. But you aren't entitled to your own facts.
Favre wouldn't committ to being a full-time QB for the Packers, the Packers deserved that much, they moved on and Favre began his quest for vengeance. That's the story.