I think Packer fans are also proud. They are proud of what a small town franchise has achieved. More World Championships than other team!!! They like to win and they worship the heroes that help them achieve this. But they don't put an individual before the franchise and they are disappointed when a player does. They aren't proud of one of their heroes seeking out their adversaries and kicking sand in their face.
Favre did that. He tried to make himself the center of the team. He tried to make himself bigger than everything.
The guy who should have reexamined his priorities was Favre. Packer fans have theirs right.
I have to disagree here. Packer fans absolutely
deified Favre when he was here at least up until the second or third year of his annual indecisiveness. He was routinely lauded as the greatest Packer ever by many and certainly among the top 3 or 4 among nearly ALL Packer fans. He knew he had unfailing support no matter how poorly he might have played in a given game. It made him feel bullet-proof from criticism. If Favre became some kind of monster who thought he was bigger than the organization, then we as fans are the Dr. Frankenstein who helped create that monster.
Has anyone here who hates the man ever dealt with receiving the unfaltering praise of millions of fans who thought he could do no wrong? It's easy to overestimate the loyalty of those fans when the praise received from them so often borders on worship (and don't deny that this was the case in the early to mid 2000's.) In retrospect, 8 years ago there was a lot of "Homerism" going on in Packer Land regarding the status of Brett Favre and some of us might have unwittingly been among them.
To counter your statement, 13XC, did Packer fans not make Brett the center of the team? Did we not make him bigger than everything for a very long time?
Favre's miscalculation was that all of these fans would come down on his side of the issue and a gross miscalculation it was. So make no mistake about it. Not only does Favre have a large share of the blame for what went down and not only did the Packers have a much smaller share of the blame, but we, the fan base had our own little share of the blame by contributing to his mindset. Combine that with the fact that Big Irv was largely his son's rudder, so to speak, and it's easy to see how #4 was so easily able to lose his way.
Now Favre has fallen a LONG way from the pedestal on which we as fans placed him years ago, and he has clearly been humbled by it.
I, for one, do not require those who have wronged me in some way to grovel in the dirt and utterly shame themselves to beg for my forgiveness. To me, a handshake and a simple apology about what happened is enough. I don't feel the need to tear someone down to get back on good terms. That's how adults handle things. Regardless of your stance on religion, the Golden Rule is an excellent standard to live by: Treat others how you would wish them to treat you.
In effect, Brett is now extending his hand and making that apology and I, for one, am not too prideful to extend my own hand and accept it. Anyone who is not petty and spiteful should do the same. It's clear that Aaron Rodgers wants to. It's clear that the Packers want to. It's high time for everyone who purports to support Rodgers and the Packers to follow suit and make this thing right.
One last thing to consider. What message does this send to our current superstar QB? How about the message that no matter how much you think we love you, you're one misstep away from being the most hated man in Green Bay? Bart Starr is the most revered player in Packer history, bar none, and his love for the Packers and it's fans is equally undying. It's a special relationship that still brings many fans to tears every time Bart makes an appearance on the field. I know. I've seen it at games and I've done it myself. Many of you on here also know this to be true. This may never be the case with Brett Favre, but Bart's time on this earth is growing shorter every day, and if we want a hero with whom to have such a relationship in the future, the man who will fill those shoes will be Aaron Rodgers. But without making amends with his predecessor, it simply will... not... happen.