Favre should go

Heatherthepackgirl

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Time to walk away with playoffs a mere illusion
By BOB MCGINN and TOM SILVERSTEIN
[email protected]
Posted: Jan. 31, 2007
OPPOSING VIEWPOINT: Favre should stay
Miami - You can tell Brett Favre is deep into the decision-making process.

His fans have spoken. After the season-finale against the Bears, we asked whether it should be Brett Favre's finale. Hundreds of fans wrote in their opinion. The overwhelming consensus: Brett, please, please come back. Why wouldn't you come back?





Earlier this week, he spoke at length with Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy about his future. On Wednesday, he spoke with former Packers quarterbacks coach Steve Mariucci about the same subject.

"I can't tell you what he said," said Mariucci, who is at Super Bowl XLI as an analyst for the NFL Network. "That would be betraying his confidence. But he hasn't made a decision yet."

Ask 100 people whether they think the 37-year-old Favre can still play football and 99 of them will say yes. The 100th would be a split-decision. Mariucci clearly is in the "Aye" group when it comes to those in favor of Favre continuing, as was every single person interviewed for this story.

But there is much more to the quarterback's decision whether to play on than just his ability to perform at a high level. There is the capability of the team to compete for the Super Bowl, the potential for a debilitating injury, the mental toll of 22 weeks of practice and meetings, the possibility of tarnishing his legacy and the difficulty of spending more time away from his wife and children.

"He is giving this all serious thought," Mariucci said. "He's doing his thing to determine football, family, future, how it all fits together right now. It's a commitment. He's going to really heavily consider his family in this next year. And he should, his daughter (Brittany) is going off to college and his little one (Breleigh) is still a kid. There's some thinking he has to do."

As much as his fans would like him to come back, Favre has plenty of reasons to call it a career, not the least of which is that he has already accomplished what every NFL quarterback wants more than anything: a Super Bowl championship. The only player to win three Most Valuable Player awards in a row, Favre can leave the game now guaranteed of being a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection as well.

What isn't guaranteed is an 11th post-season. The Packers finished 8-8 in 2006, winning their final four games, but they only beat one team with a winning record all season, and that was over a Chicago Bears team that had already clinched home-field advantage in the playoffs.

"You know what, I think the thing he really truly has to ask himself is, 'How close are we really? Can we compete with the upper echelon teams?' " said former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe, now a studio analyst for CBS. "You look at the Bears, they're a young football team. You look at the Cowboys, they're a young football team. You look at Seattle, you look at some of the other teams, New Orleans, they're a very, very young football team.

" 'Are we in that class? Can we compete week in and week out?' If he answers yes, he should come back and if he answers no he should leave."

The fear some people have of Favre coming back for another season is that he'll be stuck playing on another losing team. Until the 4-12 campaign in 2005, he had never played for a team with a losing record. What most people remember about Favre are all the glorious moments he had in 15 seasons as the Packers' starting quarterback.

As he considers whether to come back and play another season, he could easily say to himself, 'Why bother? I have more to lose than I have to gain.' He would fall short of the Holy Grail of passing records, Dan Marino's all-time mark of 420 touchdowns, but so what? His all-time mark of 236 consecutive regular-season starts will last a lot longer than the touchdown record.

"The only thing I fear about Brett playing is that I don't want the team to do badly," said former Denver linebacker Tom Jackson, currently a studio analyst for ESPN. "I don't want to watch 3-13 because I don't want that (to be my) memory of the end of Brett's career because I know how great a player he is."

There are other factors. While most agree he can still perform at a high level, some aren't sure whether he can be the quarterback he once was. And if the mental toll catches up to him, the combination of a physical and mental slide could make for a disastrous season.

What happens if in the middle of the season, he hits the wall mentally? He has been playing football non-stop since he was a kid and hasn't always had time to stop and smell the roses. As mentally tough as he is, the meetings, the practices, the film study and the off-the-field obligations add up as the years go by.

Another factor for Favre is whether his return to what was the youngest roster in the NFL is a good fit for him. All of the veteran teammates who were friends or golfing and hunting partners - Frank Winters, Doug Pederson, Craig Nall, Ryan Longwell among them - are gone. The only player close to him in age is long snapper Rob Davis, who turned 38 in December.

Only 18 of the 79 players on the current roster were more than 12 years old when Favre became the starting quarterback for the Packers.

"There's a point where you become frustrated because he's a man now playing basically with kids," said Favre's former teammate, John Jurkovic. "I think the camaraderie he had with those guys he had before is the kind of camaraderie he's going to have to develop with these guys. There's no reason why he shouldn't be able to do it, but he doesn't have a ton in common with these guys except for the fact that he plays football.

"I don't know if he's going to invite these guys down to go hunting with him, shoot sporting clays, go play a bunch of golf with these guys."
 

Cliff

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If Ted Thompson and the Packer organization wanted to do the right thing they would release Brett Favre.

Let Favre decide whether to retire or play for another NFL team with a shot at the Big Game.

TT and the Pack could move on with their rebuilding project.
 

Krazygangsta

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i think ... he should stay but i also think that we should let rodgers play like some 4th quarters if were winnings just to bloom him a lil
 

longtimefan

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depending on how the season goes, wonder if Brett would be willing to share snaps?

Say that there is no real chance of them makling the playoffs, like in 05. What is the real harm iin those 2 sharing snaps, specially if Brett AGGRESS to it...
 

cheesey

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i think ... he should stay but i also think that we should let rodgers play like some 4th quarters if were winnings just to bloom him a lil
The only problem with that is, you only let Rodgers in if the Packers are either WAY ahead, or WAY behind. And either way, it's not a true test. If your way ahead, Rodgers only hands off the ball, as other wise it looks like you are trying to run up the score. If your way behind, the other team will just blitz the crap outta him, cause they KNOW he HAS to pass. So you never get the real feel of how good OR bad he is. You almost have to have him be or not be "THE GUY."
 

Krazygangsta

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Krazygangsta said:
i think ... he should stay but i also think that we should let rodgers play like some 4th quarters if were winnings just to bloom him a lil
The only problem with that is, you only let Rodgers in if the Packers are either WAY ahead, or WAY behind. And either way, it's not a true test. If your way ahead, Rodgers only hands off the ball, as other wise it looks like you are trying to run up the score. If your way behind, the other team will just blitz the crap outta him, cause they KNOW he HAS to pass. So you never get the real feel of how good OR bad he is. You almost have to have him be or not be "THE GUY."

your right ... but that would be a different experience for him and he could learn some stuff about it ... any kind of experience would help him out for his first starting year
 

PackerChick

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Brett should come back at least one more year, but cut back his playing time and give another QB a chance. See if they can get Jeff Garcia as a free agent.
 

P@ck66

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No way..

Rodgers will have to wait until Favre retires...

Be it 1, 2, or 5 years down the road...

(According to McCarthy, Favre is the starter...if Rodgers doesn't like it...he can seek employment elsewhere...!!!)
 

Zero2Cool

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Brett should come back at least one more year, but cut back his playing time and give another QB a chance. See if they can get Jeff Garcia as a free agent.

Huh? Why have a soon to be 38 yr old QB who is a sure fire HoF scale back his playing time for a 37 yr old cold sometimes hot QB?

I say, not a chance in blazes ma'am!


I could see allowing Rodgers in the game in the last half of the fourth quarter if there is a 10+ point lead, then yes. Other than that, ride the pine!!
 

longtimefan

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PackerChick said:
Brett should come back at least one more year, but cut back his playing time and give another QB a chance. See if they can get Jeff Garcia as a free agent.

Huh? Why have a soon to be 38 yr old QB who is a sure fire HoF scale back his playing time for a 37 yr old cold sometimes hot QB?

I say, not a chance in blazes ma'am!


I could see allowing Rodgers in the game in the last half of the fourth quarter if there is a 10+ point lead, then yes. Other than that, ride the pine!!

I said the same thing as PC said..

IF Brett agrees to it, what would the harm be to let Rodgers take some series during a game specially if they are not in the playoff race?
 
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Heatherthepackgirl

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IMO Brett is the starter and should be the starter, even if they are down in points Brett has more of a chance for a come back win then Rodgers would..I know Rodgers needs some playing time to, but for now he can sit back and learn from the best, how many other rookie QB's would want to learn Brett? I bet many would..after Brett retires then Rodgers can come in and prove himself, but mean while I would pick up a veteran QB like Garcia incase Rodgers dont work out...
 

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I don't know what's worse; that article or Cliff's response. Since when do we care what Tom Jackson thinks about Brett Favre? Or Shannon Sharpe for that matter? On top of that I like the way the author quotes what he thinks Favre should be thinking. Good lord. What a waste of time.

Cliff, yeah, sure the Pack is going to let Brett Favre go so they can get on with their rebuilding project. Thanks for summarizing your bitterness in one post for me so I can ignore the rest of what you write.
 

Bobby Roberts

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All the arguments about Brett not having fun with the young roster are baseless. Favre said several times this last season that he was having more fun with this team than he has had in awhile. I think the combination of young talent/energy mixed with low expectations helped. It's about having fun now, not about just making the playoffs.

The real question is time away from family and going through the grinding pre-season and then weekly preps. The stuff that happens on Sundays are the easy parts. It's up to Brett to decide if the rest of it is worth the effort.

As for playing time, I'm confident the same approach will be made as last season. Brett is #1 and Rodgers is the backup. Rodgers only plays in mop-up time or if Brett gets injured. Until he retires, Favre is the leader of this team. Because of that, there is no other way to approach playing time.

GO PACK GO!!!
 

Cliff

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Cliff, yeah, sure the Pack is going to let Brett Favre go so they can get on with their rebuilding project. Thanks for summarizing your bitterness in one post for me so I can ignore the rest of what you write.

If you don't like my posts use the ignore button.
 

Zero2Cool

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Zero2Cool said:
PackerChick said:
Brett should come back at least one more year, but cut back his playing time and give another QB a chance. See if they can get Jeff Garcia as a free agent.

Huh? Why have a soon to be 38 yr old QB who is a sure fire HoF scale back his playing time for a 37 yr old cold sometimes hot QB?

I say, not a chance in blazes ma'am!


I could see allowing Rodgers in the game in the last half of the fourth quarter if there is a 10+ point lead, then yes. Other than that, ride the pine!!

I said the same thing as PC said..

IF Brett agrees to it, what would the harm be to let Rodgers take some series during a game specially if they are not in the playoff race?

You said
depending on how the season goes, wonder if Brett would be willing to share snaps?

Say that there is no real chance of them makling the playoffs, like in 05. What is the real harm iin those 2 sharing snaps, specially if Brett AGGRESS to it...

She said
Brett should come back at least one more year, but cut back his playing time and give another QB a chance. See if they can get Jeff Garcia as a free agent.


There's a difference there.
You're saying if Brett agrees to it, cut back his playing time, PC is saying in her opinion Brett should cut his playing timeback to give another QB a chance then mentions Jeff Garcia.
Big difference there.
 

longtimefan

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longtimefan said:
Zero2Cool said:
PackerChick said:
Brett should come back at least one more year, but cut back his playing time and give another QB a chance. See if they can get Jeff Garcia as a free agent.

Huh? Why have a soon to be 38 yr old QB who is a sure fire HoF scale back his playing time for a 37 yr old cold sometimes hot QB?

I say, not a chance in blazes ma'am!


I could see allowing Rodgers in the game in the last half of the fourth quarter if there is a 10+ point lead, then yes. Other than that, ride the pine!!

I said the same thing as PC said..

IF Brett agrees to it, what would the harm be to let Rodgers take some series during a game specially if they are not in the playoff race?

You said
depending on how the season goes, wonder if Brett would be willing to share snaps?

Say that there is no real chance of them makling the playoffs, like in 05. What is the real harm iin those 2 sharing snaps, specially if Brett AGGRESS to it...

She said
Brett should come back at least one more year, but cut back his playing time and give another QB a chance. See if they can get Jeff Garcia as a free agent.


There's a difference there.
You're saying if Brett agrees to it, cut back his playing time, PC is saying in her opinion Brett should cut his playing timeback to give another QB a chance then mentions Jeff Garcia.
Big difference there.

Okay.........the 2 scenarios are different, but end result is the same...have someone share the snaps with him..That is the point..

Not who it is going to be..
 

Zero2Cool

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Okay.........the 2 scenarios are different, but end result is the same...have someone share the snaps with him..That is the point..

Not who it is going to be..


Sorry, I feel differently. Her post says something irrational, you'rs makes sense. Two completely different posts. If the point is his him sitting, sure same point, but she was saying to sit him in favor of someone almost as hold as he is! You're saying to sit him for someone young. Big difference.
 

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