A year ago, I've written a rebuttal to the article just for fun, so I thought I'd like to share it with you. I've updated it a bit because it was a little outdated (it was written on December 6, 2010). Sorry it's a little long.
________________________________________________________________________________
It’s been approximately a year since Brett Favre had his record-breaking season with the Vikings in 2009. Since then, he’s brought nightmares to Minnesota. He, along with Brad Childress, drove the Vikings train face first into a wall made of losses, interceptions, controversy, and Randy Moss. After being 6-10 and being swept by the Packers (one of them being an embarrassing 31-3 loss at home), not many people are taking Favre seriously and he isn’t the media’s darling anymore.
Believe it or not, there were knee-jerk reactions during Favre’s 2009 season that, in hindsight, look pretty ridiculous. One of them is Jason Whitlock’s piece about the Thompson-Favre situation. Guess what side he takes?
It's the Truth: Favre's proving Thompson wrong right (See what I did there?)
by Jason Whitlock
Original text in black, my text in red
The Truth can be inconvenient, impolite and painful. Opinion isn’t truth, Mr. Whitlock. The reason you read my NFL Truths column is because you realize I will address the inconvenient, impolite and painful, even when the "friendly fire" damages yours truly. All that’s dismissed once you find out that he works for Fox. Like most red-blooded, patriotic football fans, I participated in Brett Favre Celebration Week and built my Sunday around watching Favre's return to Lambeau Field. Yeah, we all did, too.
There was wall-to-wall television, radio, blog and newspaper coverage leading up to Vikings vs. Packers. I found very little Truth in any of it. Why do you capitalize “truth?” Sports media coverage is oftentimes too polite, afraid to deliver pain and too focused on making sure anyone of any power is happy and comfortable. Like “Favre Throws 3 ******* Interceptions in Loss to Packers”? That's why an innocent kid like Steve Bartman can be portrayed as the dumbest fan in all of sports and/or the primary reason the Cubs didn't reach the 2003 World Series Nice job calling a fan the dumbest fan in all of sports in a journalism column. You deserve a raise! What are the chances that Steve Bartman might read this and be reminded of his dark past? and a buffoon like Ted Thompson can hold his head high while earning millions of dollars ruining the Green Bay Packers by drafting a championship squad with Clay Matthews, Aaron Rodgers, Jermichael Finley, and Greg Jennings, all playing better than Favre is, now. Sure, that classifies as “ruining”, doesn’t it? We have nothing to lose trashing Bartman except enough self esteem for him to commit suicide, but that’s beside the point. Ted Thompson might pass us some juicy trade gossip or gas our egos with press-box chitchat. So last week the media performed a full ****** examination of Brett Favre's emotions, Classy. and no one — that I saw — took a peek into the empty cranium that upon being given control of the Packers franchise in 2005 decided its first order business was to develop the Brett Favre Relocation Plan. Because it doesn’t take a brain to know that Favre is bad news. Who calls this journalism, anyway? Oh, Fox. Nevermind. Twenty-four regular-season games into Favre's removal as Green Bay's starting quarterback, Ted Thompson looks every bit as stupid as Peter Pocklington, the man who traded Wayne Gretzky to Los Angeles. Yeah, you shouldn’t have traded Favre! The Vikings are 19-0 and Super Bowl champions! …Right? The inconvenient, impolite, painful, highly entertaining and worthy-of-ample-discussion truth is Brett Favre wanted out of Green Bay because he believes Ted Thompson is a moron. He believes everyone who isn’t him is a moron, what’s the point? Favre spent one year in New York just so he could get to Minnesota and prove that Ted Thompson is a moron. Going 9-7 after a 8-3 start and missing the playoffs, throwing a bone-headed interception in the 2009 NFC Championship, and going 6-10 while under controversy is proving somebody’s a moron, but it isn’t Ted. Halfway through the 2009 season and after two Vikings victories over the Packers, the Favre prosecution team has rested its case and anxiously awaits Thompson's defense the second half of the season. Hold on. Let me rewrite this. “16 games into the 2010 season and after two demoralizing Vikings losses to the Packers, the Vikings prosecution team has rested the case and awaits Favre’s defense.” As jury foreman, I'm ready to vote guilty on all charges. So do I… to the rewritten version, I meant. Short of winning the Super Bowl, there's not a damn thing the Packers can do to mask Thompson's incompetence. Except beating the Vikings twice. Also, winning the Super Bowl. Wait, what? I'll be asking my peers in the jury room to sentence Thompson to the unemployment line and hand Favre the league's MVP Award. Sure, that’s not knee-jerk, right? That's right. Halfway through the season Favre is the clear-cut MVP. Heh. It ain't even close. Hahaha… Right now Favre is sportsman of the year. Hahahaha… That's not hyperbole. PFFHAHAHAHAHAA!!! If Favre's second-half play matches what he's delivered through eight games and the Vikings win the Super Bowl, he will have elevated himself to Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan and Jim Brown status. But he didn’t, they didn’t, and Favre is more Jose Canseco, LeBron James, and Terrell Owens than anything else. Even then, he just won one Super Bowl. Babe Ruth won countless trophies, Michael Jordan won 6 championships, and Muhammad Ali did things not humanly possible. What Favre has done so far this season is the stuff of legends. Of course, leading the league in all time interceptions, fumbles, and season interceptions is the stuff of legends indeed. It surpasses Ruth's "called shot" in the 1932 World Series and Joe Namath's Super Bowl guarantee. I’d say that too, except those people actually executed in the postseason. I'd put Favre's 2009 performance on par with the "Miracle on Ice" and Ali's "Rumble in the Jungle" victory. There’s something wrong with you if you compare Favre sticking it to the Packers organization to America’s improbable last-minute victory over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympics hockey finals, or Muhammad Ali’s unbelievable victory over the highly favored fighter George Foreman in 1974. Are you serious? I'm telling you, despite blanket coverage, we've totally missed the Favre story. Really? Because I’ve heard about it 24/7 in the Wisconsin media. We've failed to put this in proper context. Favre is doing what Michael Jordan could not. Throw away playoff games? MJ hated Jerry Krause, the general manager of the Bulls. Jordan believed Krause was an idiot and was in too much of a hurry to break up Jordan, Jackson, Pippen and Rodman. Jordan "retired" and first tried to prove Krause's idiocy by managing the Wizards and then tried to prove it by playing for the Wizards. Jordan failed. He drafted Kwame Brown No. 1 overall and put together two forgettable seasons in a Wizards uniform. The 40-year-old Favre, however, is doing the exact same thing. Oh, sorry, I’ll let you continue. is having the greatest season of his 19-year career. He followed up, of course, with the worst season in his 20-year career. His 106 QB rating in 2009 is seven points higher than his previous best. And his 69.6 QB rating in 2010 is 1.3 points lower than his previous worst, just so you know. He's on pace to throw just six 24 interceptions, which would be seven fewer than he's thrown in any season as a starter tied for his 2nd highest. FIFY. It's deeper than the numbers. It's the 32-yard, back-of-the-end-zone rope that beat the 49ers with two seconds to play. It’s the red-zone pick-6 thrown against the Jets with less than a minute to play and a potential to tie the game.It's the 58-yard heave to Sidney Rice that set up the game-winning field goal to beat the Ravens. It’s the interception thrown to Tracy Porter with less than a minute to go in the 2009 NFC Championship through performing a simple task as going into field goal range. It's the seven two TDs and zero four interceptions in two games against the Packers which his team lost to twice. And it's the passion or lack thereof, for the game. Favre is the Magic Johnson of football. Really? Because he plays like he doesn’t give a crap anymore. Like Magic, Favre's personality and emotion overwhelm his teammates. Like yelling at the offensive coordinator? You had to bust your *** and get out on the break because you knew Magic passed out candy at the offensive end like every night was Halloween. Guys play hard for Brett Favre. They used to. Now they give him his own personal locker room to keep teammates from chastising him after another loss. There's something about good-old boys from the South. They're natural leaders. Everybody loves them. What’s with the unexpected love for the south? Is this the point where you worship the ground that Favre walks on? Favre and Steve McNair were cut from the same cloth. Since when did McNair get into this equation? They could connect with and inspire an opposite-race teammate just as effectively as a teammate who shared a similar background as theirs. Jason Whitlock’s racist, too, just so you know. Favre's famous "MNF" game against the Raiders after his father died is the best testament to Favre's intangible leadership qualities. In America, it’s illegal to write an essay about Brett Favre without mentioning the Raiders game at least once. Also, Wait for it... Most of the media focus on Favre's great stats and overlook the fact that Favre's receivers made numerous circus catches that night. Wait for it... Favre's teammates cared about him so much that they picked him up on a night when he needed a lift. Wait… for it... All of this reflects poorly on Ted Thompson. BINGO! I knew you couldn’t say 4 sentences about the Packers without criticizing TT. Favre contended throughout his final seasons in Green Bay that he could still perform at an MVP level. Wait, where was MVP Favre when he played in 2005 when we went 4-12 or 2006 when we started 1-4 and ended up 8-8 and missing the playoffs, or in 2007 when the Packers were in the NFC Championship and Favre threw a heartbreaking interception in overtime that led to a Giants field goal that ended them into Super Bowl XLII? He wanted better support. Well, then, that doesn’t make him a great player, does it? A great player would work with what he has and still succeed… like Favre (!!) used to be. He wondered why Thompson's first significant act as GM was picking Aaron Rodgers in the first round of the 2005 draft. If you said “because he’s old and will throw us into a tailspin” at this time, they’d call you a class-A idiot instead of a prophet. Think about that. Five years ago Thompson used a critical draft pick on a player to replace the QB capable of a 106-passer rating in 2009 with a player capable of a 103 passer rating in 2009, a 100 passer rating in 2010, a 130 passer rating in 2011, currently the highest career passer rating of all time. The Packers had their quarterback of the future Of course, I mean Rodgers is more than capable-- — Brett Favre. What? “Good for 4 years” doesn’t mean he’s the quarterback of the future. In2006 and 2007, the Packers led the NFL in salary-cap availability. A couple years earlier, the Packers were in salary cap hell thanks to Mike Sherman. It was due to Ted that the Packers have this much cap space with talent to boot. You know, why didn’t you call Sherman a moron instead of Ted? Thompson made one significant free-agent acquisition — cornerback Charles Woodson. Can’t argue with that. But, let’s take a look at the other free agents that Ted passed up on. Albert Haynesworth is currently playing for the Redskins and is playing terribly, not helping the team at all. Marshawn Lynch is helping the Seahawks to an amazing 7-9 record while the Packers suffered at 10-6. And Randy Moss? The rift between Favre and Thompson became irreparable when Thompson refused to go after Randy Moss, who shares the same agent (Bus Cook) as Favre. That problem was solved when the Vikings finally got Randy Moss and Brett Favre on the same team, leading them to an amazing and unbelievable 0-4 record since Moss joined. And that’s just on the field. The Tennessee Titans later picked up Moss and lost 8 of their final 9 games. We can assume that Favre had inside knowledge that Moss would strongly consider signing with the Packers and turn the entire team into primadonnas. I mean, look at Percy Harvin on the Vikings. Don’t you know that he’s a cancer in the locker room? Don’t say that to him, though. He’ll find a way to work around it and still call Thompson a moron. Thompson is dedicated to building the Packers through the draft. Moss joined Tom Brady in New England. The Patriots won 18 straight games and Brady set nearly every single-season passing record with Moss at his side. Um, what about Spygate? Also, the Patriots did win 3 Super Bowls without Moss, and not one with Moss as well. Also, they did trade Moss for a reason. Brady and Peyton Manning are allegedly better QBs than Favre, Allegedly? who has a rep for throwing huge INTs. He’s not helping that in 2010, either. Favre would contend he's more prone to give in to his gambling nature when he feels he has to compensate for a talent deficiency. In his mind, give him Randy Moss, Adrian Peterson or Reggie White Reggie White was on defense, moron. and his TD-INT ratio will be 3 to 1 and he'll be in contention for the MVP. Of course, insulting the players for his poor performance doesn’t have “Favre Sycophant” written all over it at all, doesn’t it? Also, that theory pretty much went out the window when Favre played with almost the exact same team as before PLUS Randy Moss and still played like crap. You couldn’t be any more wrong with this assumption. Mid-90s Favre would make great receivers out of absolutely nothing. I mean, have you even heard of Andre Rison, Antonio Freeman, or even Sterling Sharpe before Favre joined? The NFL is a win-now league. Ah, yes, I remember the Redskins following that philosophy by buying a lot of big-name free-agents. They missed the playoffs. The Eagles are doing the same thing and are very close to missing the playoffs again. The NFL is a Team league, not a “win-now” league, like this will be the last year the NFL will play again. When you have a chance to pair Favre with Randy Moss, you take that opportunity, win a Super Bowl or two and deal with the consequences later. Not if the consequences send your team into an absolute tailspin with the potential of moving your entire team to a new city. Oh, and you still don’t have a Super Bowl ring. Good job. You should be GM. Thompson chose to avoid the consequences and plan for the future. He tired of the Favre offseason drama, tired of catering to Favre's ego. What an idiot. What a genius. Favre was right wrong. A year after Favre led the Pack to 13-3 and the NFC Championship Game, Green Bay finished 6-10 and out of the playoffs, then went 11-5 and went into the playoffs, and just beat the living crap out of the Vikings 31-3 in 2010, going 10-6 and winning the Super Bowl the same year. This year it appears the supporting cast Thompson gave Rodgers is inadequate. More than adequate, it’s awesome. The offensive line can't protect Rodgers How many times has Aaron Rodgers been sacked so far? 20 times compared to 47 last season? and the defense looks weak against top competition. Clay Matthews would like a word with you, and so do I. Out of all the Packers opponents, only the Lions and the Patriots scored more than 24 points against their defense. They’re 2nd in the entire league in points allowed, behind the freaking Pittsburgh Steelers. How is that “weak”? Meanwhile, Favre has Adrian Peterson in the backfield and Jared Allen rushing the opposing quarterback doing almost nothing to help. Favre has the most talented overrated and overpaid offensive and defensive players in the league. And he's not simply riding their coattails. They're all pushing each other into oblivion. Favre is doing the most. The only true thing in this piece.
By forcing his way out of Green Bay, retiring from the Jets after one season and staging a Flava Favre,
Flava Favre, HA! Even though you wrote an article that’s the definition of knee jerk, I do have to admit that you have a sense of humor. will-he-or-won't-he drama this offseason, Favre placed an unprecedented amount of pressure on himself.
Because he’s a vacillating moron QB with a million dollar arm and a 10-cent head, trying to thrive on needless media coverage. Hey, I’m bringing the “truth” that sports media is “often too polite” to report on, right? When the season started, the only people in the Favre bunker were Brett, Deanna, Bus Cook, Brad Childress, Zygi Wilf and John Madden.
Also, you, ESPN, the fellows at the Official Brett Favre Forum, the knee-jerkers at the “Bring Brett Back” protest group, bandwagon Packers fans, bandwagon Vikings fans, and pretty much the entire sports media. The media felt burned by Favre.
No they didn’t, they loved him! They wanted him back! Fans were sick of the nonstop coverage
except Vikings fans. Fran Tarkenton made a return to relevancy blasting Favre in radio and TV interviews.
At least he brought his team to the Super Bowl four times working with the team that he was with, unlike a certain other legendary Vikings quarterback. Adam Schefter floated a theory/story there was tension in the Vikings locker room over Favre's arrival.
Well, whaddaya know! Looking back at it now, he was absolutely prophetic. He might as well be the Sports Oracle! Favre has made assclowns of
everybody, particularly Ted Thompson the entire Vikings team, particularly himself. And you, for writing this article.
********? What are you, 12? What journalist says that? Ali took on the government and love-it-or-leave-it America and established a reputation as "The Greatest." Other than that, I can't think of another athlete who has
exceeded what Favre has accomplished this season (without overcoming a major medical issue)fallen from grace from a football legend to a football joke. Drew Brees is putting up nice stats
and not only won the Super Bowl, but was the Super Bowl MVP. Peyton Manning and the Colts are undefeated
and went to the Super Bowl. Also, Peyton Manning won the 2009 MVP award. So much for that, huh? Brees and Manning can't touch Brett Favre.
Of course, because Favre hasn’t made it to the Super Bowl, nor won the MVP award as a Viking. You can’t touch who’s not there. Even if the Saints and the Colts run the table, Favre is the MVP unless he falls apart down the stretch.
Take note of the last sentence.
unless he falls apart down the stretch.
Thank god you wrote that last sentence, Mr. Whitlock, because that’s the only thing you can fall back on after this whole charade.
You must be logged in to see this image or video!
______________________________________________________________________________
