Ted Thompson can declare victory over Brett Favre | Cheesehead TV
This is a interesting question
This is a interesting question
Yesterday morning, our very own Alex Tallitsch of the Packers Lounge called in to ESPN Milwaukee's Packers show "Green and Gold Today" and asked an excellent question. (Why he chooses to ask such illuminating questions on their show but only talks nonsense on ours is beyond me...)
Alex's question: Depending on the outcome of Sunday's game, can we declare a winner in Thompson vs. Favre?
Bill Johnson and Jason Wilde were pretty magnanimous in their answers, saying that both sides were "right" when it came to the messy divorce between the Packers and their legendary quarterback. And while that may be true, it doesn't answer the question.
Who won?
From where I'm sitting, even if the Packers lose to Favre and the Vikings on Sunday, Ted Thompson is clearly the winner.
I don't have to rehash it all for you. You know the backstory.
Thompson came in and started cleaning up the mess left by Mike Sherman, in part by getting rid of veterans and going young.
Favre wanted veterans brought in to help him win. Thompson preached a team-first mantra and toward the end of his Packers career it became clear that Favre thought he should be given special consideration over his teammates.
We all know the story.
When Thompson pushed all his chips in to the middle of the table and traded Favre in favor of Aaron Rodgers, he caught holy hell not only from Packer fans but a good portion of the media.
Rodgers' play and Favre's fade down the stretch during his one season in New York quieted some critics, but then there was his brilliant year in 2009 with the Vikings that threatened to give Favre the victory over Thompson.
Some in the media started up their "I told you so" engines, most notably Jason Whitlock who went so far as to call Thompson a moron and an idiot.
Then, of course, Favre was Favre in the NFC Championship Game.
All the while, Thompson was watching Aaron Rodgers get better and better the more he played. Along with Rodgers' maturation, he went about the task of building a younger roster that could mature together and has positioned the team to be competitive for the next decade.
The window is open wide for a championship run for the next three or four years at least.
It's interesting to note that while Thompson was building the team the way he wanted to, Favre was in Minnesota on a squad built the way he always wanted Green Bay to be - with aggressive trades, big spending in free agency, high draft picks on offensive playmakers. And for one glorious season, it all worked.
But now the piper must be paid. The list of veterans waiting for contract extensions in Minnesota extends out the door of Winter Park.
There's no quarterback to take the reins when Favre is gone for good in 2011. (And don't think for a second that this isn't his last ride on the merry-go-round)
They used a third round pick to acquire a receiver they used for all of four games.
And to top it all off, and what really sets Thompson up for the "win" in my book, is the complete breakdown behind the scenes with the players and Brad Childress.
I don't think you can argue that Favre's me-first attitude has infected the entire building.
Whether its disgruntled vets giving anonymous quotes to a Chicago paper about how they have no respect for Childress or if its Bernard Berrian telling the team he can't gut one out just before kickoff, the lack of heart when it comes to this squad is glaring.
This doesn't even begin to get into Sidney Rice's situation.
The man, by all accounts, is healthy and looks great in practice. But he has refused to be activated because he says he doesn't feel 100 percent.
Of course, as Tom Pelissero pointed out on Transplants on Tuesday night, the behind the scenes chatter is that Rice wants no part of playing for a 3-6 team, injuring himself or having a setback that would end up impacting his impending free agency.
And the sad truth to all of this? The tone was set the moment the Vikings and Brad Childress allowed Brett Favre to do whatever the hell he wants.
It's always all about Favre - it has to be. And now the entire organization is reaping what they've sewn - we saw the start of it this summer when Adrian Peterson didn't show for mini-camp, reportedly disgruntled that his quarterback could sit out the entire offseason, including training camp (not to mention get a substantial raise) while his teammates were in Minnesota working as a team.
Although even that storyline is a bit false, as the Vikings had some 30 veterans miss parts of their offseason program.
Compare that to the culture that Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy have cultivated in Green Bay. Over 90 percent participation rate in their offseason program. A large number of veteran players rewarded with big contracts.
A quarterback set to take his place as one of the better signal callers in the league for the next decade.
If Favre completes that pass in the NFC Championship game, if the Vikings go on and win the Super Bowl - Favre wins. No question in my mind. He proves Thompson wrong, even with all the positive things happening in Green Bay, he would have been able to say - "I had another championship in me and you blew it."
Instead, Favre's desire to "stick it to Ted" has backfired and Favre has lost - and sent the Vikings into a tailspin as a result.
Winner: Ted Thompson.
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