Miasmatic Review

Favre, Thompson and McCarthy.

I’ve been waiting to comment on this until it played out, and now it has. Brett Favre has been traded to the NY Jets. I’m so pissed off on so many different levels that it’s hard to explain. First off, if you want to know the truth I blame Favre, McCarthy and Thompson for the whole deal. Actually I think at least 40-50% of the blame lies solely on Favre’s shoulders. For those of you Favre fans that are about to lay into me, let me start off by saying two things. The man acted like a giant primadonna with his retirement thing for the last couple of years and the Packers gave him plenty of a chance to come back. He just waited until they had moved on before changing his mind.

When he retired, I believe that he truly wanted to retire. That he was done with football as a player. I figured he’d be around doing promotions and commentary, but he wouldn’t don pads and a helmet again. His retirement speech was too full of emotion for it to just be an act. He had been contemplating retirement for years and at the time he made the decision he truly did what he thought was best for him and his family. I respected him for that, I’d miss him, but I respected him.

Now we can look at the infamous timeline. Some say the timeline is full of crap, others believe it. Personally I think there is a lot of truth. Rumors of him coming out of retirement were squashed by Brett himself when he stated, “it’s all rumor”. He denied he was coming out of retirement in early June. Then in July he announces he is going to come out of retirement… right before training camps. By this time all of the plans had been set. The Packers couldn’t sit around waiting and hoping for Brett to decide if he was going to actually come out of retirement. So they moved on. They drafted based on him not being back, did free agency that way, etc. They planned to move on. It takes a pretty big megalomaniac to figure that an entire team is going to put their future on hold to wait on what he might do.

Then he talks about how he was disrespected. How about the disrespect and hurt he did to not only the team but also the fans? He was… is a hero and Lambeau Legend to most Packer fans and even some football fans. For him to sit here and play his game isn’t fair to them either. I guess he doesn’t owe us anything, I mean he did give us 16 years of joy and memories. He does have to look out for him and his family.

As for McCarthy and Thompson, those two could have handled this so much better. I mean c’mon, this is Brett Favre. He is the man, the myth, the legend and face of the Packers. If he wants to come back, give the guy a shot. I agree in not just releasing him, which would have been stupid. You can’t risk a divisional rival to pick him up. But honestly, if you don’t think he can do it, then open up the starting QB position to a competition. Maybe Favre has decreasing skills, but maybe he’s still better than Rodgers. We wouldn’t know until you put them into a fair and equal competition. If Favre won’t put his skills to the test against Rodgers, than let him ride bench. If he does and wins, he’s your man. It doesn’t take Rocket Surgery to figure that bit out.

As for the Minnesota Viking tampering charges, Goodall says it didn’t happen. I think there wasn’t enough evidence to prove it. There had to be some catalyst for Favre getting out. I mean he obviously wanted out of Green Bay; the Vikes gave him a place. He decided to come out of retirement. There was the comment that he would like to play against Green Bay twice… how’s that for loyalty? Anyway, that’s water under the bridge and I’m not dwelling on it.

To say that I feel hurt, betrayed and am saddened by the outcome is an understatement. I never thought I would see Favre play in a uniform other than a Packer’s uniform. Now that it is going to happen, it’s like being betrayed by your best friend. Some people say this isn’t going to hurt his legacy, but I think it will. At least in this fan’s eyes it’s tarnished. I still have respect and brotherly love for him, I’m just hurt.

Oh, and to all the Packer fans booing Rodgers, take a note. This wasn’t his decision. He’s just a pawn in the show. Grow up and give the guy a break. Destroying his confidence now is not going to help the team any.