Jackson Free Press

After Packer president Mark Murphy flew down to Hattiesburg Tuesday night to offer Brett $20 million over 10 years to stay away from football, it has become more clear than ever the Packer brass doesn't understand Brett. Or maybe they just don't want to understand him. It is clear, even to me, an outsider by all means, that Brett Favre has plenty of money and that his reasoning for wanting to return after a tearful farewell to football is not to make more money. He has an "itch to play" as John Clayton astutely put it on Sportscenter today.

The facet of the situation to me that is the most befuddling is that the Packer staff will not even allow Brett to compete for his job. That seems only fair that for him to have the opportunity to go up against Aaron Rodgers for a chance to play at QB. While the thought of Brett Favre competing with a rookie for a chance under center playing for the green and gold is not only foreign and confusing, it seems like the only solution at this time. It is also stupid to deny a man among the greats of all time at what he does a chance to prolong his legacy.

Letting Brett play is a no-lose situation for the Packers. If he performs as well as he has for the past few seasons, the team has a chance at the Super Bowl again. If he has a rough couple of starts, as I doubt he would, then the Packer administration can say "I told you so" all the way to putting in Rodgers.

On the other hand, a season with Aaron Rodgers is one doomed from the start. I have nothing against Rodgers as an athlete, quarterback, or person. I have an issue with the situation that will surround his first season. If he falters, the fans (and stakeholders) will overwhelmingly clamor for Brett's return. If he succeeds, I suspect many still will feel he's not as good at Brett could have been.

And something that should not be overlooked is the possibility of Brett Favre's consecutive games streak ending with him healthy, standing on the sidelines with a clipboard in hand. Somehow, I can't fathom how that could happen. Personally, I would not want to be the quarterback that took Favre's place and left him (literally) out in the cold.

Finally, with all the Packer management's complaining about how drawn-out this process has been, the fact is, they are the ones that made it so. Brett decided he wanted to come back. When presented with that situation, they didn't handle his request to return quickly, respectfully, or anything close to properly. Immediately publicly acknowledging his wishes instead of trying to pretend they didn't exist would have been the best way to begin the process. Instead, they decided to turn this into a cloak and dagger situation that only made it that much more desirable to the media. Now it has blown up so much that it has climbed into the Major League Baseball arena. Last night, amidst rumors of his trade from the Red Sox, Manny Ramirez held up a hand-written sign suggesting he'll be traded to Green Bay for Favre.

Either way, the fact remains: the man can still play, so why not let him?

Previous Comments

ID

132705

Comment

I AGREE. LET FAVRE PLAY.

Author

optimisticaboutNewJackCity

Date

2008-07-31T19:22:32-06:00

ID

132735

Comment

Favre is Missisippi's greatest quarterback ever and one of the best the nation has ever seen. I beleive he plays football because he's a born football player who can barely exist without the game. It's refreshing to have quarterbacks like him and Steve McNair, two real men who gave the game all they had without laying down, crying and blaming others like that other Mississippi perennial loser, Archie Manning, always did. Will he ever let Eli do a commercial without him sticking his ugly face in it? Go Alcorn and Southern Mississippi. Southern Mississippi also produced Ray Guy, a great kicker/punter.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-08-01T14:07:00-06:00

ID

132771

Comment

Brett may play after all. See statement released by Packers today from President Mark Murphy: "Sixteen years after Brett Favre came to the Packers, he is returning for a seventeenth season. He has had a great career with our organization and although we built this year around the assumption that Brett meant what he said about retiring, Brett is coming back. We will welcome him back and turn this situation to our advantage. "Frankly, Brett's change of mind put us in a very difficult spot. We now will revise many actions and assumptions about our long-term future, all predicated on Brett's decision last March to retire. As a result of his decision, we invested considerably in a new and different future without Brett and we were obviously moving in that direction. That's why this wasn't easy. Having crossed the Rubicon once when Brett decided to retire, it's very difficult to reorient our plans and cross it again in the opposite direction - but we'll put this to our advantage. "Brett will be in camp tomorrow. Although there has been uncertainty regarding Brett's return, Ted Thompson and Coach McCarthy had previously discussed this and have had a plan in place. Coach McCarthy will talk to the team and the quarterbacks about the plan moving forward, and after he has done that we will share it publicly. "No matter what, I look forward to another successful season for the Packers and our fans. This has been a tough situation, but the Packers will make the most of it." Read: Brett likely gets to compete for his job. Finally, some sense.

Author

nataliec

Date

2008-08-03T17:09:02-06:00

ID

132880

Comment

It is being reported that Brett is likely on his way to the New York Jets or Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I hope he goes to New York so Mississippi will finally have a star playing in New York. That other boy (Eli) is from Loose-Ana not Mississippi. We want the real thing representing us Mississippians.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-08-06T10:50:01-06:00