I've said it before, I'll say it again. I've been a Packer fan for about eleven years now, and whatever Favre decides to do or not do is his fucking business. He's not holding out. He's not holding the team hostage. They've already said that they're preparing Aaron Rodgers to be the starting quarterback for opening day, so what's the issue? His status does not affect their draft strategy. It does not affect the team. All this bullshit in the media about how he's being 'selfish' is just that--bullshit. You want the real reason why it's a big deal? It's a big deal because nobody in the media will shut up about it. It's a big deal because they're making it a big deal. Favre will make his decision when he's ready. I sincerely doubt he's waiting for the team to make some dramatic move. The best they're going to do from here on out is sign Charles Woodson, and maybe Jeff Faine. I guarantee that's not his concern. My money is on him not wanting to go through another season like last year. A season which saw something like a third of the starting offense suffer decimating injuries. A season riddled with close, gut-wrenching losses. The guy wants to win. What the fuck is wrong with that?
Frankly, I want nothing more than for Favre to return. I think you send Walker away, and you do your best to grab A.J. Hawk with the fifth pick. Ben Taylor, Nick Barnett and A.J. Hawk suddenly looks like a pretty decent linebacking corps. You make a run at Woodson and get some much-needed veteran presence in the defensive backfield. You've got Kampman, Pickett and KGB on the line. Sounds like a solid, middle-of-the-pack defense to me. The only real concern on offense (in my opinion) is the offensive line, and I think the holes can be filled through the draft. Don't get me wrong--I certainly don't see this as anything more than a 9-7, maybe 10-6 team (even with everyone healthy). But 9-7/10-6 can get you into the playoffs. Had Green Bay's season not been so thoroughly shat upon by the fates last year, had they had a merely mediocre season or maybe a first-round exit from the playoffs, I don't think we'd be having this discussion. He would have waved his little hat and walked off the field. I think he entered last year thinking exactly that. "We've got a chance to be a very good team again. I'll give it one last shot." They then proceeded to suffer through the team's only losing season in Favre's 14 years there. To expect a guy like Brett Favre to hang 'em up after a season like that is ludicrous. Almost as ludicrous as expecting him to put his 36-year-old body on the line for another 16+ games without being absolutely certain he's prepared to do that.
The most amusing (and sickening) thing about this whole mess is how pathetically fickle the media can be. When Favre was winning, when he was on Monday Night Football tearing the Raiders to ribbons after his father's death, their tongues were all so far up his ass that they could tell what kind of toothpaste he was using. It was fashionable to love him then, and - somehow - it is now fashionable to shit on him. These brainless fucking simps like Cowherd on 1460 who speak of the situation as if they're being personally slighted by Favre's indecision--they're all the same. Skip Bayless, Trev Alberts, Screamin' A. Smith...they are all the fucking same. They know that the best way to keep people listening to their drivel (and I'm not innocent--I listened to Cowherd's ramblings for about five full minutes this afternoon) is to say the most irrational, illogical shit possible. This horse's ass was seriously suggesting that the Packers would be better off next year without Favre. That he's nothing more than a "stubborn, aging gunslinger" who throws a ton of picks. Whatever. There is clearly going to be no end to this nonsense until the end of this upcoming football season. It won't end with his decision. If he stays, he'll be hearing, "Do you think you did the right thing?" all year (unless they rattle off seven or eight straight wins to open the season). If he retires, he'll be hearing, "Do you think you did the right thing?" all year (unless they rattle off seven or eight straight losses to open the season). Honestly, though, it seems like the media has turned it into a lose-lose situation for him now. If he comes back (and I believe he will), anything short of a Super Bowl appearance will be perceived by the media as a failure. Coincidentally, I would imagine that anything short of a Super Bowl victory would be perceived by Favre as a failure. The difference is that Brett Favre has every right to criticize Brett Favre. Everyone else, I say, can go fuck themselves.
I'm losing more and more respect for him each day.
Drats! Got me again.
