There has to be more to this whole Brett Favre story than we really know right now. Because how is it possible that one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, maybe the greatest Packer ever, isn't given at least a chance to compete for his old job?
I have the feeling that Brett must have been pressured into retiring. When I retired, I was done. I couldn't throw. My body said I was done. I had no choice and never looked back, but Brett had a great year last season. I know he threw that interception against the Giants at the end of the NFC title game, but that isn't enough to say he's a declining player. I don't how you can label him a loser because they lost to the Giants and he didn't play well in the second half. As I recall, Tom Brady lost to the Giants, too.
I was at the Hall of Fame luncheon today in Canton and most of the former players I talked to thought it was insulting that the Packers are offering him some marketing deal worth $20 million not to play. How dare they do that simply to keep him from playing?
The other thing is: How can Packers coach Mike McCarthy really believe that Aaron Rodgers is better than Brett because of how Rodgers has performed in seven-on-seven drills in mini-camps? That's how he won the job — on the practice field!
What's wrong with allowing Brett to come back and at least compete for his old job? Let the fans and coaches see who is the better quarterback. And if they are so worried about letting him compete in Green Bay, then let Brett go play somewhere else even if it means Minnesota.
A lot of great quarterbacks — Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Bert Jones and Joe Montana — finished their careers with another team. So what Brett is asking to do — to play somewhere else — is not that unusual. It didn't work out for all of those guys, but they still wanted to play and I think that's every player's right to make that decision.
I don't know how this is going to end. I still can't believe that the Packers aren't going to allow performance on the practice field, in training camp, to decide who gets the play. In the NFL, I thought the best player played.
The Packers have a real dilemma on their hands. If Brett doesn't take this money, still asks to play for the Vikings and Green Bay doesn't let him, that franchise jeopardizes its relationship with one of its greatest players.
I mean, if Brett leaves the game angry, he may stay away from Green Bay forever. The hope is that within five years, he will be going into the Hall of Fame and the Packers would want to be a big part of that. But right now, it looks like the Packers have a lot of patching up to do.
Play FOX FANTASY FOOTBALL TODAY!
