Straight From the Horse Mouth v2.0

Tag : Brad Point Bits

I guess three months or so is a good time to end my self-inducedESPN boycott. Particularly for something this good.
Kevin Seifert, formerly of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, recentlyjoined ESPN and has been covering the NFC North for them. Heposted a story today about the Packers and Brett Favre agreeingthat Favre shouldn't show up at training camp today . The second half of the story is where things get interesting. ..so, let's break it down a bit.
Favre would not admit that the Vikings are his preferred team ofchoice but he confirmed he has spoken with Childress and admittedas much to both Goodell and NFL director of security Milt Alherich.The Packers filed a tampering complaint against the Vikings.
"I have never denied talking to Childress," said Favre. "I've known [Childress] for about 12 years going back to when heand Jay Norvell were assistants at Wisconsin and they used to comein and sit in our quarterback meetings. And then Brad went toPhiladelphia to be with Andy Reid and, you know, Andy and I are bigbuddies so the relations continued.
But. . .but. . .but. . .I thought Brett Favre and Brad Childressdidn't HAVE a relationship prior to this off-season! I thoughtthat the evil, nefarious Brad Childress was simply trying to lurehim out of retirement to give the Packers a hard time. At least,that's what Ted Thompson would have us believe.
'Like I told Milt and like I told the commissioner, I've spoken toChildress. I've spoken to Darrell Bevell [Vikings offensivecoordinator], I've spoken to Andy Reid, I've spoken to MikeSherman, Matt Millen, Steve Mariucci ... I've spoken to a lot ofguys who are my friends and guys who have coached me, either talkedto them or left messages."
Favre claims that his communications with many of those coaches,including Childress, was a matter of seeing if it was within reasonto change his mind about retirement.
"I called them and asked them, 'Am I crazy? Am I wrong for pushingthis? Can I still play the game? Should I let it die? I mean, Ithink you know what the answer is. I can still play. I said it whenI retired [in March]. Now I've had a change of heart about playingbut I've always known I can still play."
So. . .Favre has talked to people currently in the employ of thePhiladelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions. He was also seen havingdinner with the owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (who,incidentally, appear to be the leaders in the clubhouse to acquireFavre's services should Green Bay trade him), and I'd be willing toguess that he's talked to Mike Holmgren since he retired, too.
Which leads me to ask. . .where are the tampering charges against Philadelphia , Detroit , Tampa Bay , and Seattle ?
What? We're getting to that? Oh, okay then.
Favre said Alherich asked him point-blank if Childress or anybodywith the Vikings enticed him to play again.
"I told Milt, 'No, I wasn't [enticed],'" said Favre. "I told Milt and Roger Goodell that if talking to teams istampering, then there's about seven-to-10 teams that are guilty oftampering. But Brad isn't going to try to entice me because he knows thateven if he wanted me to play there, it's not going to happen. ThePackers aren't going to let that happen.
So, apparently 7 to 10 teams are actually guilty of tampering withFavre. . .but only one of those teams is worthy of having chargesfiled against them, and the other 6 to 9 teams can just skipmerrily along, completely scot-free.
Why, yes, this makes perfect sense. At least, in Ted Thompson'sworld it makes perfect sense.
" So Brad and I, yeah, we talk and we exchange text messages. ThePackers know that. After we beat them last year, Brad sent me a text message, teasingme how a gray-haired quarterback could still play. And the Packerswere aware of that because I shared a laugh with 'em about that."
Oh, I get it. . .so the Packers KNEW that Favre had a previousrelationship with Childress, and then proceeded to act like theydidn't. That seems a bit curious, don't you think?
Favre adamantly denied reports that the Packers had evidence of hiscommunications with Childress because they had the phone recordsfrom Favre's team-issued cell phone.
" That's just bogus," said Favre. "I don't have a Packers' cellphone. Never have. I told Ted [on Thursday] that he and [coach Mike] McCarthy neededto clear up this cell phone thing. I told him they needed to get infront of the media and admit that I don't have one of their cellphones. And Ted said, 'Well, I think somebody already squashed that[story].' But that isn't enough. They need to get up and admit it'sridiculous and bogus. "
Well, you see Brett, that's not going to happen, largely because itwould require Ted Thompson or Mike McCarthy to show some sort oftesticular fortitude. . .an area that, obviously, both of those"men" are completely and totally lacking in. They would ratherhave someone else take the heat for their own shortcomings thantake the bullet themselves.
In a way, I almost. . .almost. . .feel sorry for Brett Favre in allof this. He's spent the last few years playing for a jackass GMthat's tried every trick in the book to try to ease him out ofGreen Bay, all while being one of the (if not THE) most belovedplayer in Green Bay Packers history. And, for the coup de grace,said GM decides that rather than admit that he's handled the entiresituation with his quarterback incredibly badly, he decides he'dmuch rather give ol' Brett a nice, firm shove under the businstead, and try to drag another franchise down into the morasswith him.
(Sympathy for Favre? For crying out loud. . .I'm going to have togo watch a Disney movie or something now to cleanse my soul.)
In light of this article, I can't see any possible way that theVikings can be found guilty of anything. They, from all accounts,haven't done anything wrong, and the Packers have absolutely,positively no proof that either the Vikings or Favre actually didanything wrong.
Hopefully, Roger Goodell will make this go away very quickly, andwe can all put the blame back where it belongs. . .which isapproximately 200 miles east of the Twin Cities.