Kids grill McCarthy about Favre comeback rumors

Tag : black & green

After McCarthy dodged a few more questions about Favre _ Why did hequit? How old is he, anyway? _ one child asked the coach if hewould sign their T-shirts.
"Sure," he joked. "It's better than answering these questions."
McCarthy later waved off questions from reporters about the Favresituation, saying it wasn't the right time or place to discuss it.
It's a sticky situation for the Packers.
If Favre really is feeling the "itch" to play again after retiringin March, as was reported by ESPN last week, do they welcome himback with open arms? Or is it time to move on with his designatedsuccessor, Aaron Rodgers _ even if that leaves open the possibilityof Favre playing for another team?
To date, McCarthy's answers to the kids Wednesday remain the onlypublic comments from the coach or general manager Ted Thompsonsince the latest round of reports and rumors of a potential Favrecomeback surfaced last week.
Tuesday night, Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy said he doesnot believe Favre will return to the team.
"It's a very delicate situation, because he has such a specialplace in Packers history," the Green Bay Press-Gazette reportedMurphy said at a charity auction in Fond du Lac, Wis.
"No player leaves the game gracefully. It's kind of the nature ofwhat makes great players great, is they're competitors and theyalways want to compete and they want that next challenge, and it'shard to find that next thing that's going to give you thatexcitement and adrenaline. That's what we're seeing a little bithere."
Rodgers, who has spent the offseason preparing as the starter, alsois trying to avoid the subject.
"I've been up in the mountains hanging out with my family, so I'vebeen pretty immune to any media reports out there," Rodgers said ona conference call promoting the American Century Championship golftournament.
But former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer, who was on the conferencecall along with Rodgers, said a Favre comeback would be frustratingand disappointing to Rodgers.
"Obviously Brett holds all the cards here," Dilfer said. "But atthe same time, like anything, you deal with it. And just becauseBrett came back, if Brett were to come back and play and start andall those things, (you're) always one snap away. I know we'resaying that about the most durable football player in the historyof the NFL, but things change very quickly in this league."
No kidding.
Favre sobbed in his retirement news conference March 6, saying,"It's been a great career for me, and it's over." But the tearshardly had dried before reports and rumors surfaced that he washaving second thoughts.
In early April, Thompson dismissed a report in the Los AngelesTimes that Favre's representatives were exploring a comeback withanother team.
Later that month, after the Packers officially placed Favre on thereserve/retired list, Favre admitted he was having second thoughts.
"There are always second thoughts, but that's not saying I amcoming back," he said. "It's never a clear-cut decision. It'ssomething I can't expect everyone to understand."
Then Favre told the Gulfport (Miss.) Sun Herald that he'd betempted to come out of retirement if Rodgers was injured.
The latest round of Favre speculation kicked off last week, whenESPN reported that Favre had told McCarthy he was feeling the"itch" to play again. But the Packers don't seem to be trippingover themselves to get Favre back in the fold, leading tospeculation about rising tension between the quarterback and theteam.
Favre hasn't spoken publicly about the latest reports, beyondtelling the Sun Herald that the speculation is "all rumor" and thatthere was "no reason" for a media circus.
As for young Miranda, sporting a green Care Bears T-shirt and blackcurly hair, she only asked McCarthy about Favre because her momwanted to know.
"If Brett Favre comes back, that would be fine," she said. "If hedoesn't come back, that would be all right, too."
And she seemed to hope for a better answer than the one she got.
"Well, I was thinking that he had probably answered that, a yes orno question, or maybe called up Favre or something," she said.
But Miranda's best friend, 10-year-old Lexi Novitski, hopes for areturn.
"I want Brett Favre to come back," she said. "I'm excited for thefootball season to start."
John Benberg, the club's executive director, said he wasn'tsurprised the children had such direct questions for the coach.
"Our kids are very bright, interesting, sometimes hard-core bunch,"Benberg said. "They don't mince any words when they ask theirquestions _ which is the way it ought to be, I think, when you're 8or 10."
If only it were that simple for adults.