Sorry but Brett leaving isn't going to erase all hes done for Green Bay. Whats gonna happen? He leaves and all of his great performances just disappear? Nothing he does will change what he did in the past. That is set in stone. I honestly don't think Brett cares what people think of his legacy or how his "storybook" should end. He just wants to play the game.
Do you think differently of Hakeem for forcing the Rockets hand? I do. I remember the good times, but also that he acted like a b*tch and didn't go out quietly. His rating went down in my book (not by much) and if Farve goes elsewhere and wins (key point, which Hakeem did not do in Toronto) he will hurt his legacy and reputation in Green Bay. I don't think fans will blame the organization cause it's about effing time Aaron Rodgers gets on the field.
I don't get where all the hate for Favre is coming from on this. He thought he was ready to walk away from the game. He was wrong. He wants to play. This isn't a guy who wants a paycheck, this is a guy who absolutely loves to play football and just isn't ready to be at home in Mississippi. Why should he be forced to stay home if he isn't ready to? He can still play the game he loves and wants to do it. The Packers don't want him back because they are ready to go in a youth direction. So because they don't want him to play anymore, he somehow owes it to them to just stay retired and not do what he loves and wants to do to make life easy for them? They get to be the good guys in this? Makes 0 sense to me. He wants to play. He wants to play in GB. They don't want him back. So he therefore asks for his release so he can control his destiny and play somewhere else that he'll be happy. That somehow translates to "scuminess." Wrong.
Something tells me that most of us would be just like these guys if we were as good. If you were great at the thing you enjoyed most to do in your life for recreation, how easy would it be for YOU to walk away from it?
From rotoworld.com: "Sources close to the situation" insist that under no circumstances will the Packers release Brett Favre from his contract. GM Ted Thompson said as much yesterday, but this report puts it more clearly: a trade is a possibility, but a release simply won't happen. If Favre's agent, Bus Cooke, can't broker a trade, then the Packers will have to decide how they want to proceed with their Hall of Fame quarterback. Jul. 12 - 11:19 am et Source: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Looks like Favre won't be getting his way after all. Either he plays with the Pack or gets traded. He won't be released.
It appears that could be the case ESPN.com reporting... GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers aren't about to let Brett Favre become a free agent. And while he's free to return to Green Bay for another season, there's no guarantee he'll be the Packers' starting quarterback if he does. In an interview with The Associated Press Saturday, Packers general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy said they don't plan to grant Favre the release he is seeking from his contract and are committed to Aaron Rodgers as their starter. "We've communicated that to Brett, that we have since moved forward," Thompson told the AP on Saturday. "At the same time, we've never said that there couldn't be some role that he might play here. But I would understand his point that he would want to play." When asked whether that role might be as a backup or coach, Thompson said: "not a coach." Added McCarthy: "He did ask about that, though." Speaking later to ESPN.com's John Clayton, Thompson said he is prepared to accept Favre's return and not necessarily as a backup. "It's not accurate," Thompson said of the AP report that Favre would come back as a backup. "We don't know what role that would be. He can come back as an active member of the Green Bay Packers." Thompson reaffirmed to ESPN that the Packers won't release Favre. He would not discuss trading the future Hall of Fame quarterback. Thompson said he had not received any inquiries from other teams as of Saturday morning. "I don't want to deal in hypotheticals," Thompson said. "Brett is still retired. I know that there has been a lot of publicity about him being released, but if he applies for reinstatement, he will go back on the Green Bay Packers active roster and we will deal with it then." Rodgers, who is playing in the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship in Lake Tahoe, Calif., is trying to block out the Favre talk. "It's always difficult when your name is in the media all the time and there's a lot of speculation about different things," Rodgers said. "I'm just trying to enjoy the weekend...I'm just focused on that, on working out and going back to Green Bay next week for training camp." On Friday, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported Favre had requested an amicable and unconditional release from the Packers via letter, attributing sources close to the player and team. Neither Thompson nor McCarthy had expressed optimism Tuesday concerning a possible return during a conference call with Favre and his agent, James Cook, according to the sources. Favre, who led the Packers to a Super Bowl title after the 1996 season, held a tearful news conference to announce his retirement March 6. The Packers planned to begin the season with Aaron Rodgers as the starting quarterback. Thompson confirmed he and McCarthy were prepared to meet with Favre, who said he was interested in rescinding his retirement, in late March. Favre cancelled the meeting, telling Thompson and McCarthy that he had changed his mind and wanted to stay retired. Thompson said he and McCarthy were ready to accept Favre's return to the NFL at that time. "Yes, we were going to leave the owners' meeting [in West Palm Bech, Fla.] a day early and fly to Hattiesburg with the idea of sitting down and talking to him about coming back to the team," Thompson said. When Favre cancelled the meeting the Packers mentally moved on with Rodgers as quarterback. Then, the team drafted two quarterbacks -- Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn. Thompson said he still might have drafted a quarterback had Favre returned but he wouldn't have used two draft choices on quarterbacks. But the tone changed dramatically in June, when Packers offensive line coach James Campen said he was getting worried about Favre. McCarthy said he had a phone conversation with Favre on June 20, and the coach said the quarterback sent a clear message: "Give me my helmet or give me my release." Next came a now-infamous text message exchange between Thompson and Favre on July 4. At the time, Thompson didn't think it was a big deal that he wrote Favre back saying he was traveling and asked if they could talk Monday. But then Thompson began getting texts from Cook. Sensing rising tension, Thompson and McCarthy agreed to a conference call with Favre and Cook on Tuesday. Only then, McCarthy said, did Favre say he was 100 percent committed to playing. McCarthy said he doesn't question Favre's commitment to football, but said Favre often brought up the issue himself. "The way he plays the game illustrates the guy is committed," McCarthy said. "(But) those are his words. That was always his final hurdle that he said he had to get over." The hurdle was apparently cleared weeks before the start of training camp. "Was it convincing? I'd say yes," McCarthy said. "But that was the first time, July 8, that I'd ever heard him say [he was committed]. And he continually, from [June] 21 to July 8, told James Campen that he was not going to play. So that's a pretty important piece of the puzzle." Thompson admits this is a distraction. "We don't know where everything is going to go," Thompson said. "It's been a distraction. It's been a distraction for our fans. I'm trying to stay steady and do the right things for the Packers and do the right thing for Brett Favre. I care about the legacy of Brett Favre. I care about the legacy of the Green Bay Packers." From the Packers standpoint, it's a formality that Favre can apply for reinstatement and be granted the chance to return by commissioner Roger Goodell. That could happen as late as July 27 when the Packers are scheduled to report to training camp. The team's first practice is July 28. Favre, who was placed on the reserve-retired list in late April, has three years and $39 million left on his contract with the Packers. To be reinstated, Favre must apply through commissioner Roger Goodell. That would force the Packers to activate the 16-year veteran. McCarthy said he and Thompson were in constant communication with Favre throughout the offseason. "Quite frankly, it's a little gut-wrenching as an organization to go through it, and certainly for Mike and myself," Thompson said. "This stuff hurts a lot of people. I mean, it hurts. I'm not talking about physically hurting, but the sensitivity. We understand where the fans are coming from. This is a hot-button issue that surpasses anything I've ever gone through." ESPN reporters John Clayton and Chris Mortensen and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
They say he's welcome to come back and be the backup? That's hilarious. When did he get beat out for the starting job exactly? GB looks pretty bad by saying that IMO.
No they don't. They're protecting their interests. They don't want Brett to go help another team, thereby hurting themselves in the process. They don't want Favre to suddenly "re-retire" after having been named the starting QB again. I am with GB on this deal, although they should try their BEST to send him to the NFC.
Legacies and athletes "finishing on top" is way overrated. Play until you drop or no one wants you anymore. If no one else can beat you out or do it better than you its your credit, WHEREVER its at.
No joke. They are athletes... the only thing they know is sport... let them play til the wheels fall off... that is how I would want to go out.. how can we expect them to just all the sudden NOT want to play anymore, or compete?
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I've lost all respect for Brett over this. What a jerk-off for what he's trying to do. How the hell did Green Bay not make him feel welcome? They wanted him to come back and he officially retired but they were still giving him chances to come back. Then, they move on and now Brett wants to play but claims GB is not welcoming him back and the relationship has changed. Brett should be a man and just say he wants to play for another team...without all the BS drama. He shot himself in the foot IMO. Does he honestly expect GB to let him walk for free when he is under contract and get nothing in return...after Brett screwed them by unretiring? I can't blame GB for moving on. Brett Favre and Roger Clemens would make great friends from all appearances. They both know how to screw over a team by retiring...and then pick up with another team. It makes one wonder if that wasn't the plan all along.
I think both parties are at fault on this one. Favre's biggest mistake was retiring in March; he knows that, he admitted it. There are plenty of athletes who have made the same mistake. Let's face it, their careers are very short, so it's no wonder they want to prolong it as much as possible (I'm sure any of us would feel the same). He made a snap decision when his emotions (from losing the Championship game, from the team not going hard after Moss, etc) were still high. Now he's had time to really think about it and he's realized what everyone else probably already knew: that he still wanted to play. And let's be clear here; he is grabbing headlines but this isn't Roger Clemens announcing in front of a sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium from the owners box that he's coming back to New York. Hell this situation was going on privately for a month before it even became public. I think this is less of an athlete milking the media attention for all it's worth and more of an athlete genuinely realizing he made a mistake. But he does put Green Bay in a difficult situation to be sure. Now as much as he's put Green Bay in a difficult situation, they haven't been saints in this either. They've done exactly what anyone would have expected them to do when Favre announced he was retiring. They moved on. They gave Rodgers the helm and they drafted some more quarterbacks for insurance. Nothing wrong with that (and Favre's said as much as well). Now I can understand their reluctance to bring Favre back. The team has already moved forward with Rodgers and kicking him to the curb at this point would seem to send a bad example. Plus it could lead to a divided locker room/team (unless of course everyone except Rodgers wants Favre back, in which case it's a no brainer...but still if they're all about winning, then wouldn't the guy who just took you to the NFC Championship put you in the best position to win?). So they'll look to trade him; ok. But teams aren't exactly lighting up the phones...so here's my problem. If they can't work a trade, why not just let him go. I get that you don't want to make other teams, especially ones in your own conference or division, better. But the Packers can bring him back to their team, but are choosing not to; they don't want him. So they're going to take the "if we can't have him no can have him" mindset. You are gonna seriously f*** over one of the most beloved players in your franchise history for complete selfish reasons? Just let him go. If he goes to the Bears or the Vikings and you have to play him twice and possibly in the playoffs, then that's the risk you take. Because remember, you have the chance to welcome him back but you're passing. Or why not let him come back to the team but offer no assurances. Have Rodger's and Favre compete for the starting job in camp (nothing wrong with a little healthy competition). If Rodger's completely outplays Favre, maybe Favre just head back home....controversy over. If Favre outplays Rodger's, then so be it; I don't think Rodger's could complain cause he got beat out fair and square. And if they both play the same; well then go with the younger guy and just release or trade Favre (maybe more teams would be willing to trade for him as the regular season approaches and they still have a gaping hole at quarterback).
