Hillarious to listen to the sports news treat the Favre story as if it were an important question.

He's not trying to get his American citizenship back after defecting to Al Quaeda.  

He just wants to play football a bit more.

Whoop de doo!

Plaag wrote:Would have expected this from King.

ShaneG.

I tend not to rub salt in the wounds of an opposing teams fans.  The Cubbies could easily let it all slip away come the last week of the season.  Wouldnt be the first time that has happened.  

As for Favre.....if he wanted to keep playing football then why did he retire?  The Packers made their decision based on Favre's status as a retired player.  Now they are expected to just roll over and tell Aaron Rodgers "Sorry kid, back to the bench"?  Favre may be the greatest QB ever in some peoples eyes but doesnt he realize how much damage he is potentially causing his reputation by pulling this stunt?  Not that the Packers are making it any easier.  By offering him the supposed marketing deal of $20 million just to stay retired is not only insulting but now that Favre is even considering it makes him look greedy....at least in my opinion.  And if they do eventually let him go and he goes to play for the Vikings, Bucs, or Bears....well either two things will happen.  Either Favre will win with his new team and the Packers organization will look like total idiots, or he will fail and they will still look like idiots for causing the whole mess in the first place.

Frankly I think the most damage being done here is to the Green Bay fans.  They love Brett Favre and now they have to put up with this media frenzy that is going to end up badly no matter the outcome.

Okay, I said I would ask this one day, and now I gonna.

Sports fans: 'splain to me how a good FaVre became FaRve.  A network decision?

It sounds like a good old French (Cajun) name to me, so why not stick with it?  I mean you had a Nascar driver named "Dick Trickle"

Jason:  The Jays!?  Now I'm just sad.

That Canadian "Greyhound Bus Beheading" story is getting more horror storylike.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=608268

   

Kingofpain89 wrote: By offering him the supposed marketing deal of $20 million just to stay retired is not only insulting but now that Favre is even considering it makes him look greedy....at least in my opinion.

Why would it make Favre look greedy?  Or rather, why would that be bad?

The Packers haven't paid Favre all these years because they are kind and loving.

If Favre were to consider $20 million suitable inducement to compensate for his desire to play football....well....he'd be silly not to take it.

Kingofpain89 wrote:
For weeks Brett Favre has cried about retiring too soon.  He says he still has some gas left in the tank and still wants to play.  He has even stated that if the Packers arent going to let him play that he wants to be released so he can play for another team.  There has even been rumor that the reason that he retired before he wanted to is because the Packers organization pressured him to do so.  Now after all this, they are offering him $20 million to stay retired and not play.  But deep down in his heart, he loves the game of football and wants to try and keep that magic going for another year or two right?  Does he really?  Or is $20 million enough to douse the fire that supposedly burns in his belly?

Or maybe its something else.  Maybe Brett is a bad businessman or has a shady accountant and the real reason he wants to "unretire" is that he needs the money?  Play a couple more years and make his normal salary, or take $20 million to stay retired?  The notion that he was seriously considering taking the money makes me think that he isnt being totally honest with the fans and doesnt want to play quite as much as he originally led on.

If he took the $20 million, a good majority of football fans would cry foul.  The act of settling for a sum of money to not play would tarnish the "good guy" image he has sold to the public for the last 17 years.  If someone like Michael Irvin or Brian Bosworth pulled the same type of stunt and took the $20 million....no one would bat an eye, because it would be expected.  These guys didnt play because they loved the game, they played because it made them filthy rich and famous.

He is being reinstated on Monday so we'll see how this all works out.  Tell you one thing, if I was Aaron Rodgers and I was told that I would be riding the bench again this year, I would be talking to my agent about looking for another team to play for.

That being said, Favre is INSANE if he turns down 20 million dollars to stay retired.  Twenty million bucks is twenty million bucks.  Versus the chance to make less money and possibly be injured very badly, it's really no choice.  The only analogy I can think of if someone offered me, say, a million bucks for all my RPG stuff and the promise I'd never collect again....and I said no way, man, I'm a collector and who gives a damn about your money!  Notwithstanding my house could burn down tomorrow and I would lose everything (like Favre could get sacked the first game and break something very badly).  I would have to say if my wife didn't immediately leave me after turning down the offer, it would be logical to question her sanity.....much the same if Bret's wife puts up with this crap.  And let's not even mention Favre stands to collect millions more in the years ahead from lucrative endorsements.

Smart athletes like Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach get out early and avoid the horrific toll of sports related injuries, leaving behind a decent legacy and the ability to make a ton of money with after-football careers.  This Favre stuff looks like it's about ego, pure and simple, and I'm afraid Favre is going to tarnish his legacy like Namath and a few others who stuck in there just a bit too long and became shadows of themselves on the field.

And I would disagree with you about Irvin, King. I've only seen a very few athletes that loved the game as much as Michael.  Everyone he played with comments on the intensity he both played AND practiced with, and he was one of those "first on the field last off" during practice types.  Guys like Emmitt Smith, Troy and Daryl Johnston absolutely worshipped the guy when they played with him and still talk good about him now.  If they'd thought he was a lazy hotdog you would have heard something by now.  The worst the dude ever did, when you get down to it, was snort cocaine and cheat on his wife, which immediately places him in the bottom 50% of scumbags in the NFL who did that PLUS beat their girlfriends/wives, assault bystanders, shoot people, drive drunk and kill people, and smuggle a half ton of week (like his buddy Nate Newton....what an idiot).

If you want a guy with a ton of talent who didn't give a crap and played for the money look no further than someone like Deion Sanders.  He won the genetic lottery and everything came easy to him, and he made a ton of money while working very little on improving his game.  He absolutely stole 1.5 million his last year with the Ravens as he sat around getting burned like a forest fire by wide receivers in that 2004 season.

Mike B.

First off Favre CONSIDERING 20 million not to come back proves to me that he simply has a lot of sense.
Not that he is greedy and it's all about the money for him.

Favre is not now and NEVER has been in it for the money, playing the game is what Favre is all about and it has always been that way for him.
Any True Green Bay Packers fan and certainly all Favre fans know this to be true.

That 20 million dollar so-called "no show bonus" would be about the value (including signing bonus money) of 2 years of his highest salary amount, so it is not exactly a fortune in NFL dollars.

However; The 20 million was not the one-time money up front no show bonus that is being talked about through the media.
It was a time structured marketing agreement in which Favre would have worked for several YEARS as a team promotional mascot to earn that money.

Yes, it is still a HUGE stack of money, and as I said he would have been a total fool not to take a few days to think about his future and what was being offered.

And Yes, I would take a lot less to not show up for work anytime, but I am not a walking legend nor a shoe in first ballot Hall of Fame QB in the NFL either.

Favre will show up at camp today and he will have to compete for a roster spot just like rookies and walk on players.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/25919544/

There are no practices scheduled for today, so the media will be allowed to make additional bad comments and jokes at his expense.
They will continue to talk about a man who clearly loves the game FOR the game.

It has never been about the money for Favre.

Many fail to remember Favre restructuring his contract twice that I recall (1999/2000 and 2006/2007) the last time was just before training camp one year ago.
He and his agent negotiated a MAJOR re-structuring of his contract in order for the team to be able to stay under the cap (Another NFL Insanity) and still obtain better Pro Level players for the TEAMs best interest.

All that said, the other so-called QB in the packer roster could have left the team for greener pastures years ago.

IMO: If Favre is still mentally and physically able to perform his job, he should be allowed the chance to do so for the team he played with for so many years.
And, if not, then he should be allowed to play for some other team.

There is no doubt Favre is aging and that he cannot possibly keep up (physically) with a healthy 25 year old NFL player, but that 25 year old would not stand a chance at competing with him mentally.

Favre knows football, like no other QB playing today and physicality is not the entirety of the QB job by a long shot.

If he didn't prove that to everyone last year (and in previous years) then you were not paying attention when he was on the field.

Crazy
Possibly NOT WORK SAFE (due to comments below the article)

Not sure if WotC has anything about this yet.

ShaneG.

Aneoth wrote:
There is no doubt Favre is aging and that he cannot possibly keep up (physically) with a healthy 25 year old NFL player, but that 25 year old would not stand a chance at competing with him mentally.

Favre knows football, like no other QB playing today and physicality is not the entirety of the QB job by a long shot.

If he didn't prove that to everyone last year (and in previous years) then you were not paying attention when he was on the field.

Favre has NOTHING left to prove. He's won a superbowl, numerous MVPs, and is a first ballot no brainer hall of famer.  He has so many records that may never be broken it's ridiculous.  

Do you think any less of Roger Staubach or Troy Aikman?  Both athletes retired at the peak of their careers, before injury had taken a toll, but each possibly having 2-3 years left of quality play.  Because they didn't subject themselves to more physical abuse are they less of a competitor than Favre? I don't think so. This entire "I'm going to retire, I'm going to play, I'm retired, no I want to play now" circus reeks of someone who just can't let go.  Someone he trusts or looks to for advice really needs to sit him down and say "Look me in the eye and tell me that getting your leg broken, a serious concussion, or god help us a serious back or neck injury is worth stroking your ego another year?"

I think he gets a ton of leeway because he IS "Bret Favre".  Which is fine because of what he's done for the Packers and the NFL he's entitled. But my question then is why retire in the first place?  I find it hard to believe Favre was forced into it by management like he claims.  Why take so long to suddenly tell everyone "I'm back!"  It just doesn't make sense.  What would we think of Michael Strahan if he announced tomorrow he was showing up at Giants training camp?  We'd roll our eyes.  

It would be ok with me to see Bret play more; hell, he's NEVER won a game at Texas Stadium, I'd love to close out that place beating him again in an NFC championship game    But I just think in this case he's takin an unnecessary risk to prove something he doesn't need to prove.

Mike B.