Perspective from a Packfan

By this point in time the fact that Brett Favre has joined the Minnesota Vikings is old news. However, being a huge Favre fan and an even bigger Packers fan I would be amiss if I didn’t address this situation. This is obviously a conflict of interest for me. Brett Favre is my hero. He has been ever since I was a little kid. Last summer when he and the Packers filed for divorce I had mixed feelings. I still loved him but I didn’t really want him back. I wanted him to stay retired. Management told him they wanted him back right after he threw that fateful interception in overtime of the NFC Championship game against the Giants; the same interception that lead to the greatest upset in Super Bowl history. But he didn’t want to come back. He opted to retire so the Packers moved on with Aaron Rodgers who appears to be a budding superstar.

To be quite honest though I don’t think Packers GM Ted Thompson really handled the Favre debacle in the best way possible. Thompson’s theory on Brett Favre last off-season appeared to be “he’s not good enough to play for us, but is too good to play for a division rival.” Personally I think that Thompson should have had the gumption to trade Favre to Minnesota last off-season. He should have had enough confidence in the team that he assembled himself to let Favre go to the Vikings without fear that he would lose to them. Rather, he traded Favre to the Jets for a conditional draft pick that the Packers would eventually use to trade back into the first round and draft linebacker Clay Matthews Jr.; but I digress. The trade that put Favre in a different shade of green even included a clause stating that the Jets would give the Packers two first round draft picks if they turned around and traded Favre to a division rival of the Packers. The point is that Ted Thompson was terrified that Favre would terrorize the Packers if traded to a team on the Packers schedule. The whole thing made both Favre and Thompson look foolish.

Meanwhile Favre had a solid start with the Jets, leading them to an 8-3 record, including setting a career mark for touchdown passes in a game (6) against the Arizona Cardinals. However, Favre struggled mightily over the last five games of the season going 1-4, throwing more interceptions than touchdowns, and missing the playoffs.
In Green Bay Aaron Rodgers was making Ted Thompson look smart. He out-Favred Favre as he started all 16 games, played through the pain of a separated shoulder, and threw more touchdowns and fewer interceptions than Favre. However the Packers stout defense of the season before fell apart and Green Bay finished with a 6-10 record. So who won the battle of egos between Favre and Thompson? Aaron Rodgers, that’s who.

So now Favre is back again after another summer of “Will he or won’t he?” It was a summer in which Favre retired, thought about coming out of retirement, decided to stay retired, and then came back again. The majority of the sporting world thinks that Favre has forever tarnished his legacy with his indecisiveness and wishy-washiness. Fans grew weary of the continuous coverage of the Favre saga. I’m not sure why he came back, but I there are several plausible theories.

Theory One: He wants revenge on the Packers.

I think that this is only part of the reason why he came back. I am of the belief that the only member of the Packers organization against which Favre harbors some type of resentment is Thompson. I think that there is not a player on the Packers roster that Favre dislikes. I still think that Favre has an enormous amount of respect and admiration for the Packers and their fans. So does he want to stick it to Ted Thompson a little bit? Probably. But I don’t think that’s his main motivation for coming back.

Theory Two: He doesn’t want to go out the way he did.

Again, this is probably only part of the reason. I think that part of the reason he came back last year was because of the interception he threw against the Giants even though he denied that was the case. I also think that he didn’t like retiring after a collapse of historic proportion last season. I remember watching his final plays of last season against the Miami Dolphins as he threw around the ball just trying to make something happen with lateral after lateral. It was actually semi-pathetic. I think that he would like to leave the football field itself with some dignity even if he’s lost all of it off the field.

Theory Three: He wants to win another Super Bowl.

This is a big reason why he wanted to come back. He wanted to play for Minnesota last season because he thought they had a chance to go all the way and all they needed was a quarterback. If he really believed that he could win a championship with the Jets he’s lying. The Vikings have the best running game in the NFL with Adrian Peterson, a solid defense, and he already knows the offense having run it for 16 years with the Packers. Why wouldn’t he want to play quarterback for the Vikings? All Favre is going to have to do is hand the ball off to Peterson or Chester Taylor and throw enough to keep defenses honest. He has a much better chance to win a championship this year than he did last year. He got so close with the Packers two years ago that he got the same feeling that he had 13 years ago when he beat the Patriots and then lost to the Broncos in the big game. He really wants a second ring and that’s a big reason why he came back with Minnesota. He thinks he can win with them.

Theory Four: He doesn’t know what to do with himself.

In my opinion this is the main reason he wanted to come back. For the past 18 years all he’s known is football. He doesn’t know how to be anything other than an NFL quarterback. He doesn’t know what to do with himself. There’s only so much grass to be cut and golf to be played. He gets bored. He doesn’t know how to live in the real world. He sits on his leather sofa watching preseason games and training camp coverage on his 60+ inch plasma HDTV and wonders “what if?” So rather than wondering “what if” he does something about it and comes back so that he doesn’t have to wonder “what if.” That is something that I admire. He has the courage to realize what he wants and go get it.

Theory Five: All of the above.

THIS is why he wants to come back. He wants a little revenge on Ted Thompson, he wants to go out in a respectable manner on the field, he wants to win a championship, and he doesn’t know how to be anything other than Brett Favre. That’s why he’s coming back to the Vikings.

So how does this affect Packer nation? I am a firm believer in team over player regardless of who the player is. If you are a true fan you stick with your team regardless of who suits up for them. Favre said in his press conference yesterday that “If you’re a true Packers fan, you understand.” Well Brett, you’re right. I completely get it. I know you want to play so you did what you had to in order to make that happen. Sure, you take your time to make your decision, but you’ve earned that right. You are the most accomplished quarterback in NFL history. I know that you want to make sure that you’ve made the right decision before you make it, which is why you go back and forth. There is nothing wrong with taking your time to make important decisions. I wish more people would think before making decisions.

So is it going to be weird when Favre comes out of the visitor’s locker room at Lambeau Field wearing a purple helmet? Yes. Is it going to make some Packers fans resent him? Probably. But is it the end of the world? No. As a Packers fan I am excited to see Favre play again. I am going to buy a purple Favre jersey and hang it on the wall next to the two green ones I already have. But as excited as I am about Favre I am more excited about Aaron Rodgers. He is going to be great and has learned a lot from Favre. The atmosphere of the two games between the Packers and Vikings is going to be unbelievable as Favre faces off against the young QB that I know he had a positive influence on. I hope that Brett Favre succeeds this season and I will always stick up for him. Having said that, I hope the Packers beat him twice in the regular season and then again in the playoffs. It is certainly going to be interesting to watch all of this play out. Welcome to football season. Sit back and enjoy the ride.