Packers Blew It With Brett Favre
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Gary [email protected]
When he was very young, he and my grandparents moved to Panama, Ill.
When he was a teenager, they moved again, to Phillips, Wis.
My grandparents spent the rest of their lives in Phillips. My dad followed a job to Chicago and then to Plymouth, where I was born.[[In-content Ad]]Why the geography lesson?
Because of the stupid Green Bay Packers trading Brett Favre to the New York Jets, that's why.
You see, my dad was a big St. Louis Cardinals fan. When he moved to Wisconsin in the 1920s, there was no big-league baseball team to follow from Wisconsin, so he stuck with the Cardinals.
And since Green Bay had the Packers, he started following them.
So I grew up a fan of the Cardinals and the Packers. Unlike lots of people in this area - including the two sports guys who work here - I never gave a thought to an allegiance to those crappy teams from Chicago.
I have lots of memories of watching games with dad.
But one of my most vivid Packer memories came when my dad wasn't even there - not in person, anyway.
I was 9 years old. My dad was a supervisor in a foundry in Plymouth. For whatever reason, on Sunday, Dec. 31, 1967, my dad was at the foundry.
I was home watching the Packers play the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field in the National Football League Championship Game.
At the time, I had no idea what I was watching would come to be known as the "Ice Bowl." I had even less an idea that the game - the 35th championship game in NFL history - would end up being widely considered one of the greatest games in NFL history.
It truly is legendary for several reason.
First, there was the importance of the game, since it was the NFL championship that year.
Then, there were the playing conditions. At kickoff, it was minus 13 degrees with a windchill of minus 46.
On top of that, you had the rivalry between the Cowboys and the Packers, which in those days was quite bitter.
Finally, there was the dramatic conclusion.
Bart Starr's 1-yard quarterback sneak on third and goal with 16 seconds left sealed the deal, and the Packers won 21-17 after the extra point.
The reason I have such vivid memories of this game is because my dad called home from work that day a few times for updates.
He called during the last few minutes of the game when Starr was driving the Packers down the field.
I remember watching Starr make that touchdown and shouting, "We won, Dad! We won!" into the phone.
So yeah, I'm a lifelong Packers fan.
All this qualifies me to have an opinion on the abject nonsense that has been going on with the Packers and Favre since the end of last season.
I don't have access to any special information or anything. I don't have a friend of a friend of some insider in the Packers' organization.
I'm just a fan with some observations.
First of all, when Favre threw a season-ending interception in the NFC championship game last January, I told my son something like, "There's no way Favre's going to retire and go out like that." Turns out I was right and wrong at the same time. He retired, but he's not going out like that.
Then, when Favre did his whole tearful retirement speech in March, I thought it was a little weird. First, because I really didn't think he was going to retire and second, because he was so emotional about it.
Then, sometime later, I started reading reports about how the Packers leaned on him. They urged him to hurry up and make a decision to retire "for the good of the team."
Then it started to make sense. I think Favre regretted his decision while he was making it.
I think, deep down, he knew he wanted to keep playing, but he was conflicted because the Packers had made it pretty clear they didn't want him to come back.
I think that's why he was so emotional during his retirement announcement.
I'm pretty confident it wasn't long after his retirement announcement that he intimated to the Packers behind the scenes that he wanted to come back.
I think they probably kept telling him, no, just take some time and think about it. It's the right thing to do "for the good of the team."
Finally, it's push-comes-to-shove time around the first of July and the whole thing gets public.
They offer Favre $25 million to stay retired. That was ignorant. A mental midget knows Favre doesn't need or care about money. He wants to play football.
Favre asks to be reinstated and the NFL obliges him. Finally, the Packers, who, in my view have completely mishandled the thing since the end of last season, have a decision to make - play him, release him or trade him.
So they trade him.
They've moved on.
Now maybe this is just me in my twisted little world, but generally, don't you apply the phrase "move on" to something bad that's happened?
I mean, if somebody says, "Hey, I just won the lottery!" You don't reply, "Well, that's great, but it's time to move on."
What exactly are the Packers "moving on" from?
One of the greatest eras in their history? A deep playoff run? One of the greatest quarterbacks of all time?
Why in the world would anyone want to "move on" past Brett Favre?
I just don't get it. I think the Packers are idiots.
They should never have urged him to retire in the first place. But, failing that, they should have welcomed him back with open arms.
I hear Packers management saying how complex this was, but no. It was simple. Let me boil it down for them.
On the one hand, they have a shoe-in hall-of-famer, 275 consecutive starts without an injury, nine Pro Bowls, three consecutive MVPs, a totally proven winning commodity in great shape with at least two good years left.
He was coming off a season which saw him complete 356 passes (third highest season total in his career) for 4,155 yards (also third highest) for a completion percentage of 66.5 (the highest of his career.) The Packers were 13-3 and one win short of the Super Bowl.
On the other hand, you've got Aaron Rodgers.
This is a tough decision?
Interestingly, if you add up Rodgers' career stats, Favre has a single game that eclipses each of them.
I doubt Rodgers makes it through the season without an injury. Honestly, give Mr. Rodgers a sweater - and a clipboard.
I actually feel sorry for the guy. How bad is it going to be for him to hear all those boos every time he takes a snap at Lambeau?
Go on eBay and check out all the Packers fans selling off their memorabilia. Go the the Green Bay Press-Gazette Web site and check out fans giving up season tickets that were willed to them through multiple generations of their families.
Until Thursday, I never would have considered being a fan of a football team other than the Packers. But now I might have to start watching the Jets.
Or that crappy Chicago team, in hopes they beat up on the Packers.
When he was very young, he and my grandparents moved to Panama, Ill.
When he was a teenager, they moved again, to Phillips, Wis.
My grandparents spent the rest of their lives in Phillips. My dad followed a job to Chicago and then to Plymouth, where I was born.[[In-content Ad]]Why the geography lesson?
Because of the stupid Green Bay Packers trading Brett Favre to the New York Jets, that's why.
You see, my dad was a big St. Louis Cardinals fan. When he moved to Wisconsin in the 1920s, there was no big-league baseball team to follow from Wisconsin, so he stuck with the Cardinals.
And since Green Bay had the Packers, he started following them.
So I grew up a fan of the Cardinals and the Packers. Unlike lots of people in this area - including the two sports guys who work here - I never gave a thought to an allegiance to those crappy teams from Chicago.
I have lots of memories of watching games with dad.
But one of my most vivid Packer memories came when my dad wasn't even there - not in person, anyway.
I was 9 years old. My dad was a supervisor in a foundry in Plymouth. For whatever reason, on Sunday, Dec. 31, 1967, my dad was at the foundry.
I was home watching the Packers play the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field in the National Football League Championship Game.
At the time, I had no idea what I was watching would come to be known as the "Ice Bowl." I had even less an idea that the game - the 35th championship game in NFL history - would end up being widely considered one of the greatest games in NFL history.
It truly is legendary for several reason.
First, there was the importance of the game, since it was the NFL championship that year.
Then, there were the playing conditions. At kickoff, it was minus 13 degrees with a windchill of minus 46.
On top of that, you had the rivalry between the Cowboys and the Packers, which in those days was quite bitter.
Finally, there was the dramatic conclusion.
Bart Starr's 1-yard quarterback sneak on third and goal with 16 seconds left sealed the deal, and the Packers won 21-17 after the extra point.
The reason I have such vivid memories of this game is because my dad called home from work that day a few times for updates.
He called during the last few minutes of the game when Starr was driving the Packers down the field.
I remember watching Starr make that touchdown and shouting, "We won, Dad! We won!" into the phone.
So yeah, I'm a lifelong Packers fan.
All this qualifies me to have an opinion on the abject nonsense that has been going on with the Packers and Favre since the end of last season.
I don't have access to any special information or anything. I don't have a friend of a friend of some insider in the Packers' organization.
I'm just a fan with some observations.
First of all, when Favre threw a season-ending interception in the NFC championship game last January, I told my son something like, "There's no way Favre's going to retire and go out like that." Turns out I was right and wrong at the same time. He retired, but he's not going out like that.
Then, when Favre did his whole tearful retirement speech in March, I thought it was a little weird. First, because I really didn't think he was going to retire and second, because he was so emotional about it.
Then, sometime later, I started reading reports about how the Packers leaned on him. They urged him to hurry up and make a decision to retire "for the good of the team."
Then it started to make sense. I think Favre regretted his decision while he was making it.
I think, deep down, he knew he wanted to keep playing, but he was conflicted because the Packers had made it pretty clear they didn't want him to come back.
I think that's why he was so emotional during his retirement announcement.
I'm pretty confident it wasn't long after his retirement announcement that he intimated to the Packers behind the scenes that he wanted to come back.
I think they probably kept telling him, no, just take some time and think about it. It's the right thing to do "for the good of the team."
Finally, it's push-comes-to-shove time around the first of July and the whole thing gets public.
They offer Favre $25 million to stay retired. That was ignorant. A mental midget knows Favre doesn't need or care about money. He wants to play football.
Favre asks to be reinstated and the NFL obliges him. Finally, the Packers, who, in my view have completely mishandled the thing since the end of last season, have a decision to make - play him, release him or trade him.
So they trade him.
They've moved on.
Now maybe this is just me in my twisted little world, but generally, don't you apply the phrase "move on" to something bad that's happened?
I mean, if somebody says, "Hey, I just won the lottery!" You don't reply, "Well, that's great, but it's time to move on."
What exactly are the Packers "moving on" from?
One of the greatest eras in their history? A deep playoff run? One of the greatest quarterbacks of all time?
Why in the world would anyone want to "move on" past Brett Favre?
I just don't get it. I think the Packers are idiots.
They should never have urged him to retire in the first place. But, failing that, they should have welcomed him back with open arms.
I hear Packers management saying how complex this was, but no. It was simple. Let me boil it down for them.
On the one hand, they have a shoe-in hall-of-famer, 275 consecutive starts without an injury, nine Pro Bowls, three consecutive MVPs, a totally proven winning commodity in great shape with at least two good years left.
He was coming off a season which saw him complete 356 passes (third highest season total in his career) for 4,155 yards (also third highest) for a completion percentage of 66.5 (the highest of his career.) The Packers were 13-3 and one win short of the Super Bowl.
On the other hand, you've got Aaron Rodgers.
This is a tough decision?
Interestingly, if you add up Rodgers' career stats, Favre has a single game that eclipses each of them.
I doubt Rodgers makes it through the season without an injury. Honestly, give Mr. Rodgers a sweater - and a clipboard.
I actually feel sorry for the guy. How bad is it going to be for him to hear all those boos every time he takes a snap at Lambeau?
Go on eBay and check out all the Packers fans selling off their memorabilia. Go the the Green Bay Press-Gazette Web site and check out fans giving up season tickets that were willed to them through multiple generations of their families.
Until Thursday, I never would have considered being a fan of a football team other than the Packers. But now I might have to start watching the Jets.
Or that crappy Chicago team, in hopes they beat up on the Packers.
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