I can honestly say that during Brett Favre’s 47 year career with the Green Bay Packers my opinions about him never went further than “he’s real good.”  Being an AFC guy,  I never particularly went out of my way to watch Favre torch the Panthers during the morning games on FOX.  Over the past year, particularly the past few weeks, my opinions have gone from “he’s real good” to “he’s a real douchebag.”

On Favre’s interview with Greta Van Susteren yesterday, he pointed out the reasons why he feels like he’s not wanted in Green Bay.

“Favre told Van Susteren that “I worked my butt off two years ago to try to get them to sign Randy Moss,” adding that he was willing to give up salary to land the talented receiver. But Favre said Thompson denied publicly that Favre had lobbied to get Moss, which Favre said was not the case. Moss signed with the New England Patriots. In a second instance, Favre said he once tried to convince Thompson to re-sign Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle, two key linemen, but the two got away and signed elsewhere. In a third case, Favre told Van Susteren he tried to convince Thompson to interview Steve Mariucci, an old friend, for the head coaching job vacated by Mike Sherman. Favre said Thompson ended up hiring Mike McCarthy instead.” - Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about players lobbying to try and improve their team in one way or another.  Favre, however, sounds like he wants to just run the Packers.  Sure, he plays quarterback, but I think he also wants to play GM too.  Didn’t this team make it all the way to one interception from being in the Super Bowl?  Oh thats right, it was Favre who threw that pick and gave the Giants the NFC title.

This is a rewind of Junior Seau playing the Chargers like butter plays toast a few years ago.  Declaring that he was ready to walk away from the game and cement his legacy only to return the following season, not welcome in San Diego, and play for the Patriots.  Favre faces the same choice, moving on to play elsewhere for a team that will only be an afterthought on his legacy when he finally decides to retire (for real this time).  In the meantime, however, he’s done his best to blow up any good relations that still remain with the Packers as well as fault the club for the entire saga despite going back on his word of retirement.  Look Brett, when you said you were going to retire, the Packers said they were going to move on.  This is on you, buddy.  Don’t try and sugar coat it.

With attention whores Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds fighting for their life in the courtroom, this summer flip-flopping has consumed hours and hours of sports talk. And to put it as simply as possible, I’m tired of it.

Before I unleash my frustration on Brett Favre, I have to admit that I’m a big fan of what he’s done on the football field. He plays the game like a kid, loves football, enjoys the game ranks as one of the best quarterbacks I’ve ever seen play. But Favre’s act has evolved from 16 weeks of bad decisions and overthrows to 52 weeks of drama and indecisiveness. The latest Favre news states that he’s reportedly asked the Packers for his release. With this news, we can safely assume Favre will be playing somewhere in 2008.

But why? Well, for starters, Favre has probably come to the realization that riding around on a tractor in Bumfuck, Mississippi is as boring as it sounds. In his storied career, Favre has accomplished just about everything in the NFL. We know him as a Packer. If Favre somehow ends up in Minnesota, Baltimore or even Chicago (ZOMG Rivalry!!1), what’s that going to prove? That he can’t stay true to his word? That he’s indecisive as all hell? That he’s an attention whore? How about all of the above.

I admire the Green Bay Packers for staying through to their word and finally beginning the post-Favre era. Brett Favre has held the Packers’ organization ransom for enough offseasons and this team is too talented (even without Favre at the helm) to be distracted by #4’s antics. Patrick Ewing played for the Magic, Hakeem Olajuwon played in Toronto and Emmit Smith played in Arizona. None of these players did anything to cement their reputation by prolonging their career. Favre shouldn’t either.

It’s been a hell of a ride hasn’t it? After 17 long seasons, Brett Favre has decided to hang up the cleats and retire. The icon of Green Bay sports has forever established his legacy as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, quarterback of all-time over his nearly two decade career with the Packers, doing everything from title runs to MVP’s and unforgettable comebacks. Like him or not, Brett Favre was the best quarterback of our generation.

253 straight starts (273 if you count the postseason). 442 touchdowns. 61,655 career passing yards. Brett Favre epitomized dominance throughout his entire career. His flare for the dramatic couldn’t be rivaled. Give me the choice now and I’ll still take Favre with less than two minutes left in the game over any quarterback ever to play the game. Montana was great at playing Captain Comeback. Favre was better.

You want to talk about grit? You better include Favre’s bulldog mentality in the discussion. Brett didn’t miss games despite injuries. Broken fingers, broken ribs, death within his family, and even cancer affecting his wife couldn’t keep Brett from missing a game. The guy was tough as nails; the epitome of a football player. His ability to ad-lib a play and make something incredible happen was, at times, unbelievable. Even at the age of 38, Favre was playing the game like he was 18; full of energy and giving it everything he had on every single play.

I’ll never forget the stories of Brett breaking the fingers of his receivers with the velocity that he put on his passes. I’ll never forget the way he was able to stake Lambeau as his own, and any opponent who dared come into Lambeau, especially during the winter months, faced a demon of a quarterback in Favre and a hell of a battle with the Packers.

Finally when he says retirement, he means it. It’s Aaron Rodgers turn! Remember him? That Cal quarterback that the Packers used their first round pick on four years ago in anticipation of Favre’s retirement? For Rodgers, the time is now. For Favre, it’s back to the bayou to make more Wrangler jean commercials and play quarterback for pick-up football games. Thanks for a hell of a career Brett. Though I’ve spent many a time cursing you for not retiring or for beating my team, it’s truly been a pleasure watching you systematically dominate the NFL for as long as you have.

Every offseason, most of the rage involves Brett Favre and whether or not he’ll choose to end his phenomenal career. But in 2007, the topic of discussion is a little bit different. In the midst of his tirade about the Packers failing to acquire Randy Moss, Favre reportedly asked to be traded away from the team that he’s starred on since 1992.

“I don’t know if I’ve lost faith, and I think everyone in the organization wants to win. I just don’t know if it includes me. If it’s going to be five years from now, I’m not going to be here. This is 17 years for me and I want to win,” Favre said in an exclusive interview with Biloxi Sun Herald.

There’s no reason that Favre shouldn’t be frustrated by the Packers’ lack of activity. After all, this is a team that’s put together some truly hideous draft classes the last couple years. This is a team that responded to Ahman Green’s departure by doing absolutely nothing. But it’s still a team that finished 8-8 and just a game shy of the playoffs in the dismal NFC. And this is still the same team that he called the most talented he’s ever played for.

It’s one thing to be frustrated but it’s a completely different thing to ask for a trade. The thought of Favre playing somewhere else is simply mind-boggling because for the last 15 years, he’s represented the organization with some of the best play the league has ever seen. But come on Brett. This is still Randy Moss, the same guy whose admitted to giving less than his best effort on the field. Is it worth cutting ties with the Packers over the guy that mooned your fans in the playoffs? I think not.

Before the NFL Draft, we mentioned a pair of trade rumors that involved the Green Bay Packers acquiring Chiefs running back Larry Johnson and/or Raiders receiver Randy Moss. Neither of those deals came to fruition. Johnson is still in Kansas City and Moss was traded to New England for a paltry 4th round pick. This doesn’t please Brett Favre, who has taken it on himself to play the role of angry veteran upset at front office.

“It is disappointing,” Favre said on Saturday. “We could have gotten him for less money than New England did. He wanted to play in Green Bay for the amount of money we would have paid him. It [was] well worth the risk.”

Although the Packers should have tried to pull the trigger on the deals, it doesn’t mean their elder statesman should bitch and complain about it. Favre came back to play, not be a distraction. Moss would have helped but the Packers’ receiving core isn’t bad. Donald Driver and Gregg Jennings are both coming off good seasons. They also have Robert Ferguson likely returning from a foot injury. Together, that’s a group of receivers that should get the job done.

While I’m not in disagreement about the Packers having a pretty bad front office, they had other needs to address with those picks. One of those needs was wide receiver because the Packers picked up two of them in the draft. We’ll just have to see how well Favre can utilize the new targets while ruining the progress keeping the seat warm for Aaron Rodgers.

With news of Brett Favre’s return for the 2007 season in Green Bay, I felt it was perfect timing to unveil another tribute video. This one is in honor of Brett Favre, parodying Aretha Franklins “I Will Survive” (most overrated song in history, but that’s more geared for Musicable).? I’ve always been a big fan of Favre and I really respect what he’s done for the game. His clutch performances, his consecutive game streak, it’s all impressive. Who can forget the Monday Night Football dominance after his father died? That all goes down in Favre lore. But it’d be dissappointing to see him play poorly in 2007. A repeat of Favre’s modest 2006 numbers will be acceptable.