Brett Favre Scandal After Retirement Yrs

Favre From Gone?

What a time to be on vacation with no internet access at this Black Hills, South Dakota lodge. I have ears thanks to satellite TV and the news about Favre today feels a bit surreal.

I have mixed feelings. I adopted the don’t be so sure he’s going to play this year attitude and did not jump on reports that would indicate he would play this season. I didn’t take that ankle injury as seriously as I see now I should. But I have reasons to doubt the reports that he is telling teammates he is calling it a career.

For instance, the Vikings react by fattening their contract offer to $20 million for this season, with $16 million guarantee ($3 mil more than previous contract). If Favre and his agent Bus Cook are this calculating, the move to intimate through text messages that he’s done has drawn the potential for the biggest payday.

Minnesota is smart to put the pressure on. You can’t walk away (or hobble) from such a lure. They need this season as a 6-1 favorite to become a Super Bowl contender. And ultimately, that’s what Favre has wanted with this second life in the NFL.

Another reason to believe Favre is not done is his emotional nature. He did not go directly to team brass to say he is done. He may have sought the solace of other players, maybe as sounding boards, to see what reaction he’d get, and that the ankle problem made him feel he couldn’t go to battle with them. And there is the belief that he needs coaxing, pleading even, to come play. It may be true that he needs people on bended knee to inspire him.

Quotes from Vikings coach Mike Childress seem to back this theory. If anyone has a pulse on this situation, the coach knows what makes Favre tick. Childress indicated in a press conference the emotion factor, making reference to getting that motor started. He might be confident in the belief that getting Favre to suit up and become their Superman again will be all it takes to get him motivated to play.

We’re talking about the toughest player to ever grace an NFL field, with the consecutive games streak and ability to bounce back from injuries. To think a bum ankle will stop him is hard to fathom. He might be thinking the best he could do was last year and does not want to be measured against the year he had in 2009. But his thoughts aren’t likely about personal performance and what the pundits say, but rather the team goal of the ultimate NFL title.

One of the closest people to Favre who got a text message from him this week did not get the impression his teammate is calling it a day. Kicker Ryan Longwell said he spent 15 minutes with his golfing buddy on the phone before practice Tuesday and did not hear anything that would lead him to believe number four was ready to hang up the cleats.

So, while it is not a sure thing Favre will retire, maybe age is catching up. Maybe the New Orleans Saints successfully forced another old-timer into premature retirement (Kurt Warner being the first). It would be a shame to have it end this way.


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