Brett Favre Scandal After Retirement Yrs

Divorce-gate

Historical perspective is what I am getting with the 'divorce' of Peyton Manning from the Indianapolis Colts and how this equates and does not equate with the messy break up that was Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers.

Let me start by saying people in the media have no clue when it comes to labeling these trending sports stories. Add 'gate' and you have some burgeoning scandal as with the current investigation into bounties on football players, or when the New England Patriots got caught cheating. So, labeling Manning's departure from the Colts isn't so neatly wrapped up in a irreconcilable separation of spouses. These were never equal partners. Nor was the situation with Favre, or for any player leaving a team for that matter.

Never forget the sports franchise makes the decision...holds all the cards, if you like your metaphors. And here's one more...

This is like a corporation with stockholders getting rid of someone like a CEO. Was this contractually employed leader (Manning) doing great things to make the investors (fans) happy and financially supportive of the company's (Colts') fiscal results (wins and losses)? (just a hypothetical) You could break it down more and say the founder (Irsay) has all the clout but must make the best decisions as jury and executioner (sorry mixing metaphors) to keep people in the 'court of public opinion' happy.

No metaphor is perfect for making sense of how these behind doors negotiations that sports pundits and insiders can't seem to pin down. (you could get as much wisdom from a body language expert than the dozens of experts employed by ESPN alone)

Green Bay's situation, though seemingly democratic with actual shareholders, is as autonomous as any other sports franchise when handling an employee like Favre. The Packers front office still had to work through the back channels to get public opinion on their side, pushing their quarterback out of the picture over a period of time (with Aaron Rodgers in the wings). Remember, they hired a spin doctor to help them clean up their mess.

Jim Irsay was a walking mess who tried to put a spin on his own situation with Manning. It was obvious all the while he was getting rid of his future hall of fame quarterback. With the Packers mistakes no doubt fresh in his mind, Irsay bumbled about proffering his puffy red nose to any media members anxious to drink up his tweeter feeds and other cukoo cawcawings. He could not balance on that high wire with the media and other know-it-alls shouting, "You're gonna fall!" (way too many metaphors to track, spinning out of control)

Favre held only one trump card -- retirement. He threatened to play it because the Packers ultimately had stacked the deck and called his bluff. Their game all along was to get him out of the picture so Rodgers could take the helm. Whether you liked Favre as your quarterback or not, it was never up to the fans if he would remain. Only the brainwashed set believed they skewered the old QB and ran through town, hoisting his head about on a stick to this day.

The Packers edge has been holding all the media field passes and maintaining a century long tradition in one little Wisconsin community where people bleed green and cheese. A majority of fans were hearing that Favre was a washed up malcontent who was as good as his last pass in the NFC Championship loss to the eventual Super Bowl winner. Maybe some of his teammates bought into this, as well. Whether he deserved better or not is and was moot, because it is a business conducted in public with deceptive practices.

We'll never know a tenth of what went down behind closed doors, as is the case with Manning. Ultimately, his health was the playing card. Irsay decided it was time to rebuild, keep $28 million in his pocket and made sure Manning knew it. The founder was willing to let the CEO take his talents to another company with a chance to end his career on a high note without repercussion, ultimately bowing to the court of public opinion.

The Packers only offered Favre the door and eventually a severance package, if he promised never to work again. He opted to rub the Packers noses in it and nearly went out on  top. The 2009 season for Favre was such a difficult, unpredictable act that nearly became a storybook ending (if not for 'bountygate', if you believe that). But, this isn't fiction or fantasy, but reality. Yet, there is some poignancy in the quarterback's ironic ending that year.

Peyton Manning and the Colts are learning from the Packers and Brett Favre. It's still a tangled web, just a more sophisticated one that fans can more easily consume. Or, because the two situations are not as similar as they seem and Irsay could not dictate how fans should feel about the inevitable 'divorce' he was planning.

We can accept that what happened in Indy was 'amicable' and something in hindsight Favre and the Packers can learn from when it comes time to retire the number four jersey. Perhaps, starting with saying 'we wish we had done things differently,' beginnting with the organization's actual and current CEO Mark Murphy.

Let's start mending those fences now and end any animosity you started.