Favre causes hysteria, chases history

By Os Davis  |   Thursday, September 07, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Green Bay Packers
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No wonder Brett Favre claims, he's cutting his media habit. After recently announcing that he would only be giving league-mandated press conferences every other week rather than weekly, football's iron man went and taped an episode of "Costas Now" that has sound-bite mongers buzzing.

Employing head-bending use of double and triple negatives, Favre was quoted in "advance transcripts" (hmmm, wonder why HBO would release such a thing to the media at large) as saying "I can't say it wouldn't happen." "It" in this case refers to "playing for a team other than the Green Bay Packers."

Naturally, this quote has been taken and run with all over the internet, with reactions ranging from shock and awe to cynicism and outrage. "Grrrr," growls everyone with an opinion on the subject (read: everyone with a pulse), "Bart Starr never would have done this." After reading Favre's line that he was 99.9 percent certain he would retire as a Packer, online hacks began exhuming Michael Jordan's pre-Washington Wizards quote and envisioning the 2007 Minnesota Vikings with Favre at the helm.

Then there was this beauty: "If it comes to a point where they do start over, and I feel like I can play and they say, 'Brett, if you want to go somewhere else, go ahead, but we've got to start over, it's time for us to rebuild...'"

Um, aren't the Packers in rebuilding mode right now? Vets like Donald Driver aside, has anyone looked at the starters and near-starters on this team lately? It's populated with rookies and sophomores like Nick Collins, A.J. Hawk, Noah Herron, Greg Jennings, Tony Moll, Brady Poppinga, Jason Spitz and Scott Wells. Face it: These Packers are a lot more "Who?" than "Who's Who."

The "problem" here is the legendary loyalty of Green Bay front-office types for their heroes. Who remembers the era of coaches Starr and Forrest Gregg, 13 years of futility suffered because no one had the heart to break the news that these Hall of Fame talents couldn't translate those smarts to the sideline? Odds are, Favre will be allowed to play out this year and next year and the year after that until he's tired of losing.

Packer backers, you said you wanted one more season with Favre; here it is. Aside from more bizarre quotes and certain stringing-along storylines about his pre-2007 retirement, some games to look forward to this year include the following as Favre chases a couple of Dan Marino's records.

Week 1: Chicago at Green Bay. The first true test for Favre and coach Mike McCarthy's West Coast scheme will be the first game. Favre needs just 290 completions and 25 TD passes to overtake Marino's marks, but this game probably won't see him make too much progress.

Week 2: New Orleans at Green Bay. This one, though, as well as Week 3's game on the Detroit turf could make up the difference.

Week 8: Arizona at Green Bay. After a fairly difficult three games in four weeks (at the Philadelphia Eagles, against the St. Louis Rams and at the Miami Dolphins) begins a run of three lightweights: this one, at the Buffalo Bills, and at the Minnesota Vikings. The Pack might experience a mini-resurrection here to bring them back up to .500 and Favre is almost certain (let's say "99.9 percent") to run up eight to 10 TDs.

Week 11: New England at Green Bay. Tom Brady vs. Favre. Mr. Control vs. Mr. Out Of Control. Wow.

Week 12: Green Bay at Seattle. The schedule makers have the Pack going back-to-back against two potential Super Bowl teams? Ouch.

Week 13: New York Jets at Green Bay. Whether calculating by career average or last year's numbers which had Favre attempting more passes than ever (really), the numbers say lucky number 13 will have the man setting the new record for completions in front of the appreciative fans at Lambeau...

Week 14: Green Bay at San Francisco. ...or maybe the mark will be broken in ol' Joe Montana's former stomping grounds. In a worst-case scenario, this could very well be Favre's last win.

Week 17: On New Year's Eve 2006, it's Green Bay at Chicago. Having managed just 20 TD passes last season, Favre could be short of the all-time mark going into Chitown. Assuming the Bears are contending for a playoff spot, this one could be a dandy of a final contest for one of football's legends.

Here's a "good luck" wish to Favre, silly statements to the media and wishy-washy career decision making aside. Make it a good one, Brett, and leave the press time to cocky wide receivers in Texas.

Get more on Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers at RealFootball365.com
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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