The Return of the Attention 4

By Todd L. Frank  |   Wednesday, August 04, 2010  |  Comments( 6 )

Minnesota Vikings
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Brett Favre will be back to play this year.

Just thought I’d put that out there right now while most of the sports media is frantically announcing that “sources” are indicate he’s calling quits (again). While they break out their twice-used video packages and statistical comparisons and trying to reorganize the NFC hierarchy, I’m telling you that Favre will absolutely play football in a purple and white jersey with a #4 on it this season.

Amid all the breathless declarations by Adam Schefter and his uncle Mort, after the alleged “This Is It” text from Favre to TE Visanthe Shiancoe, NFL Network’s Steve Mariucci reported that he spoke to Favre the day all this “news” broke and Favre did not confirm his retirement. Maybe that text was about the Michael Jackson DVD?

Vikings Coach and C.F.E. (Chief Favre Enabler) Brad Childress stood up at a press conference and said he doesn’t deal with hearsay and claimed he hadn’t gotten any indication from Favre about his status. He also cracked a joke that it felt like Watergate.

So we’re gonna get the Brett & Brad Show where they pretend Favre is undecided or that he’s unsure about his ankle, and then as training camp winds down and the 52 other guys on team are finishing working their butts off in the summer heat, Lord Favre will descend from on high (or come north from Hattiesburg to Minnesota) and declare that his ankle feels better and he’s ready to go.

Childress will still claim to know nothing (which is technically true about clock management) and Favre will keep his public silence while privately giggling in Mississippi as his satellite dish brings him around the clock coverage of his legendary career and the sports media world lines up to figure out where on Mt. Rushmore to start chiseling his face.

They can’t just come out and officially deny these retirement stories and confirm that he is returning to play another season, cuz the next question would be why isn’t he at training camp? Even if he’s old and has an ankle injury, he should still be at camp working with teammates in other capacities. Watching film, attending meetings. Perhaps he could dissect that play where he threw the crippling game-ending interception against New Orleans in the NFC Championship game. Look at the tape, Brett. There was a receiver wide open in the flat ready to step out of bounds to stop the clock in field-goal range.

When he comes back, he can claim he never said he was retiring and that the stories from early August were simply miscommunication and mistaken sources. Childress can claim he didn’t give Favre any special treatment by letting him skip training camp.

Vikings fans will rejoice and start booking February flights to Dallas for the Super Bowl and the all the TV networks planning plenty of purple prime time games will breathe a sigh of relief.

And let me also say: if the Vikings end up throwing an extra 3 to 6 million on top of the $13 million Favre is scheduled to make this year (as they've reportedly offered), he better give it to charity. I know, it’s tacky and unfair to tell rich people to just give their money away, but this is a guy who has battled addiction to pain killers and his wife has battled cancer. Those are two very serious problems and ol’ #4 could shed a lot of light (and money) on them while actually deflecting attention away from himself and putting his money where his mouth is in regards to all that “playing for the love of the game” stuff we’re fed every year. THAT would make him a legend worth looking up to.
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