Poor Brent Farve, oops Brett Favre, he's getting no love from the media these days, except the guys in Minnesota.
It seems they are spending as much time on the fact that he's had one really good season and a bunch of subpar one's in the last 4 years. They keep talking about his still ailing shoulder (rotator cuff) and will it hold up; and his lack of off season conditioning, and the effect of that on a near 40 year old body. They even question is he's a big game QB worth having anymore; since 2001 the answer would have to be no, many have done much better.
And of course, they've been pretty tough on him as a person. Headlines like "
Favre takes self-centered behavior to a new extreme", "
The Ego Has Landed, and "
The World According to Favre" are all over the papers and web.
Fans seem to be falling into three groups. The one's who are truly pissed he went to Minnesota and take it as a personal slap to the Packers. When he went to New York there was anger, and some forgiveness. But going to the teams second biggest rival has gotten them in an angry, burn him in efigy mood. I even suggested such a thing for a purple number 4 jersey.
Favre tried to explain that away a few months ago, saying no one wanted Vince Lombardi dead after he went to the Redskins. Of course Vince didn't try and destroy the organization first, and the 'skins weren't one of the Packers biggest rivals. Had he decided Detroit or Chicago was the place to be, Vince would have gotten just as big an earful.
The best suggestion from that group has been to give the back up punter #4.
The second group are the 1970's Elvis fans. If you are my age you remember them, even though he was fat, out of shape, looked ridiculous in his outfits and not up to his old standards, they'd still pay to see him, and women would still try and get a scarf from him. Never mind that the scarf was wet with sweat and nasty, it was Elvis. Around the same time those women's husbands were probably convinced Joe Namath could take the Ram's to a Super Bowl with shot knees and a bad arm.
In Favre's case these folks are stuck on the fact he's a 3 time MVP, never mind that run ended a dozen years ago, went to two Super Bowls (again, a dozen years ago), and was late game magic, which hasn't been very true in the last seven seasons.
They are the folks who call Aaron Rodgers a bust, even though he had a better statisical year last year than Favre. In fact, Favre has had a year as statistally as good as Rodgers 2008 campaign twice in the last dozen years. Maybe that's why Ted Thompson wasn't willing to get on his knees and beg him to come back for 2008.
Then there are the train wreck folks, they are going to watch just to see what happens. Most probably don't care, and with the exception of October 5th and November 1st, may not even watch him play. They just want to see what happens when he meets the Packers for the first time, and shows up in Lambeau.
I suggested to the wife that we host a Packers Vikings game party on October 5th, but she didn't think so. Something about our 25th anniversary being that day. Guess I should check the calendar.
I think Brett will make it an interesting year, one way or another. Minnesota is already happy wiht the signing, even if he never makes it to the field. They sold 3,000 season tickets yesterday. But how will the fans, and media up there treat him if he turns out not to be the savior? New York's media didn't give him the kid glove treatment last year when it was obvious he was hurting but insisted on playing.
A trip to the playoffs won't be enough in Minnesota. They did that last year with Tavaris Jackson and Gus Ferrotte at quarterback.
Labels: Brett Favre, Elvis, Football, Minnesota Vikings, NFL, Train Wreck
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