Brett Favre needed to commit himself one way or the other. He needed to say whether he wanted to keep playing or not back at the end of last season. He seems to enjoy the attention waffling gave him the last 3-4 seasons with regard to his retirement.
I think Brett Favre is a great football player. I would list him as one of the top 10 Quarterbacks of all time. I think that status bought him quite a bit of latitude with his decisionmaking process. That said, he was being quite selfish. He's a part of a team, an integral part. This is a team that needed to know which direction it would be going in and it needed to know which parts would be with them. Brett Favre knew that, yet he chose to allow his ego and his thirst for attention control his motions. The question shouldn't have been if he was coming back or not; the question should have been "do I still want to play?" Listen to his "retirement" speech and he says it himself there.
I think the Packers could have handled the situation better. But I don't think they should have been forced to handle the situation.
I've also heard several people state that the Packers should take Favre back as the starting quarterback because he's the best quarterback there. I don't buy that. Brett Favre was the better quarterback last year. He's a year older, he's not been training, and he's not been reading the playbook. Grit and attitude will only get you so far; when you play professional football, preparation means a whole lot, and the one who's been preparing is Aaron Rogers. I'm not going to outright say that Rogers is a better quarterback, because I don't know. I'm just saying what should be obvious - that Brett Favre is not automatically better just because his name is Brett Favre. The problem, of course, is that if he's not the starter, then the moment Rogers does anything wrong or things do not go perfectly, then people will start mumbling that Favre should be out there because he's "the best" and it's "obvious."
What happens, though, if he goes out as the starter and struggles? Do the apologists continue to defend him; say that he gives the team the best chance of winning? How good is that chance if they're losing?
The Packers needed to move in a direction. They got what they thought was an answer when Brett Favre announced his retirement, and they chose a direction. They should not have to switch gears because the person who made the choice that resulted in the path the Packers chose changed his mind. It's selfish, and not something a leader should do. He made his bed; he needed to find a less public way to fix it.
2 comments:
Finally someone with some sense who sees Favre for what he is, a publicity seeking hound.
I lost all respect for him durng the Dallas game. Instead of going into the locker room and being treated and let Rogers get a bit of the glory, he stood on the side lines and rubbed his shoulder as the cameras kept focused more on him then the game.
Also if he had any class he would have gone to the Packers in private, instead of doing everything thru the news media.
I completely agree. If you're going to retire, retire already! Quit playing games and trying to get a little more money for one more season. I feel the same way about Roger Clemens. Go away already dude!
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