The dog days of summer don’t “officially” start until August, but for sports fans, they already here. With little on the horizon for the next few weeks except for second-half baseball and pre-Olympic preparation, I was going to write about the MLB All-Star Game, but fate – in the form of Brett Favre – intervened.
The latest chapter in the on-again, off-again saga of Favre and the Green Bay Packers has the QB requesting a release from the team after un-retiring last month. For the past several seasons, the veteran Favre has been on the fence about leaving football, saying “we’ll see” at the end of every season before eventually deciding to return sometime before training camp opened the following year. But this time, the 38-year-old had seemingly made up his mind. In an emotional address four months ago, Favre said he was done. His words at the time? “It’s been a great career for me, but it’s over.” Or maybe not.
To be fair, Favre’s decision to retire after the 2007 season – one of the best of his career – seemed ill-timed at first, especially considering the Packers were only one of his trademark bad interceptions away from a Super Bowl berth. But Brett has said repeatedly over the past several seasons that he was looking forward to being away from the game and spending more time on his farm in Mississippi. And on the Packers’ end, Favre’s backup for the past three seasons, Aaron Rodgers, seemed ready to take the helm. A former first-round pick, you can bet that Green Bay didn’t expect to make him wait this long before giving him a starting shot. But with Favre’s constant waffling, they had little choice.
Fast-forward to this offseason, and it looked like it was bon-voyage Brett, aloha Aaron. But now Favre says he wants to return. Green Bay is his town, and he played well last year, after all. Just one more year under center for the gunslinger, right?
Not so fast.
After guaranteeing Rodgers the starting job in the wake of Favre’s retirement announcement, Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson now find themselves in a conundrum. When word first broke about Favre’s desire to play again, it was assumed they would make space for him on the team. It was assumed that they might trade or release him to avoid upsetting Rodgers, the presumed quarterback of the future who, if spurned, could skip town as a free agent after the 2009 season. But team leadership would be public enemy No. 1 in Green Bay if they let Favre go, particularly if he ended up with division rivals Minnesota or Chicago, two likely destinations considering that both teams need a quarterback. Then Favre has to stay. He’s a Green Bay institution, and still a damn fine quarterback, despite the drama.
But it doesn’t look like Favre feels the same way. In an interview this week, Favre’s first since announcing his intention to return, he told Greta Van Susteren (since when does she cover sports?) that he made a mistake in retiring, and hopes that if the Packers want to move on, they release him so he can sign with a contending team, rather than being traded or kept on in a reduced role. And as if the saga wasn’t twisted enough, Packers’ fans even staged rallies this week to pressure the team to reinstate Favre as the starting quarterback. Probably not the reception that Rodgers was hoping for, and not exactly a situation they teach you about in sports management classes.
Make no mistake, the Packers are in a terrible spot, and it’s due mainly to Favre. You can chalk it up to his competitiveness and his love for the game if you like – I think it says more about his desire to manipulate the future of the franchise and his general unwillingness to give up the spotlight. If his “will he/won’t he” act was new, I could be more sympathetic. But after holding the franchise hostage with his decision-making over the past several seasons, Favre has established that this is an annual process, one made all the more difficult by the apparent finality of his decision this time around. Three years ago, I wrote that Favre should retire to give the team a chance to plan for a future without him. They drafted Rodgers for a reason, and all indicators were that his time had come. But Favre jerked the team around once again, and now Green Bay faces serious problems. No matter which way you slice it, the team’s options aren’t good. They include:
• Bring Favre back as a starter, risk alienating Rodgers, and have to start from scratch in two years when Favre permanently retires;
• Install Favre as the backup QB and hope he doesn’t destroy the team’s locker room chemistry;
• Trade Favre to a contending team outside the division, which seems palatable, except that Favre has the power to veto any deal;
• Or release him outright, and run the risk that he signs with an NFC team and finds a way to make the Packers miserable.
That’s pretty much it. After 16 seasons with the team, that’s the position in which Favre has left the Packers.
In the same column from three years ago, I also wrote that Farve deserves to go out on top. That’s still true. But he should give his team – the team that stood by him through growing pains, adversity and addictions – a chance to lay a solid foundation for the future. Sadly, that doesn’t look like an option now. Favre will be back this season, most likely somewhere besides Green Bay. His legacy, though not in danger, will be tarnished, and Green Bay team leadership will forever be remembered for letting the face of the franchise leave town.
Brett Favre, the NFL’s all-time quarterback wins leader, has his team and his fans in a lose/lose situation. It may be a tough fall for the Cheeseheads.