Musings of a Catholic Convert

The Packers are doing the right thing by hanging on to Brett Favre's contract.  Listen, he has 3 years left on his contract, with about $39 million dollars involved.  Why on earth would they want to throw that away on what appears to be "an itch" to give football another try?  

Let's look at it another way.  Why would the Green Bay Packers want to give away the rights to a franchise quarterback like Brett Favre to have him possibly face them on the field?  Why would Brett Favre essentially throw away his allegiance to the Packers organization who have been so good to him since picking him up from Atlanta?  Is it worth it?  Is it worth one more unknown season playing for God only knows who?  You wanna talk about a tarnished image of a legend?  Brett Favre, if he moves forward and fights for this release, is going to tarnish his image in a bad bad way.

In the past few days since it was announced that Brett Favre had requested a release from the Packers, I've read reactions from all over.  Packers fans are upset to say the very least.  Football fans are upset too.  Listen, you look at an icon like Brett Favre and you think Green Bay.  You think of clutch play and an iron will.  What do you think now?  Money grubber?  Traitor?  Chasing a feeling?  Mid-life crisis?  Really, are you thinking anything happy is going to come out of this situation now that it has begun?   I sure don't.  I think just asking has put him, his family, his reputation, his teammates, his city, and everything else attached to him at great risk.  Time will tell just how tarnished he will become, and how well he fares as a player after his 1st retirement will not be a factor.

I don't blame the Packers for moving on.  It had to be done.  They begged and begged poor tired Brett to give them one more season.  He said no.  Okay then, the decision has been made and they have to move on.  Oh, wait, I think I want to play now.  Listen, draft strategy, off season planning, personnel shifts, and everything else that coaches and owners must do to prepare for a season have been going on since February.  The die have been cast.  Decisions have been made.  The team is moving forward.  If Brett is even taken back on the active roster, it shouldn't be as a starter.  Aaron has been patient (as patient as can be expected anyway) and the job has been given to him.  If Brett's itch is still there, he'll have to scratch it from the bench.  There comes a point in time where someone else has to take over as field general.  2008-2009 is going to have to be that season.  

I don't see this fiasco ending any time soon.  In my opinion, the most likely scenarios in this battle of wills look like this:

- Brett Favre decides retirement is the way he wants to go

- Brett Favre fights for a release, and goes to play for someone like Chicago for a season or two before deciding retirement is the way he wants to go (meanwhile, all Brett Favre #4 steakhouses are burnt to the ground)

- Brett Favre decides to accept a lesser role at Green Bay as a team player for this season, then bows out quietly in 2009, deciding retirement is the way he wants to go.

I'll keep watching ESPN to see what happens.  Let me tell you something else though, speaking as a Colts fan.  When Peyton Manning decides to retire, he had better not try to pull a stunt like this.