[dallcow4life28]

Originally Posted by MplsTom

Chris, you know I respect you and your opinion. You're one of my favorite guys in the hobby! I think we all can agree that Favre is a lightning rod. No one will deny he's an elite QB and proof was in the pudding last year when he ran the west coast offense in MN exactly the way it was supposed to...great year and beat my Packers twice.

That said, this whole "will I retire, won't I" has honestly been in play every season since 2002. Each season it gets progressively more about Brett and less about the team. It is not unfair for a team that's paying you 10-20 million dollars to ask for a reasonable deadline so they have contingency plans. All reports from GB talk about how upset Favre was when they drafted Rodgers and how he never would go out of his way at all to help him (compared to other positions where the vets are great to the young guys)...yet if he looked in the mirror, GB had to be prepared for the day when his "will I play or won't I play" ended up in an answer of "no." He brought that draft pick on himself by his behavior the previous few summers.

Now you have a team that could've gone hard after McNabb (after all Childress coached him in Philly), could've gone after Jason Campbell, could've drafted a QB, etc...but they're held hostage by Favre and his indecision.

What galls me most about him is how he tries to play the victim. He really wants to be begged to play and he'll make all the excuses about his biceps, shoulder and this year it's ankle. He could squash all speculation and say, "on this date I'll have a decision - it will be after training camp breaks, etc" but instead he lets things linger because I honestly believe he likes to hear the chatter and thinks that maybe that will tip things one way or the other in his mind.

A guy like Peyton Manning is working with the new WR draft picks the day after the draft because he wants them to be as familiar with the Colts way...whereas a guy like Toby Gearhart will be forced to adapt to the Favre way if and when Brett comes in with 2 weeks to go until the season.

There's a huge difference with how Peyton goes about his business off the field compared to Brett. They're both amazing on the field, but one guy is a leader 365 days a year and the other is only one on Sundays.

Great post Tom--about the most thoughtful thing I've read on this board in a LONG time.