http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/The-di...he-Packers.html

That was a good article.

Id take his word on Ted and Brett are together and things went down over anyone elses. I think Brandt has a lot of credibility because he worked day in and day out for so long with both of them.

Very good article indeed. The divide this situation makes me sad. I've been a Packer fan since '72. The first season i recall the games. Go to any restaurant of tavern around here 90% blame Thompson for the situation. On Packer Chatters the exact reverse. I don't know the answers, but am a Packer Fan. That much I know.

I can't say I know anyone who has Ted's personality in dealing with situations. Seems that is why McCarthy did most of the talking with Brett when he arrived back in Green Bay at the end of his Packer career. Like I said before, if ever a book is written by Brett we will get a coherent account of his side. Ted will never write a book, and I'm sure an editor won't accept a crayon manuscript from McCarthy. I just have no respect for him at all. Ted personality may prevent Green Bay from ever signing free agents that require his personal attention. I do not believe Ted would of had the conversation, Ron Wolf had with Reggie White. Will we ever know the full story. I don't think so, we will just have to deal with the reactionary over the top attitude here. This will all lose steam when Brett retires for the final time. After the name Brett Favre is added to the ring of honor at Lambeau and Brett eneters the hall of Fame. To me the greatest thumb in our eye is the classless queens will retire Bretts number and anything they can do to stick it to us. If the football gods have any mercy on Packers fans, they will not let the queens win the superbowl with Brett.

I sure hope they dont put "Brett Favre" in the ring of honor. Now that would be the slap in the face of Packer fans. He can retire a Viking and they can put his name up in the Metrodome.

Good Read, just one point.

Brandt calls THE PACKER MANAGEMENT "indifferent" towards Favre after the 2007 season. I just don't see how they could have portrayed themselves any other way.

They weren't gonna beg Brett to return, nor were they gonna forcefully tell him to hit the road (retire). They couldn't tell him to return, nor could they tell him to retire. This was the situation for way too many years. They needed a decision from Brett and after Brett publicly made his decision, they took the best course of action for the team, vigorously went down that road and weren't gonna look back. "Indifference" may have been the only options for THE PACKER MANAGEMENT (until they got a commitment from Brett one way or the other). I'm sure many fans will think they should have begged him to return, but that would have handcuffed THE PACKERS (again), and (I think) PACKER MANAGEMENT decided that was not going to be an option any longer. This was all done with the interest of the team (not Favre) in mind.

So I'm uncomfortable with Brandt's use of "indifference" to describe how PACKER MANAGEMENT treated Brett immediately after the season ended. Sort of makes it sound like THE PACKERS fired the first shot. I don't think one could point out a true first shot. There was posturing by both sides which slipped into calamity and then disaster.

Otherwise, a good article.

Brett deserves to be there. He was a main cog in the wheel of our success for close to 2 decades. Just because his career and the GB Packers did not have a story book ending doesnt take away from what he did for the team, city, state and NFL.

I am saddened by what happened. I am angry that Brett is a Viking and how it all played out. The reality is Brett is a Packer for life, and once TT has left the GM position in GB, I expect his successor will reach out to Brett who will be eager to become a loved Packer again.

This article scares me a great deal about the future of GB. I don't think that a GM or any exec. can be successful long term without communication skills. Apparently, TT has few.

I don't want GB to struggle to the point where TT needs to be fired, but I'd like Murphy to consider a reorganization where someone else comes in to handle veterans and Free Agents.

It won't happen, but I can hope.

My one major problem with Ted Thompson - good post

Brett Favre deserves to be in the Packers Ring of Fame, Packers Hall of Fame and remembered as one of the greatest Packers to ever wear Green and Gold.

I will always remember him as a Packer. These past 2 seasons have indeed made him get looked upon by Packers fans differently, but you can't change what he did in the past for the Packers.

Well I will ALWAYS take the Packers side (because I root for the TEAM not the name on the back of the PACKERS jersey), I will say that BOTH sides handled the situation poorly and would do things diffrently if they had the chance.

For 16 years Favre graced the Packers sidelines and gave Packerrs fans more than many could have hoped for if they were around for the 70's and 80's. Time wil heal all wounds and I would expect that affter he retires (for good) he will go back to being loved, just with a little bit of "argghh" to it because of his season with the Vikings.

So, honesty is the best policy...

This is where we differ Joe. This was an internal Packer struggle, I do not think TT is the Packers anymore than Brett is the Packers. Both were employees of the Packers, TT had more power and used it.
I do not see TT as the Packers, I see them separate entities.

Good point. It never would have come down that way under Bob Harlan's watch imo.

I read the Article...Also the Other Article on ESPN on TT... Very Interesting on Both... when I saw Brandts this is the part that really Stuck out to me...

This is one of the comments after the article. I thought it was a perfect hit for me anyways.

"Brett Favre was a great Packer and remains a great football player. But there have been many great Packers: Starr, Hutson, White, Nitschke, Hornung, Wood, Kramer, Sharpe, Taylor, Butler, etc. I don't recall any Packer great who exhibited and cultivated the same sense of self-importance and cult of personality as Favre. The Packer legends routinely show up for games, are proud to be Packers, and understand the significance of the Packers to the State of Wisconsin. Let's face it; the Packers are one of the cultural touchstones of our State; not the Brewers, Bucks, or even Badgers (many people in Milwaukee pull for Marquette). The team is unique in Wisconsin and in the professional sports world. It is the only NFL franchise that is owned by a community. It has a stadium that was financed by the community and is used by the community. To be a Packer means to be a part of a team whose history stretches back 90 years and is an inseparable part of Green Bay and of Wisconsin. Starr gets it. Butler gets it. Favre doesn't get it.

I think that there was a time, when Holmgren was coaching, that Favre's ego was kept in check, both on and off the field. Clearly, though, once Sherman took over, he gave Favre too much leash, both on and off the field. And Brett took it and ran with it. Favre surely gave us a lot as fans: a Super Bowl win, amazing play on the field, and 16 mostly great season. But we gave him an awful lot as well. We supported him when he was addicted to painkillers. Would the press have treated him as kindly had he been in New York, Chicago, or Boston? No way. We supported him when he lost family members, including his father. And look at the massive outpouring of support when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. Is there a Packer fan that doesn't own at least one book about Favre? We bought books authored by his mother and his wife. We bought #4 jerseys in record numbers. We named our kids after the guy. My son's bedroom wall was pasted with Favre posters. The people of Green Bay and Wisconsin, and Packer fans everywhere, embraced Favre and his family like no quarterback anywhere ever has been embraced by a community. It was an incredibly special relationship.

All that is prelude to why I think that Brandt's analysis (and those of many other pundits this week) misses the mark; in the end, for many of us fans, this was not about what Brett said or didn't say to the Packers management, or about what Ted Thompson did or didn't say to Brett and his family. It is the way that Brett treated us, as fans, in the end. I know that there are plenty of people who will say that this is professional sports, and that Brett is paid to play the game, and that he doesn't owe the fans a thing. I guess that's true in a strict sense, and it applies to 99% of the players out there. But not to this one, not to the relationship between Brett Favre and Packers fans. After saying in January 2008 how he was having so much fun and would be back next season (in 2008), he abruptly turned around and retired just two months later. Why? Brandt implies that it was because he wasn't treated with what he thought was the proper respect by Packers management; because Ted Thompson failed to bend down and kiss his ring. Or because the Packers had made the galling move of drafting a quarterback (Rodgers) that they hoped would become Favre's heir apparent. If only Brett had found the same competitive spirit in March 2008 toward Aaron Rodgers that he seems to have developed now in playing for the Vikings. If only he had said back then, "Aaron's a very promising young buck but at age 38, I'm going to show that I'm still better than him" and then dueled it out with Rodgers on the playing field, rather than being insulted by the proposition that his position at starting QB might be challenged.

If the reasons that Brandt implies caused Favre's retirement and departure from the Packers are true, then what Favre has done is dump those of us who loved him, cheered him, and supported him for 16 years, through his addiction, personal tragedy, and family loss, because he thought that he was bigger than the team and deserved better treatment than had been given to Packer greats for decades. Better treatment than Starr, better than Nitschke, better than White, better than Hornung, Taylor, or any of the others who went before him. And that wasn't just a brush-off of Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy, or the Packers organization, it was a rejection of the Packer nation and everything that it represents to us, the fans. A rejection of the team, the history, the community that is built around it. And what hurts the most is that where maybe Favre at first was stunned and saddened by the turn of events in the first half of 2008, he has now become malevolent about it. The insistence on going to the Vikings. The indifferent attitude toward Packer fans and the cold statement that he's not worried about his legacy with us because true Brett Favre fans will still cheer for him and hope that he plays well against the team that he rejected.

I can only speak for myself and try to put into words what I am feeling as I anticipate his return to Lambeau. But there it is, catharsis. I will now feel free to boo Brett Favre, my hero for so many seasons. Not because of who he is or because playing for the Vikings negates all of those great times we had together in the past. No, I will boo him because I want to express to him my displeasure and disappointment with how he rejected the legion of Packer fans that supported him through thick and thin for 16 seasons; how he put his own ego above the special relationship that we had with him. And because I don't have his e-mail address, cell phone number, or a personal relationship with Peter King or Bus Cook, booing is the only way that Brett can hear me, and the collective Packer nation, express our disappointment with him and what might have been." -Doug

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/The-di...row=36#Comments

This is the key point point about the whole sorry episode.

A big problem with this is that not only did Sherman let Favre become bigger than the team, but that TT has nowhere near the people skills that Wolf did. The third aspect is that Murphy was relatively new to the job and let the situation twist out of control in a way that I don't think Harlan would have. Example: that whole sorry attempt at getting Favre to retire for a cut of the memorabilia funds.

The other guy who does not get enough blame is Bus Cook. If I was Favre, I would have fired him since he let the Packer management get the upper hand. Something that an agent should never let happen to a guy the stature of Favre.

It was a sorry mess all the way around. I got really turned off by Favre's appearance on Fox. But now I look back at it and I see that the guy just really wanted to play, and he wanted to play in GB.

The way it should have all worked out of course is that Favre should have been allowed to play his last two years in GB. Until the expiration of AR's first contract.

In my view, there is no excuse for that not happening. And when you have to bring in a propaganda expert like GB did, to spout against a HOF player, well that shows just how out of control the situation got.

Very poor management by GB.

So now you have Sherman Creating Frankenstien and TT and MM have to Clean it Up....They Did ..They Drafted a QB for the future and opened up Competition... BUT BF is still not being Honest...He stated he would compete but yet in the meetings with MM stated he should be the starter...so what is it...




Now I agree COOK should get a whole lot of Blame... All the stuff being Leaked.. The calling of TEAMS while his Rights were still with the packers and no one from the ORG informed him to speak to other teams on a trade...All I can say is COOK= McNair issues in Titan Land, Cutler Issues in Denver, Favre issues in GB...He Attributed to everyone of them...and oh Moss in Minnesota... He did help on that as well...




So the Guy goes on Fox...Airs Dirty Laundry...on a NATIONAL LEVEL NEWS CHANNEL.....I would Say that is far more Media Attention so then speaking with SO and SO at ESPN... and now its Okay from you on this.... This is the Same BF that Blasted Mckenzie for taking his stuff to the ESPN reporter that covers the Packers...Then this is the SAME BF that Blasted Walker for taking his stuff Public to the ESPN reporter... The Same BF that stuff Like that needs to be hanlded professionally inside the closed doors in the Packer organization not made into a Public Issue...but he is Brett and gets a free pass....No I see it as a Guy who felt he should get his way and what he wants and did not and it showed through on the Interview...That is why he brought Up Mooch, Moss and other things... And he probably had more he was disgruntled about ,, that was just his hot topics...If he just wanted to Play ...He shoudl have spoke with them in April and he should have spoke with them when they stopped by his home after the Senior Bowl....

BOTH SIDES COULD HAVE DONE BETTER...BUT YOU DONT LET THE PRISONERS run the PRISON...





Okay Great Brett Plays the next 2 years,....What does that Get us in this Wonderland world...Rodgers was done after 2008 ...He would not have signed..and ther were plenty of Teams waiting in the WINGS after his performance against Dallas the prior year and the Reputation of MM being a good QB coach...

So What QB would the Packers HAVE????????..What is the furture prey-tell by Letting FAVRE has his Way...... But that is very poor managment , Well maybe in your Judgment...now that a lot of people have looked at TT and MM made the right decision.. They Love and Breathe and oh yeah work in the NFL .... Unlike So many others that have an opinion... and they have been and are respected ....FOR THER JOB THEY ARE DOING IN THE NFL BY THERE PEERS...

So we dont have a STOP Gap Veteran.. We have our Current and Future QB...

jpackman:

FYI, after he was drafted, AR signed a 7.7 million deal in August of 2005 for five years.

Do the math.

I know his contract was until the end of 2009 Season... But dont think he would have stayed....as stated below...


Dont have to do the Math Gregg.... The 2009 Season would have only Paid Rodgers 1 Million... There was an Article where is Agent basically came out and stated a TRADE or RESIGN for TOP dollar would have been requested... SO another Qaundry for the Packer Management...

And to your points on CONTRACTS wasnt Cutler under contract for the Broncos... hmmm...He got out of there.... where he did not want to Play...Rodgers wanted to Play not in 2009 or 2010.... His agent Was clear you know the one that got fired ....Not a lot was stated factaul on why he got fired... but it is strange the extension was done in August of 2008 ..when was Brett traded to the Jets... Now do the MATH....

Pure and Simple...the Kid wanted to start and get Starter Money... Yeah the Packers could have afforded it by then and kept both...But Rodgers wanted to PLAY... So Since you like the IF scenarios...

The IF in this .,..If Brett stayed, Rodgers is traded and or plays out the Contract and leaves....at the end of this Season...... so if it is 5 Years....that means done after 2009... Now My IF scenario is based on What Rodgers Stated below.....NO CONTRACT EXTENSION UNTIL HE PLAYS.....


Oh Yeah Read this for yourself...This is from a link on USA today....

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nf...n-rodgers_N.htm

The whole thing comes down to Favre not feeling wanted. I don't blame TT or MM for not being more aggressive in telling Favre he was wanted. The team was a game from the Super Bowl, Favre had a contract and, prior to retiring, Favre had all the leverage if it was perceived he was being forced out. I have never understood the "they don't want me" attitude and the incessant need for being begged to come back another year.

That said, if the Packers didn't have another option in waiting I think MM and TT probably would have been begging. JMO

Can you imagine what kind of fan reaction TT & MM would have received then?

Can just hear it;

'Brett said he was retired...didn't you hear him? Where's our QB replacement? What the hell kind of GM are you'!!

And so it goes....

Hey it is what it is.

Lets not forget that Brett held the club hostage for the last two years that he was with the club. All TT and MM could do was sit on their hands waiting for the word from Brett. That can get pretty tiring for a decision maker.

The way he left was awful for everyone involved and they are really all to blame. There are no two ways about it. No one acted admirably in the least.....not Brett.....not Deanna.....not Bus.....not TT....not MM.

All that said.......the man wore a Packer uniform more times than any Packer in history. He is and will always be a Packer.

Right now, I see him as sort of a wayward son. We saw him through his addiction to pain killers. Right now he is simply indulging his addiction to having his butt kissed. I don't see the two as being that different. Once he gives up his current addiction, I'll welcome him back like I did when he gave up his last one.

Like any family that has to deal with addiction, he's going to do some damage in the meantime. I just hope he doesn't do so much that we won't be able to get over it.

Brett Favre had what was probably his best year the year he took GB to the NFC championship game against NY. There was no need for TT and MM to pressure him into a decision to etiher retire or decide to play since he was playing well and they had AR in reserve. THey had an excellent set up at QB. The most they would have needed was a young guy to take up space on the bench. Which would have been easy to get.

Now AR was signed until the end of 2009. So you had him for two more years. Which would have been fine.

Favre plays his two years, which he has shown he could have, and then AR becomes the starter.

And none of this bitter sideshow ever happens: Like Favre coming into GB in a Viking uniform and getting booed. Or GB signing up a political propaganda expert to attack Favre.

Favre retires a Packer, he gets his number displayed in Lambeau and AR becomes the starter.

Anything about AR being unhappy etc is nothing but speculation. How could he say "I should be playing before a HOF QB" who is still playing quite well? Further, AR never even hinted at any of that previously.

TT and MM and Bus Cook all screwed up. And they created something ugly that should not have happened.

WHAT ..WHAT.....The Guy is Losing Millions while Waiting On Favre...He would HAVE LEFT....or been Traded.....


Oh Yeah Read this for yourself...This is from a link on USA today....

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nf...n-rodgers_N.htm

Ah Rdogers Stating not Interested in Talking Contract Extension is Not Speculation that is what we call from the Horses Mouth ..also another Note on this below and the Link on how much Money AR would have Lost if he was not the starter...

Aaron's contract situation:

The Packers signed Rodgers to a five-year contract on July 30, 2005. According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, he received a $1.5 million signing bonus and $620,000 roster bonus in 2005, and received a $3.01 million option bonus in 2006. His base salary was $230,000 in 2005 and $310,000 in 2006. If he is the Packers' full-time starter from 2006 through 2009, he will add $8.25 million to his salaries from 2007 through 2009. If he is the full-time starter in 2007 through 2009, add $5.25 million to his salaries; and if Rodgers doesn't become the starter until 2008, he'll add $2.2 million to his salary.

Rodgers only has two more years left on a five year contract. If Farve were to retake the starting QB job this season and play only in 2008 (and that's a big if), it would leave Aaron only one season to play out a five-year contract.

The waffling of Farve and the Packers for the past several seasons has cost Rodgers millions of dollars, not to mention playing time in the NFL. Anyone think Aaron would want to play in Green Bay in 2010 and beyond after the way the franchise has relegated the former first rounder to clipboard duties?

If Farve is named the starter for this season then Green Bay would be wise to groom either Brian Brohm or Matty Flynn as the heir apparent to #4, because I doubt Aaron would want to stick around. Whether Rodgers can be good QB in the NFL remains to be seen... but that's because the Packers haven't given him a fair shot.

http://sportsonaschtick.blogspot.com/2008/...arve-aaron.html

jpackman:

From what I can see of this story, it all takes place after the retirement announcement.

Which, if you read what I wrote carefully, I said should not have happened.

In other words, its after the fact.

Aaron should of been happy he was a first round pick with the way the draft was unfolding at the time.

Agreed.... All I am pointing out is AR would have left one way or another....The Guy is from all accounts a Competitor.... WHICH I LOVE... Cant blame the guy for wanting to Play...

My point on the whole thing was BOTH SIDES could have handled it Better...But Where I cut the Line was BF and Wife Going and getting Greta and then airing all that stuff on a National Media stage....So it is a All out Blitz and Murphy and Org get Ari... Why Not they never had to deal with something like this...Shows me they were thinking a little bit and trying there best to make sure they did there best publicly to handle the media better.... I am sure there are other takes on this ..but this is mine and I am sticking to It...

I agree about the AR part of your post and want to agree with the rest of it. However, I think there is more to it than TT, MM and Bus Cook. Aikman probably had a point today when he said that part of this story that has never been explored is that Favre probably didn't want to return to Green Bay. That is speculation, but you can totally see him talking to Bevell and Childress in the off-season and wanting to be near people that he was more comfortable with. Not talking about tampering, just talking as more friends than coaches. I think it is clear that Favre needed to feel wanted and TT and MM couldn't do it for him. IMO, Favre just shouldn't have retired. That would have avoided the whole mess.

I was hoping that Favre had hit the wall because he was a Viking, but clearly he still has the ability to play at a high level. You don't go from one of the all-time greats to the bottom of the barrel over night and Favre still has a little left in the tank.

Part II

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Brett-...dcast-guys.html

Very interesting. I had always given Favre the benefit of the doubt about his sincerity to come back to the Packers last year, but now I'm thinking I shouldn't have.

When you read this article and think about how things went down last year, it's very possible that he knew that train had left the station and was trying to get out from the get go:

After his retirement, he reportedly changed his mind weeks later, they told him sure he could come back...then he changes his mind again. Maybe he had thought they'd say "no" back then.

Then in late June he comes back and by the time they really had made a full committment to Aaron Rodgers. What happens after that, he says, "fine, I understand. Release me." "We can't do that Brett, but we will try to find somewhere for you." But he was pretty insistent that he be either allowed to play for the Packers or get his outright release. He wasn't interested in a trade until he was given no other choice.

So McCarthy brings him in for a long, frank discussion. Talks about maybe competeting with Rodgers for the job, but they never get past the resentment Favre has toward management. McCarthy asks him if he can put that behind him and give 100% and Brett says he doesn't think he can.

Then we find out he's talked with people on the Vikings (About hunting and fishing, of course ).

Now Troy Aikman says this, apparently knowing something we don't (as the article suggests).

It begins to look like when he said he had nothing left to give, he meant he had nothing left to give THE PACKERS. Which on some level is understandable. As the articles suggests, he didn't feel like the Packers were moving fast enough for the time he had left and it probably wears on a guy being that big an icon and the guy everyone pins their hopes and dreams on. I think he was just burned out being a Packer. He seems so much more relaxed with the Vikings.

Interesting how Brandt brings up Moss in both articles....it appears that not getting Moss was the final straw in breaking TT's back in Favre's eyes...

Ya, I think, if you want to point to a specific time when Favre said, "I'm finished in GB" it may well have been them not signing Moss for the 2nd year. Ofcourse, I could be way off, but its a point that could have merit.

Its funny, we had opportunities to get Moss 3 times, in 1998, 2007, and 2008. I know Wolf really regretted not pulling the trigger on Moss, I'm not sure if Thompson has any reservations.

Thompson could very well be regretting it in anywhere from 3 months to 15 months.

Interesting and pretty candid stuff from Brandt.

Above all I get a sense that Favre felt isolated within the Packer organization. Being 15 years older than many of his teammates, and so much more famous, didn't help. But above all Favre had always had a close relationship with his position coaches — Reid, Mariucci, Bevell — in a pretty unique, "coach's son" type way. I wonder how he got on with Tom Clements, and what stance Clements took during the great fallout.

Add in Aikmans comment that got glossed over when he said
"WHN never wanted to come back to Grenn Bay in 08"

But really........who cares

I think it will be the 15 months. The Pack has played the worst teams in the league, with one to go next week.