This crap simply will not go away, and now Packers GM Ted Thompson has elevated this entire thing to a whole new level of ridiculousness.

On Tuesday, the Green Bay Packers filed tampering charges against the Minnesota Vikings, alleging that the contact with the Vikings is the reason that Brett Favre "suddenly" wants to come back to play in the National Football League again.  The Packers say that Favre's conversations with Minnesota offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. . .who was Favre's quarterbacks coach for three seasons in Green Bay and has been friends with Favre ever since. . .were in violation of Favre's contract, which Green Bay still holds the rights to despite his retirement back in March.

Are you freaking kidding me?

The filing of these charges by the Packers is absolutely absurd on so many levels, it's awfully hard to count them all, but let's give it a whirl anyway.

Point number one. . .and this is important. . .so much so that I'll use my fancy editing tools to put extra emphasis on it. . .THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT BRETT FAVRE HAS TALKED ABOUT, OR EVEN HINTED AT, COMING BACK TO THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE.  This article from Yahoo! Sports, which details the timeline between the NFC Championship Game and Favre requesting his release from the Packers, tells us

Week of March 24: During the coaching staff’s spring break, Packers offensive line coach James Campen, whose in-laws live in New Orleans, goes up to visit Favre in Mississippi on March 26. On the 27th, Campen tells McCarthy Favre is having second thoughts and McCarthy should call him.

He does, and learns that Favre indeed is having second thoughts. McCarthy and Thompson decide they will welcome him back. They secure a private jet from a Packers board member to visit Favre in person and seal the deal.

March 29: Favre calls McCarthy to deliver a message: Thanks, but no thanks.

“He felt at this point we had reached a point of closure,” McCarthy said. “Those were his words. And he was going to stick with his initial decision.”

Hmmmmm. . .so Favre had a deal in place to come back to the NFL as the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers before he changed his mind.  Again.

Can I safely assume that that's Darrell Bevell's fault, too?  I mean, Thompson and company are alleging that Bevell is somehow the impetus behind Favre's desire to come back to football.  I can just imagine Bevell speaking with Favre at this point and saying, "You know, Brett, the Packers have beaten us four straight times, and the last time we played you handed us the worst loss we've had in a long time. . .but, you know, I sure would love to see you come back with the Packers again!"

But, this is what Ted Thompson would have you believe.  He would have you believe that Darrell Bevell is really this stupid.

So Bevell and Favre might have spoken on the phone a few times.  Big deal.  As I stated earlier, Favre and Bevell have been close since Bevell was the quarterback coach in Green Bay, and they've talked pretty much every off season since Bevell left.  A phone conversation. . .or even numerous phone conversations. . .isn't proof of anything.  Hell, Favre's still pretty close with Mike Holmgren, too.  Has he spoken with Holmgren since his retirement?  If he has, why haven't tampering charges been filed against the Seahawks yet?

Let me present you with my theory on this entire thing.

Ted Thompson, in all his Nancy Grace-esque bug-eyed wisdom, has screwed up the entire Brett Favre situation about as badly as anybody has screwed up any situation in the NFL in a long time.  And because of that, he needs something to dangle in front of Green Bay fans and the media at large in the hopes that they'll go "Ooooooh. . .SHINY!!" and forget just how much of an idiot he's made himself look like in this entire thing.

These tampering charges aren't about Brett Favre or even about the Minnesota Vikings. . .this is, as John Siebel said on ESPN Radio on my drive home, "two dogs circling the same fire hydrant, trying to figure out which one is going to cock their leg on it first."  This is the Packers' front office firing a salvo across the bow of the U.S.S. Favre after his interview on Fox News with Greta van Susteren, in which he pretty much called Ted Thompson a liar (and, in light of these idiotic tampering charges, I have a hard time not believing Favre on this one).

This is, quite frankly, Ted Thompson's acknowledgement that he can't control the drama on his OWN football team, and so he's basically said to himself, "Well, if I'm going down, I'm going to try to take someone else with me."  And who better to try to grab on to than your team's biggest rival, and the team that a lot of "experts" have said is the best fit for your future Hall of Fame quarterback that you, from all accounts, really don't want any more?

The Green Bay Packers have absolutely, positively no proof that Darrell Bevell or Brad Childress or any member of the Minnesota Vikings organization tampered with anything in regards to Brett Favre.  None.  Nothing.  Zip.  Zero.  Nada.  Nil.

Oh, wait, never mind. . .they have. . .*cue ominous music*. . .PHONE RECORDS!!

Please.

Yeah, I'm sure that Favre and Bevell have talked on the phone since Favre's retirement.  There are exactly two people that know what was said in those conversations. . .Darrell Bevell and Brett Favre.  And unless either one of those guys gave Ted Thompson a call and said, "Hey, Ted, you'll never guess who I just talked to and what we talked about," then all the Packers have as proof is a few sheets of paper and a whole lot of jack squat.  This is just something that the Packers are using to try to take the focus off of their team and, frankly, I hope it fails miserably, because that's what Ted Thompson and company deserve to have happen.  Anyone with an IQ larger than Favre's jersey number knows that Favre's not coming to Minnesota.  The Packers aren't going to release him for him to go to Minnesota, they're certainly not going to trade him to Minnesota, and Brad Childress has repeatedly said that he's not interested in bringing Favre in.  The ONLY reason that Thompson has for filing these frivilous charges is to set up a smokescreen.  Unfortunately for him, NO amount of smoke is going to obscure the huge blaze that's happening over in Wisconsin.

And if you look around at various message boards and the like on the internet, there are people that have the nerve to intimate that, if the Vikings WERE to be found guilty of tampering. . .which would be a complete miscarriage of justice. . .that the Packers would somehow be entitled to a first-round draft pick from the Minnesota Vikings.  Give me a damn break.  If you look back at the tampering case this past year between the San Francisco 49ers and the Chicago Bears concerning Lance Briggs, the Niners' penalty turned out to be a fifth-round pick and a swap of third-round picks. . .and the Bears had messages from the Niners on Drew Rosenhaus' answering machine.  The Packers have no proof at all that anyone from the Vikings has done anything, and people have the audacity to think that the Packers would be entitled to a first-round draft choice?  Anybody that thinks the Packers would be entitled to that level of compensation need to dislodge their head from their rectal cavity, get some oxygen flowing back to their brain, and rejoin us in the land of reality.

If there's any justice out there, this will go exactly where it belongs. . .which is nowhere. . .and the Vikings will turn around and file a grievance against the Packers for wasting everybody's time and trying to drag them into Ted Thompson's idiocy-induced drama.

Bottom line. . .nothing to see here, folks.  Please move along.