Mr. Gates, my friend, I will agree with you on some issues, but, some, I will not. 1st I agree that BF should stay retired. As a lifelong PACKER fan, it would literally make me hurl to see him in Purple…stay home Brett, or at least go somewhere other than MN. I will agree that he has had alot of, what you referred to as “butt-kissing” press. But, think about this for a sec. BF has never scored a TD, and immediately pulled a pen out of his sock to “autograph” the football. He has never “called” someone from the endzone, and he certainly hasn’t ever poured popcorn in his face, or proposed to a cheerleader. He’s never done anything to draw attention to himself, rather, he’s always celebrated with his teammates, even carrying several of them off the field in the memorable 2007 NFC Title-run season. Has he thrown alot of INT’s….yeah, but, you don’t pass for over 60,000 yards without throwing some. You don’t start approx 300 games, incl playoffs, without having a few bad ones. And one more thing…Brett Favre has NEVER joined his teammates on a boat full of hookers, drugs, and various amounts of alcohol. So, just because YOU don’t like Brett Favre, that doesn’t mean he isn’t one of the greatest QB’s in NFL history. I defy anyone to give me any Vikings QB in their history, who would’ve had the game of his life, the game of his career, one day after the passing of his father. Randall Cunningham? Nah. Brad Johnson No way. They would’ve been too busy boozing it up with some strippers.

Look, I understand disliking Favre. you’re in good company there. But did you ever stop to think that just MAYBE the reason you don’t have those media outlets lining up to say how sucky he is, is … that he didn’t suck. Your citing of anecdotal games is all fine and well, but your selective recall does not change the fact that the Packers had only one losing season — and had the #1 winningest record in football — during the stretch that he started every game for him.

Sometimes the reason the media says a player is good simply because they ARE.

BF= PDA (PrimaDivaAss) just had to rearrange a little. I salute you sir for putting my feelings down in writing.

Who else loves the blind backing up of BF by some of these idiots?? Gonzo never said that BF sucked in general, he just said that the man never took responsibility when he laid a hot one on the gridiron… You look at Tim Tebow’s speech after the one loss for the Gators last year and you see what you want a QB to say…

The finger, however, was being pointed squarely at the media. It’s like constantly telling a little girl how pretty she is, and then making excuses for her as she grows up into a pretty little princess, but then has no skills to turn to when she graduates from college and hits the real life as a 22 year old with the personality of a rice cake and the temperment of a harpie… Who’s fault was that??

I’m pulling for Sage “ugly duckling” Rosenfels… That’s who you want to be in your life, the one who had to work on everything, but was too tall and boney to be noticed in high school, but is now in the real world and is the hottest thing in the world… Could happen… Tom Brady was an ugly duckling… Now he’s the swan of the league… Hopefully Sage is a late blooming ugly duckling!!

Michael Jordan was a ball hog. Point?

I’m not so sold on the fact that he never blamed himself for a loss, or a bad throw. Part of being a quarterback is to have a lot of confidence, and a big ego. Leaders can’t be congratulating his teammates when they stink it up. Even though failure happens regularly, it can’t be accepted by the quarterback. It has to be blocked out. I remember too many games that he’d throw an INT, then at the end of the game throw some questionable passes that got them a crucial first down/TD that won the game for the puke green/yellow. It certainly can swing both ways, but to say he’s an asshole because a sports writer blogs about him twice a week isn’t fair. Very few of us know what he’s like when he’s not wearing a uniform (other then he liked to fish and hunt)

The simple fact that he’s played 300+ games straight, can put your prima donna status as laughable as it gets. Plus, he’s a wrangler man, not someone that wants the red carpet slid out from under him. Your very nieve if you refuse to accept Favre as the Vikes QB if he does play. You could hate someone your whole life, but if one day came that they saved your life, you’d still hate them?…

I’m a Bears fan, so let’s just get this out of the way up front- no, I don’t have any place to talk about QBs. And Favre spent many years pounding on the Bears (prior to Lovie’s arrival!), so I’m probably a bit bitter. But he has absolutely gotten a pass from the entire sports media world every time he has had a meltdown over the course of his career. Since the Walrus left you can look at just about every GB postseason appearance and see that it ended with a #4 interception-palooza. The collective media statement afterward was always: “Oh, that’s just Brett. He’s going to have one of those games now and again”. I don’t think he’s had a coach since Holmgren that would cuss him out about the careless and unecessary turnovers.

I’m not going to take away from anything positive that Favre did over the years, and his numbers are certainly staggering. My team was certainly his favorite punching bag. But Mr. Gates hit the nail on the head with this post.

All that talk about the media is to blame for the way BF is acting?? Acting How is he acting?? He hasn’t said a word! He didn’t bring this on , your beloved Viqueen spokespurples did….oh and maybe sports bloggers. But as far as I know this time around he has had nothing to do with it. Felt good though didn’t it. Preaching to the choir always does.

You have said what I’ve been thinking for the last 10 years of Favre’s career. Thank you sincerely!

My only gripes are that people are fussing/whining about hearing the news coverage, in general. Newsflash folks – much like the central point of this great post by Gonzo, you create the desire for the media coverage. It starts with fans who care about the info.

The reason people are biyatching about this is because their beloved teams aren’t getting any press during the off-season. Cry me a river. I’m enjoying hearing my Vikes discussed on a national level, regardless of the strange circumstances. And frankly, Brett Favre is just about ten times better than the QBs we currently have on tap – so for my part, I’d like to have him and see if we can shed the excuses about “having problems due to not having a legitimate QB.” I’d like to see where we’ll go with a real QB – prima donna and over-covered by the media, or not.

zachsdad- The all-time greatest QB in Viking history never got that chance. His dad passed away while watching the Viking- Cowboys playoff game in 1975. The 1st game I remember watching. Fran didnt play again until the 1st game of the 1976 season opener. He never won a super bowl. He did get them to 3 of them. Cunningham? Johnson? Get a clue. Tommy Kramer or Culpepper, even Joe Kapp would have been better. Are you 13 years old. I do believe that Mr. Tarkenton wouldve played a great game under those circumstances.

Fran of course didnt know of his fathers death until the game was over.

To all cheeseheads-
  Hey look, I’m sorry but it seems as though your hero is going to be a Viking. We didnt plan this. And some of us hate it as much as you. Not me, I seem to be in the minority. At least on this blog. I tend to agree with Wytefang, lets see what the old dude has. The fact that I have not liked Mr. Favre for the last 17 years has nothing to do with the way he plays the game. He is a gamer, and I admire that. ALL adult football fans do! He plays the game with all he has. Dont blame us if we happen to get a little excited for the possibility that Brett Favre could become a Viking.
  We will just be riding the horse yall were gonna shoot. It happens, look at baseball. The biggest rivalry in sports, Yankees- Red sox. There have been many who have gone to the other side. Even the greatest player of all-time.
  The only reason for our hate of Favre is the fact that he WAS a Packer. The only ones to blame are Mr. Thompson and That fat coach you have.
  If this does go down and we fail, you will bash us to no end. I am prepared for that and so be it. But I think its worth a shot because I see the QB position as as our biggest weakness. Even if old #4 is 40, he could be just what we need to put us on top. And, well hey … wouldnt that be something.

I remember watching that 2005 classic playoff game when the Vikings crushed the Packers at Lambeau. Favre through the illegal forward pass, cost his time yardage and loss of down the Joe Buck and Troy Aikman acted like he was so great for trying to have some fun out there. Later in the game Moss fake mooned the crowd after a touchdown (this can be attributed to the way Packer fans have traditionally mooned the Viking bus as it leave Lambeau) and Joe Buck was all over him for this, calling it disgusting. But Favre could do pretty much anything and get a pass.

I am not sure if the Vikes will be better with him or with T-Jack and Sage but if he does sign at least it will make the season more interesting. I just hope he doesn’t stink up the joint here and T-Jack leaves to become the next McNabb.

What the heck are you talking about. Every game GB lost the media blamed it on Brett. He never blamed his teammates in GB or Jets….he would always say he had to get better. God knows he made his mistakes but he had a lot of help and in most cases not much talent around him til late in GB and nothing in Jets.

AMEN sister…..you say it like it is…..GO DIKEQUEENS!!!!

You sooooo hit the nail on the head!! I’ve been a diehard Viking fan since 1965. Whether he plays with us this year or not isn’t in my control. However,if he does and we should actually win a Super Bowl I’d love it!! Better Favre than T.O. or Vick. Things can always be worse.
If we don’t inprove,Childress needs to go!!

It is amazing how everyone here knows what Favre it thinking, how he treated other teammates and how he thinks and feels about everything. You people seem to know more then his family and friends. I think they may disagree. The simple truth is TT didn’t want Favre back after he drafted Rogers. Favre finally got tired of being disrespected by TT after the 2007 season and retired. He decided to come back for the 2008 season and the Packers told Favre that they didn’t want him back?? That has to be the worst that any player who was runner up for MVP the year before has ever been treated by an organization – shame on the Packers. Favre is respected by 99% of the people that really know him, but the few that bad mouth him get all of the press. Favre was the runner up for MVP in 2007 with a 13-3 record and then took a 4-12 Jets team to a 9-7 record (at one time they were 8-3 and ranked 2nd in the NFL). This was with virtually no preseason for him and with an offense that was competely different then he was used to. Most experts predicted that he would fail terribly with the Jets. He was elected to the Pro Bowl last year. The Jets defense played terrible during the last 5 games (worst in the NFL) and Thomas Jones had 2 games under 50 yards and none close to 100 during the last 5 games. I have read several articles that the receivers dropped more passes during the last 5 games then during the 11 before and the offensive line was non existant (Favre was running for his life on almost every play). I don’t know any QB that could win under those conditions. Favre will play for the Vikings and they will win the Super Bowl.