This is a sad situation and few seem to state it like it is. Tell me how on Earth an organization allowed its Head Coach to single-handedly put them in such a pathetic position that they clearly admit they have such a dreadful quarterback situation that they need to go disrupt their team’s chemistry and further damage their current QBs psyches by actually acting out of desperation and signing a 39-year old quarterback.

And yes, I do understand what a great quarterback Brett Favre was. But he is going on 40, hoping against hope that his arm miraculously heals on its own, and is obviously too pigheaded or egotistical to know when to REALLY retire. His schizophrenic flip-flopping is actually as pathetic as anything I’ve ever seen from a pro athlete. He wants to USE the Vikings to further his legacy or merely to shove it up Thompson’s nose… gee, thanks Brett. The Vikings look like nothing more than desperate whores. And IF they fail to make the playoffs, have further destroyed the confidence of their existing quarterbacks and have to rebuild the position yet again.. they will possibly be in worse shape than they were without Favre.

Tell me why I should feel good about any of this, or why Childress should keep his job. This team should have drafted Jay Cutler when they had the chance. Then, they could have traded for him, but stupidly failed to right their previous wrong… so he could sign with a division rival. Really great, guys.

So many fans are trying to convince themselves that this scenario with Farve isn’t a colossal embarrassment, but they just want to save face by spinning it as something good. I say it is the last bit of evidence that the current Head Coach is an imbecile who systematically put this franchise in fire straits at the most critical position of all. It’s pretty bad when the Chiefs have two quarterbacks who are better than ours.

I am opposed to Favre joining the team and would rather see the team give Rosenfels and Jackson a chance to prove the critics wrong. At least there’s an outside chance of building something for the future that way.

“dire straits” ; not fire straits….. lol

Great job Gonzo, those points are all valid. I whole heartedly agree with you about Favre making AP more effective.

And once again, regardless of whoever is wearing the jersey and comes marching out of the tunnel, I’m still a Vikings fan. I will still root for them, and I will still hope that they win, year in and year out.

Also, GeauxBears, I think that simply falls into what I said before. Exect Favre to put off surgery as long as possible, so that as soon as his rehab stint is over, it’s time for training camp (or perhaps even later). I’m not surprised by it at all.

            Comparing 27 games to 48 games? The statistical and scientific communities would laugh you out of the room if you brought that up in front of them. When comparing anything you have to start on a common ground, like similar number of games or same opponents (Both the Jets and Vikings played the Cardinals for instance, Jets @ home, Vikings on the road).
            You’d also be wrong to assume that just because Favre is throwing less passes he is going to improve. I did this in a previous post as well, but if you keep Favre’s comp %, yards per comp, TD per comp, and INT per comp and plug that into the number of attempts that Vikings had as a team here is how they compare (All stats gathered from NFL.com):
                      Comp Att Yards TD INT
Farve 296 452 2990 19 19
’08 Vikings 267 452 2956 22 17

      So while keeping all the stats you mention would be a boon in the Childress offense, Favre comps 29 more passes for 34 more yards, 3 less TDs, and 2 more INTs. That doesn’t show any improvement, in fact with the less TDs and more INTs, its even worse.
        Also I don’t know where you got the idea that there would be a reluctance to blitz Favre as teams blitzed him on the Jets all the time. Lets not forget how often Freotte was on the ground last season with an offensive line that has been playing together for a few years which will now have (arguably) two rookies starting, one of which is going to replace a Pro Bowler. Teams aren’t going to let any QB just sit behind the line with no pressure and when teams think they can expose and work over rookies it will have nothing to do with who the QB is and everything to do with confusing the O line.
         I haven’t been exactly cordial in my attempts to convince people that Favre isn’t the guy people seem to think the Vikings would be getting and I apologize if I took it too far in any instance. I have had way to much emotion invested in this and haven’t posted or looked at any postings in a while to try and get some separation from the story which is difficult enough with all sports media jumping at any “source” to try and break the story because apparently, its more important to break the story then correctly report it. In an attempt to get back into the discussion, I’ll try to show why I don’t agree with the common arguments that Favre should be brought in:
1. “If the Vikings get the Favre that went 8-3 last year…” – And if I won the lottery I wouldn’t have to work another day in my life :). Manimal already posted a link to the ESPN NFC North Blog report showing how Favre has fallen down the stretch and how it compares to other QBs and the numbers show it right there. As great as a fast start is, its more important to preform in the last half of the season going into the playoffs, which didn’t happen for the Jets last season and for as well and the running game and defense played, the Jets were still handcuffed by their QB play.
2. “Jackson and Sage will benefit from having Favre here” – I doubt that. Both of these guys have way too many starts in the NFL to benefit from sitting on the sideline and watching a QB who, through out his career, has been a case study in doing things the wrong way, yet still getting things done. How is watching Favre going to help Jackson learn to read defenses and make a decision in the 1 to 3 seconds QBs have from the snap to get rid of the ball? Watching film and looking at those photos they print after every drive can’t teach that and at some point they have to show it on the field.
3.“Playing the Dome would be a fountain of youth” – John Clayton said that with a straight face some how. I understand Favre has done well in his last few visits to the 3H Dome, but lets not forget what he was going up against: the 32nd ranked pass D in 2007, 31st (a tie for last place) in 2006, the 22nd in 2005, 29th in 2004, and 26th in 2003 (rankings from NFL.com). Those would be the last five games Favre played in the Minnesota that Clayton references. I don’t care if you are a Pro Bowl QB or not, when playing such lowly ranked pass D’s you should have good games. And lets not forget that even with those “great games” he is still 6-10 lifetime in the dome.
4. “Can’t wait till Favre vs packers…” – You know what I can’t wait for every year? The Vikings vs the packers. This argument gets me more than any other. Not necessarily because analyst get excited for it, but because of what it implies. I have always bee a Vikings fan, but if the Favre circus comes to Minnesota, there won’t be the Minnesota Vikings anymore and they will simply be “The Favre’s”. It won’t matter if the defense improves its dominance, the special teams gives up less TDs (seriously, 2 less special teams TDs, one at GB and one at Chi-town, and the Vikings would have been 12-4 last season with everything else staying the same), and if Peterson continues running over fools, the only thing that will be brought up about the Vikings will be Favre and how great he is. Vikings games will turn in to this now just replace Tebow with Favre. [That video makes me laugh every time :)]
            I know people worry that there “isn’t a franchise QB on the roster”, but how does having Favre fix that? The only way we will know what the Vikings actually have at QB is to play the guys who are already on the roster. Look at it this way, if they do completely fall apart, there will be a high draft pick to grab a QB early in the next draft and if they do play well like we all expected them to do before there was any mention of Favre, what real needs do the Vikings have in next years draft? And by needs, we are talking having to draft a starter that can play right away. DT? Maybe. Fred Evans played great when Phat Pat was injured at the end of last year keeping the 1st and 2nd ranked rushing teams well below there average. Maybe a secondary or LB player, maybe. Though I wouldn’t say there is a absolute need to get a guy early at those positions when guys taken later can preform there just as well historically. Other than that, the only need is QB and if there is one that the Vikings fall in love with, they can easily package picks and move up to get him, even with the low starting pick they would get for having a deep run in the playoffs. I know this has been a long rant so thanks if you made it this far.

“In addition to that, teams wouldn’t be shoving eight guys in the box on every first and second down with Favre behind center”

This is a fantasy. No one will put 7 in the box against Adrian because of a 40 year old anybody. Favre is dangerous, yes. But would you really put 7 in the box against Adrian on first or second down? You’d never get to third down. Teams will take their chances with Favre and keep 8 in the box.

Gonzo, AMEN BROTHER!!!! I wish other close minded individuals on here would realise what you so eloquently posted up here. No matter what argument ANY of you want to come up with the fact of the matter is that Favre is a better option then TJ or Sage, PERIOD!!! There is no f’ing point in arguing!! Yes, Favre fell off last season and has fell off alot over the last few seasons, WELL THEN F’ING PUT IN ONE OF THE SAME 2 QB’s ALL YOU MORONS ARE SAYING ARE BETTER!!! What happened when TJ was not doing so well after the first couple games?? We put in Gus. What will we do if in week 11 Favre starts throwing interceptions left and right? We will put in Sage or (God I hope not) TJ. It is that f’ing simple!! You are right Cobra, AP will still be our biggest threat and its no garuntee that Favre will consistantly push out the 8th man in the box, BUT i am 100% sure that he will do a better job of it then TJ or Sage!!! Sage was a back up on a so-so team with not a great QB as a starter and I have watched EVERY game TJ has played and so far I have seen 2 games that he looked like he could be an NFL starter. Favre is our best option for this year, period!! If we had made a move for Cutler or Castle than it would be a whole different situation, but we made no moves to get the quality QB that we need for a championship and allthough Favre may not be that QB he is by FAR the better option from what we have in front of us now!! Thanks for the great post Gonzo!! Glad to see there are some people on here that dont let there close mindedness ruin our chance at a championship.