This is not a drill. Childress has actually gone on public record about this now during a morning interview on KFAN. And much thanks to Kevin Seifert at ESPN for the following article summarizing it:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nfcnorth/0-12-37/Childress-speaks-on-Favre----in-the-present-tense.html

Highlights are as follows:

Minnesota coach Brad Childress made two key points Wednesday morning in his expansive comments on the Vikings' pursuit of quarterback Brett Favre:

He established no deadline for Favre to sign a contract.

He wants Favre to join the team if his arm is healthy.

Asked whether he thinks Favre can help the Vikings in 2009, Childress said:

"My opinion is that he was a great player. He obviously had a setback last year and was playing very well early. If in fact he's had that surgery, I'm anxious to see exactly what he has left in that cannon. Because he had a pretty good arm, as we know."

But Childress left little doubt that his interest in Favre remains in the present tense and is tied to the physical condition of Favre's arm. He has explained the situation to his current quarterbacks, Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels, and said, "I'm not worried about" their reaction.

"I've talked with Sage and Tarvaris," Childress said. "They're competitors. Do they like any of the conversation? Absolutely not. But they know this: I'm charged with adding and subtracting players from this team to make us better. Every day when I walk into this office, there's not a day that I don't try to look and see if we can't get better at some position. If this is going to make us better down the road, and if this has got a chance to happen, I'm going to take care of the Minnesota Vikings."

The partial podcast can be found at the link below:

http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/18227/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/18227/podcast/MINNEAPOLIS-MN/KFAN-AM/PWRTRIP061009_ChildressFINAL.mp3?CPROG=PCAST&MARKET=MINNEAPOLIS-MN&NG_FORMAT=sports&SITE_ID=612&STATION_ID=KFAN-AM&PCAST_AUTHOR=KFAN_AM_1130&PCAST_CAT=Sports_Radio&PCAST_TITLE=Purple_on_Demand_-_Vikings_Podcast

Okay now that this is actually up, I can add a commentary. Damn other fans who I need to beat to the blogging punch.

*Shakes fist*

For the most part, this is Seifert's article with the opinions cut out. So now I'm tossing in my own opinions.

By actually coming out and saying this, Childress has effectively shut all the (will they/won't they) speculation up. And I'm fine with that. Now the speculation will focus on two things: Favre himself and WHEN not IF he will join the team. Which gets one spotlight off of our training camp. He has also spoken with the QBs about it and while he knows they're not happy, he doesn't give a damn.

This is a first for me, but I think this is the first time I've seen Childress show proper leadership qualities.

So what we're left with now is... repair time. And I'm fine with that. There are those who say "OMG, y aren't u studying or with the team NOWWWW?!?!?" And the flat answer is, he doesn't know if he can. If his arm still isn't feeling well eight weeks post surgery, why the hell would he be here in the first place? Additionally, most teams will run a player through a physical before signing them and I don't see any reason why that should change now. Our worst case scenario is that on August 3rd, Favre shows up and says he's ready. At which point he gets only six weeks with the first team before heading out onto the field against Cleveland.

Coached by Mangini.

This should be interesting.