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Edwards: Favre's Personal Locker Room is B.S.

I really like the comments Ray Edwards made Thursday morning on ESPN's First Take.  I've brought it up many times that Favre was viewed as a distant locker room presence in New York last season, since he didn't use the same locker room as the rest of the team.  It's little surprise, then, that he was criticized anonymously by some members of the Jets for separating himself from everyone else.  I'm counting on guys like Edwards to remind Favre of his locker room responsibility and make sure this team avoids a repeat of last season's Jets if/when the vet quarterback signs:

"You've got to go to war with these guys," Edwards said. "If you don't want to share a locker room with them, that's kind of b.s."

Favre had a locker assigned in the Jets' primary locker room but he actually used a nearby office.

"I wouldn't like it that much," Edwards said. "Everybody else has got to share a locker room. What makes you so different?"

Hey, someone needed to say it.

Star-divide

It would be the ultimate example of hypocrisy if Favre followed up the HBO interview, in which he referred to himself and the team as "we," with a number of requests that other members of the team wouldn't be granted -- such as using a locker that's separate from the locker room everyone else uses.  Here's more of Ray's comments:

Edwards made clear he would welcome Favre to Minnesota, saying: "We think it's definitely going to be a great addition to the team if he does come." But when host Dana Jacobson asked if he wished Favre had already signed and at least attended some offseason workouts, Edwards said: "It would have been [nice], just to see his personality, how he interacts with guys. But you know, he's a Hall of Fame quarterback, and you know most of them are pretty much prima donnas."

Honestly, I was caught off guard by the bluntness of these comments -- they sound like something Jared Allen, Pat Williams, or another more established veteran leader would say.  But it's difficult to disagree with anything Edwards is saying, and I imagine he wasn't the only player rubbed the wrong way by the news of Favre declining Chilly's request to attend the OTAs.  A couple months down the road, we probably won't even remember that Favre decided not to attend OTAs, but it certainly would have set the right tone had he been present.

So anyway, kudos to Ray for confronting the so-called "elephant in the room" as it applies to the Vikings' locker room this season -- a locker room with healthy team chemistry, an excellent core of veteran leaders, but with the one big variable of Favre.  This variable becomes a positive if Brett accepts that, unlike last season, he does indeed have a responsibility to do his part in the locker room and interact with the rest of the guys.  He's won a Super Bowl, he said on HBO that he can teach this offense, he's been around forever -- why wouldn't you want to have him in this locker room?  Then again, though, if we get another season of a "distant" Brett, there could be trouble.

I'm hopeful everyone's learned their lesson from last season -- that, when one player is seperate from the rest and given obvious special treatment by the coaching staff, things simply cannot work out.  Based on what happened with Favre in New York, the locker room issue needs to be on the radar of Vikings fans, players and coaches.

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and so it begins

if edwards is saying this out loud to the media, what are he and/or the rest of the team thinking inside their heads? this has already become a locker room distraction. i noticed on the state of the vikings webcast that greenway didn’t seem to happy when he talked about the situation.

by iseepurplepeople on Jun 18, 2009 2:41 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

>>i noticed on the state of the vikings webcast that greenway didn’t seem to happy when he talked about the situation.

He was probably concentrating real hard about the words he chose. say one wrong thing on this issue and you’ll be quoted 1,000,000 times on the internet. Everything else discussed won’t be so closely scrutinized.

BTW – I was in Cancun for the last week, so I have some catching up to do:
Favre, Favre, Favre, Favre, Favre, Favre, Favre, and Favre.
I think that should do it.

by newmexvike on Jun 18, 2009 4:46 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

A few short, but we’ll call it good.

In AP I trust
Just say no to Favre.

by FarvaForTheVikings on Jun 18, 2009 10:28 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

it was more his tone and posture than the actual words he used.

by iseepurplepeople on Jun 19, 2009 9:31 AM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

I agree completely with Ray

But the point still remains, unless he’s healthy, it shouldn’t be an issue.

When you go to somebody's house, you don't crap on their floor. Being a fan of one team does NOT give you license to be a dick to fans of another.

by Robert Rence on Jun 18, 2009 2:46 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Maybe

Maybe I am just a conspiracy theorist, but I think BF did everything possible last year to prove to the Vikings that he could play and once he proved it, did everything he could to get released by the Jets. I don’t think he got hurt on purpose, but it sure did help. I think the seperate locker room was his way of not getting to close to his teammates so that when he left for MN it would not be as bad

by SouthernNorseman on Jun 18, 2009 2:53 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

not

It is good that players do not hold back what is on their minds, but New York is a different place. This is not going to be a real problem in Minnesota.

None of the Vikings players are going to do cartwheels before Brett is on board, nor should they.

Asher Allen was not involved in OTA’s, and nobody is calling him out.

Brett has not signed with the Vikings. If Brett had showed up at OTA’s without his arm in playing condition, it would just have been a media circus, players would have gotten the idea he’s only Mr. Celebrity, and he would not have been able to demonstrate what he can bring to the table.

Wait until after Brett decides his arm can make this thing fly and the introductions get made.

The meaning of prejudice is that you judge people before you ever meet them face to face.

.

by Elgar on Jun 18, 2009 3:12 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

I agree with Edwards on Favre

Favre should share the Locker room with the rest of the team. Unless his weener is too-small..haha!

I also think that Edwards should worry about Edwards. He is the only one on the D-Line who didn’t make the Pro Bowl. If Udeze was healthy last year, the Line probably would have been. Udeze/Williams/Williams/Allen.

by chaosg on Jun 18, 2009 4:25 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Not sharing a locker room with his fellow teammates was not the reason for the Jets decline.

Seriously that doesn’t have anything to do with performance on the field.

Baseball is God's sport! All Truth Goes Through Three Stages 1.It is ridiculed 2.It is violently opposed 3.Finally, it is accepted as self-evident. kinesiologist

by E5 on Jun 18, 2009 7:23 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

That's true

The team gets dressed as the players arrive. They handle their pre-game needs, (tape ankles, wrist…etc). Then they stretch and loosen up on the field before they meet as a team in the locker-room.

If the Vikes do sign Favre, he should take the O-Line out for dinner or something like that. Something so he get to know the fella’s, and maybe get in on a few practical jokes during the season…be a part of the team.

by chaosg on Jun 18, 2009 7:58 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

I can’t wait for the season.

by Eric B on Jun 18, 2009 9:44 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Veteran with Production

What was said was right on, just wished it came from an established and respected veteran. Not someone who makes sack record guarantees and falls way short. I still want Favre to sign. Good times.

by LAviking on Jun 18, 2009 11:49 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Prima dona

Edwards called Favre that, and I thought about it… what’s it mean? For an HoF quality player, especially the QB, to be a prima dona.

I guess it means they think that that their decades of seniority and experience and achievement and capability have earned them the right to expect to be listened to when they speak, as if maybe they know what they’re talking about. That maybe they feel they can be trusted to do their job without supervision micromanaging the situation and second-guessing their choices. That perhaps they even feel they’ve earned a few perks above and beyond what the average kid fresh out of college is getting, no matter how hot a prospect the kid may be. That maybe they’ve earned a certain amount of respect and they know it, and they expect to receive it.

I can see where this might rub the younger folks the wrong way. The ones who still believe in egalitarian ideals of equality despite the inequity-based system they’re playing in. If they manage to last as long as one of those ‘prima donas’, they might even grow up enough to understand that achievement is King.

by DCPurple on Jun 19, 2009 7:35 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

+1

but there’s a fine line between respected veteran and primadona. that line is usually called humility.

by iseepurplepeople on Jun 19, 2009 9:35 AM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

iseepurplepeople

Do you think Favre does or does not show humility?

by puddnhead on Jun 19, 2009 12:57 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

don’t know. never shared a locker room with him.

by iseepurplepeople on Jun 19, 2009 1:51 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Humility

I think humility is all well and good, and it plays well for the media…

I’m not sure I want it in my 1st string QB, though. For him to understand and acknowledge the team effort required, and that he’s part of the team, absolutely. A leader has to be able to do that or he won’t be leading for very long. I’d rather have a QB who’s got strong confidence that he can impart to the rest of the team, and if he gets cocky once in a while, well… as long as he can live up to it, I’m good with that too.

by DCPurple on Jun 20, 2009 5:42 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

iseepurplepeople

Do you think Favre does or does not show humility?

by puddnhead on Jun 19, 2009 12:57 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

I don’t think he’s the ego-maniac that a lot of people want to make him out to be. I don’t think he wants all the attention this whole thing gets every year. Otherwise he would be making more comments. We pretty much have to beg him to say anything.

by newmexvike on Jun 19, 2009 5:04 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

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