Brett Favre got his say, and now Brad Childress got his. According to a variety of Tweets from Zulgad, Jensen and Viking Update coming out of the Childress presser this afternoon, here's what we know: Childress wouldn't say that Brett Favre was "dissenting" when there was talk of benching him in the second half on Saturday, and instead described the sideline chatter as more "stream of consciousness" than anything. From Zulgad:
Childress also said his discussion with Favre about making a change was a "stream of consciousness" move on his part.
Childress did not yank Favre. He said it was more "of a stream of consciousness," because Favre was getting his "rear end killed."
Jensen and others have noted reports that this was the third time Childress thought about benching Favre this season. Chilly wanted to take Favre out of games against the Lions and Packers, a revelation that definitely added fuel to this fire. Yep, as the top story on ESPN, this seemed on its way to becoming schism-gate all over again. Chilly obviously tried to settle things down in the presser, and we'll see if this story goes away.
I tend to believe this is being blown out of proportion, even if Chilly has apparently considered benching Favre before. The two big issues here are 1) How serious Childress was about replacing Favre in the third quarter of yesterday's game with the Vikings ahead, and 2) If it was because Favre was getting knocked around or if it was because Childress thought Tarvaris Jackson could provide a needed change of pace. Two interesting questions that welcome speculation, but ultimately, this is a chapter that needs to be put in the rear view mirror.
Update: Kevin Seifert, as usual, offers a solid take.
1. There have been occasions this season when Childress has considered pulling quarterback Brett Favre from a game for performance reasons.
2. Sunday night at Carolina was not one of those times.
3. Childress’ relationship with Favre is too close to "colleague" and too far from "coach-player."
That seems about right to me. I'm not convinced Chilly was serious about benching Favre on Sunday, so I just don't buy any talk of Favre dissenting from a decision by the coaching staff. It's also little surprise that Favre and Chilly seem more like colleagues than player and coach -- everyone knows that Brett is "his own man."