Well, the dance did indeed continue, so those who felt little would be confirmed or resolved during "Joe Buck Live" were technically correct. But throughout the interview, Brett Favre dropped plenty of hints that he'll be in purple this season.
Joe Buck came through for me by asking Favre directly if he's coming back to play another season. "Maybe," Brett responded sheepishly. Not gonna lie, folks -- that one pissed me off. But as the interview continued, it became increasingly clear that this thing is more of a done deal than Brett wanted to imply.
Many commenters noted this during the live blog: Brett referred to himself and the Vikings organization as "we" at one part of the interview. Does that sound like someone who is at all on the fence about his 2009 plans?
He also stated that Dr. Andrews operated on him just over two weeks ago and that he met with a Vikings trainer this weekend to start doing some exercises to address his right shoulder. His recovery is ongoing.
Perhaps most interesting was his comment that Brad Childress requested his presence (not his participation) at the OTAs -- Favre refused, stating that he wanted to delay the inevitable media circus to later in the summer, but it's abundantly clear that the process is more advanced than we may have imagined prior to the interview. Hearing that he declined the OTA invitation left a bad taste in my mouth, but his reasoning was at least plausible -- though not necessarily believable
So the interview was somewhat of a letdown in that we didn't necessarily get all of the specifics directly from Favre that we wanted. I keep thinking about that "maybe" answer at the beginning of the show -- it was classic Favre but not what Vikings fans were looking for. Nonetheless, I'm not sure how you could watch the interview, read between the lines, and think that a Favre signing is anything but imminent, barring a stunning setback for his shoulder. "We" says it all -- he'll be a Viking.
Oh yeah, he got applause by saying the word "sh*t" near the end of the chat.
Update: Here's the quote I was referencing:
“It makes a lot of sense because the pieces are in place. They do have a great running back, a great running game. If I go there, there are no guarantees. We all know that. I went through that last year with New York. I think every player should think that he is a difference-maker. I think you have to believe that. But in that situation, understanding what is expected of you, knowing your team, knowing that as long as we can run the ball and complete passes when needed, we should be pretty good.”