Often, Shooter throws rumors out there in his column that are plausible but sound fishy. At other times, the stuff he writes is just plain ridiculous and apparently used mainly to fill column inches. This is one of those times.
The longer the Minnesota Vikings take to announce Brett Favre will be their quarterback next season, the more money appears to be the holdup.
If Favre doesn't sign, and all that air goes out of the Vikings' balloon, it's a good bet the money — and not his tender arm — will be the reason.
Huh? You're telling me that a man who is already obscenely rich, is fighting through injury to make a comeback, and wants another shot at a Super Bowl would be petty enough to allow minor disagreements over money to derail his desire to play for the Vikings? This is just more fiction from Shooter.
We shouldn't be naive. Money is bound to be an issue, since it always is in professional sports. But Shooter's going beyond suggesting there could be some differences between Bus Cook and the team that need to be resolved -- he's suggesting that the cash issue could completely cause this thing to collapse.
And he's dead wrong about that. If Favre decides to remain in retirement -- which remains a very, very small possibility -- it will be because he makes the decision that his arm won't be up-to-par for a complete season. Any suggestions that money might be a deal-breaker are, at the absolute most, mere posturing by either side.
We've come too far for this to fall apart because of dollars and cents. And it would be stunning if it ever came to that. We're talking about a guy who turned down a $20 million dollar marketing agreement with the Packers last summer, and a guy who recently had his shoulder operated on -- he is clearly going to make every attempt to play, and he's not going to let contract squabbles bring a premature end to his final chance at winning another championship.