Freeman: It's all about Favre
When is enough finally enough? Now. Enough is enough right now. Brett Favre has been scolded enough and ridiculed enough and mocked enough, and enough is enough.
|
|
| Brett Favre: Decisive on the field, wishy washy off it. (AP) |
Favre has never been arrested for DUI. Never been accused of domestic violence. Never been caught using steroids or HGH. Never stolen signs. Never mooned the crowd. Never punched a teammate or stepped on an opponent. Never walked off the field while the game was in progress. Never fathered multiple kids with multiple women.
But Favre is the flavor of the month, and that flavor isn't piña colada. It's piñata. He's being beaten and battered, and why? Because it's easy. It's easier than easy. It's simple -- so simple, even Freeman is doing it.
Favre is guilty of being wishy-washy. I'll concede that point. He's guilty of having bad timing. He's guilty of thinking about himself.
But enough is enough. The man wants to come back and play. And for that, we burn him at the stake? This isn't a washed-up Emmitt Smith, as a Dallas writer ridiculously suggested this weekend, hanging on to finish his career in Phoenix.
Clearly Favre has enough game to get it done in the NFL, judging not only from his statistics last season (4,155 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, 15 interceptions) but also from the names of these starting quarterbacks in the NFL: Kyle Boller, Sage Rosenfels, Tarvaris Jackson, Chris Redman ...
The names go on and on. There aren't enough good quarterbacks in the NFL, much less great ones. Here's a great one who wants to play. And everyone says it's a bad idea?
Everyone has lost their minds.
And I don't want to hear a word, not one lousy syllable, about the plight of poor old Aaron Rodgers, the theoretical heir to Favre's throne in Green Bay. Apparently none of the "woe is Rodgers" crowd has received the memo: The Packers already have removed this guy's testicles. Rodgers is a eunuch, and he hasn't even started his first game for the Packers. Green Bay drafted not one but two quarterbacks in April, when they were sure Favre was out of the picture. What does that tell you? It tells you they're not sure Aaron Rodgers is the answer at quarterback.
Drafting a QB in the seventh round, or even the sixth and possibly the fifth, means the Packers are serious about committing resources to their depth at that position. Drafting Brian Brohm in the second round means the Packers are serious about possibly building their team around someone other than Aaron Rodgers.
You think the Packers drafted Brohm to be Rodgers' understudy? Under that line of thinking, Green Bay would enter the 2008 season with little or no experience at starter and backup. No way. Green Bay drafted Brohm to compete with Rodgers, perhaps even beat him out. Rodgers' status with the Packers is shaky, all right, but it has nothing to do with Brett Favre and everything to do with Aaron Rodgers. So move on, people. Rodgers doesn't need your pity.
And the Packers don't need your support. They've botched this entire thing as badly as it could be botched. Forgive the mixed-sports metaphor, but if this situation were a ground ball to second base, the Packers kicked the grounder, picked it up and threw wildly over the wrong base, hitting a fan in the head.
Favre clearly wasn't sold on his retirement. After the NFC title game he said he'd decide in a few days. Five weeks later, he still hadn't decided. After announcing his retirement in early March, he reportedly told the Packers rather quickly that he was having second thoughts, then surprised the team by saying, no, he was finished after all.
Knowing him as they do, for the Packers to assume Favre's "no" meant anything more decisive than "maybe" was irresponsible on their end. And then to reportedly blow off Favre -- not responding to his text messages, not answering calls from his agent -- was akin to a frightened kid ducking the boogeyman by hiding under his pillow. If the boogeyman really is in the house, kid, that pillow won't do you a lot of good. And if Favre wants to come back, Packers, ignoring his (admittedly) clumsy hints won't make it go away.
You do agree that not every player is equal, correct? That the Packers cannot afford to treat Favre, the greatest player in team history, the same way they'd treat their long snapper or a backup defensive back? Favre required special treatment because he is wishy-washy and because he is, frankly, Brett Favre. You can hate that position, but you can't disagree with it. Ignoring obvious facts to support your agenda might get you eight years in the White House, but it doesn't make you the brightest sports fan in the world.
Favre decided to come back, which is his right. He asked for his release, which also is his right. The Packers, bless their steely hearts, refused Favre's request to be released, and then on Saturday announced Favre was more than welcome to return to the NFL as a Green Bay Packer ... second-stringer.
This is what you call "cutting off your nose to spite your face." Brett Favre is wishy-washy, but he's the best quarterback the Packers have, and he's the best quarterback they have by a long shot. If they want to win now, they turn the team over to Favre. As for Aaron Rodgers, he's so important to the Packers in the long term that they spent a second-round pick on a quarterback.
This stuff isn't that hard. The greatest hockey player of his time, Mario Lemieux, came out of retirement despite owning the team he wanted to play for. That wasn't easy, but the Penguins pulled it off. The greatest basketball player of his time, Michael Jordan, came out of retirement despite running the team he wanted to play for. That wasn't easy, but the Wizards pulled it off.
But Green Bay can't figure a way to play the greatest quarterback of his time? Green Bay can't be this stupid. In fact, I don't think Green Bay is stupid at all.
I think the Packers are mad at Favre for changing his mind. Which means the Packers are just like everybody else.
They're wrong.
