Here's hoping Brett Favre actually signs on to his $20 million-$25 million retirement annuity from the Green Bay Packers. Here's hoping all these great debates about morality and fairness and desire and athlete's rights and employer's prerogatives end up in the one place where we can all agree.
Money trumps principle every time.
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| 'Awkward and unsettling' won't cut it, Brett. Be insulted. At least show some mock outrage. (Getty Images) |
And now, the two sides have reached the stage where the Packers have put a price tag on a great player's legacy, and Favre is considering if it's enough.
In other words, we now know what everyone is. We're just negotiating price.
It almost doesn't matter whether Favre takes the $20 million or not at this point. If this was about him playing again, he would have declared the offer insulting, savaged the Packers for demeaning his motives, and renewed his demand to be traded to Minnesota or Chicago (although in truth his fetish for wanting to play against the Packers is a little too can't-cut-the-cord for our tastes).
And if the Packers really were committed unconditionally to Aaron Rodgers, would it really matter where Favre played next? Sure, it would be better for the Packers if Favre became a Jet, but if you can't get what you want, you might as well still get what you need.
But push came to shove, with a gentle nudge thrown in by Roger Goodell, and Mark Murphy flew down to Mississippi with the perfect solution -- the bag'o'dough that lets everyone walk away from their untenable positions.
And Favre is thinking about it. Sure he called it awkward and unsettling, but he didn't call it undignified or cruel, and he didn't set the family dog on Murphy as he hit the porch. What else do you need to know, kids? This is Problem Solving 101 -- got an issue, write a check. Life lessons on the half-shell.
How this saga went from a simple tale of Favre and Ted Thompson loathing each other to what could end up as a shining example of shameless expediency provides valuable wisdom for the youth. Indeed, next to this, Favre ending his career in Vikings purple and Diva gold looks downright noble by comparison.
And no, paid retirement is not Favre being noble and peace-loving, as he is trying to sell it. Unless he pitched the idea to the Packers, he is taking a buyout to end his dream. It's great pay for hammock duty, and we begrudge him nary a dime, but it isn't what he was selling us all this time.
And the Packers? Their dignity is pretty well tattered as well, although they can chortle at the next partners' meeting that they forced Minnesota to use Tarvaris Jackson ... if that's your idea of victory. They took a chunk of their history and offered to pay it to bugger off, and there is no true satisfaction in that.
No, this is ending as poorly as it could for both sides, if you think dignity and fortitude matter. Fortunately, this being the NFL, the placard on the altar reads, "Sure, it's short money, but you can't go to the butcher and buy a pork chop with your pride and honesty."
At least when Favre was second-guessing and bad-mouthing Thompson, he was coming off as genuine. And at least when Thompson was trying to strong-arm Favre, at least he wasn't pimping the franchise's most famous player since Bart Starr.
So let's hope that Favre takes the money, and let's hope it keeps him happy on those Sundays he said he would miss so much, and let's hope the Packers don't get another quarterback like him for decades, so they can understand just how rare histories like his actually are, and how those histories should be savored.
And let's hope we all recognize the next time someone or some team claims to be standing on principle, what they mean is this:
When you want to express your admiration, say it with hundreds -- the gifts that keep on giving.
Ray Ratto is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle.
