SoldierHawk wrote:

Lol. Awesome QB and always respected the guy, but I wasn't a fan of the switch he pulled on Green Bay. I mean, if you're gonna retire, just do it. Then again, when your life is dedicated to a single thing, and you're one of the best at it...that must be hard to leave.

I actually thought Green Bay kind of railroaded him. I sort of agree with your point, but when it became inevitable, they were kind of shitty about the way they handled it.

UsaSatsui wrote:

Quote: Really? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that at all. My impression was that they were actually quite respectful and accommodating once he decided to retire. What happened that I missed? I may have to amend judgment. And honestly I want to, because I really like Farve. GB really wanted to move on, but were willing to let Farve play as long as he wanted. He announced his retirement, and GB got his replacement (Rogers) ready. He then said he wanted to come back. I don't think he was railroaded out so much as the Packers weren't willing to be jerked around by him. GB said, "Go screw, it's too late. We got a quarterback".

It wasn't so much the fact that they wanted to go in a different direction. Favre wanted to come back to Green Bay. But when they didn't want him, he was okay with it, but he wanted to get to a new team ASAP for training camps, pre-season, etc. Green Bay was blocking several possible trades and were dragging out the whole process. They cut communication with Favre several times. He would go for long periods of time without hearing from them.

I don't know if they were intentionally railroading him, but they were making the transition to another team very rough. A guy plays 253 consecutive starts with your team. If you don't want him on your team, the least you can do is help him move on.

Douche McCallister wrote:

What peeved me off was the fact that they REFUSED to deal with the Vikings. That would have made some good football. Favre on the other hand would constantly leave the Packers organization in the dark regarding if he was going to come back the past 3 seasons. They had Roger's who in my eyes is going to be a good QB for them, but the fact of the matter remains Favre is old, and Roger's was ready. It didn't seem like it was an exhausting/rough transition. Favre doesn't have the numbers from his 1995-1997 run and he just keeps hurting his stats. That guy made the Lions QB's look decent. Being a Lions fan would I of wanted to get Favre? Sure but not for his skill, but the fact that we could have beaten the Packers this year. Thus pissing my dad off beyond all reason.

He has pulled that shit every season. This time they moved on whether he was coming back or not. So I can respect their decision. I can also understand why, if they had the choice (and they did), they would refuse to send him to a division rival. But they even took it farther and did everything they could to make sure he couldn't even play in the NFC. That is a little overboard in my book. Also, the line of communication completely sucked throughout the whole process. It took GB and Favre forever to even have a sitdown to talk about it. Once it was decided that both sides were ready to go in a different direction, it should have been right on to negotians with interested teams, but it ended up becoming a media circus where it appeared as though GB was trying to make an example out of Favre.

UsaSatsui wrote:

Green Bay still owned Favre's contract. Retiring doesn't change that. When you have one of the best players in the game locked up, you don't just let him walk to another team, particularly one you're gonna play several times in a year. ...and I'm sure they were a little pissed too.

I get that. But it was in their best interest to trade him if he didn't retire unless they were going to play him. It's too big of a hit on the cap to have a guy making what Favre makes sitting on the bench. I also agree you don't send him do a team you will play twice. But the guy was their bread and butter for 16 seasons and they were far from cordial in the way they handled it.

Per his contract, he had to sign off on the trade. If he really wanted to screw them, he could have refused a trade. Then they have to pay him for sitting on the bench, or go against what they already stated and play him over Rodgers. Also, remember how pissed the Green Bay fans were. People were booing Rodgers, wearing Favre jerseys, holding up pro-Favre/anti-Packers signs. Can you imagine how that would have been amplified with Favre on the bench and Rodgers starting?

I will say Green Bay was put in a tough place. They almost had to trade him. If you keep him, he has to start. I don't care what they said. You have a guy who, if not for Tom Brady, would have been league MVP or a guy who has never started a game and only thrown 59 passes in 3 seasons. But at the same time, you almost have to play Rodgers. He has had 3 years to learn the system behind arguably the greatest QB ever. You need to keep Rodgers around and by sitting him another season, he may leave when his contract is up. Especially after telling him he is your guy. So Favre did put them in a tight spot.

But I still say they made it much harder than it has to be. You have to trade him. You know he has to sign off on it. You can't trade him to a division rival. You take all of the teams not in your division (the Packers didn't even want Favre going to Tampa Bay) and see who will give you the best offer. You take the ones you would who give you acceptable offers and give the list to Favre. Let him cross off anywhere he doesn't want to go. You get the list back and of the remaining teams on the list, you call up the one who made you the best offer, or if you don't care, you let Favre pick from them. Instead, they didn't have contact with Favre or any of the teams for weeks. I think the media made them the bad guy because they were playing the part.

I can understand that. But Favre was never malicious. It's not like he pulled that shit every season just to fuck with them.

UsaSatsui wrote:

scamrock wrote: I can understand that. But Favre was never malicious. It's not like he pulled that shit every season just to fuck with them. Who said you had to be malicious to fuck with people?

You don't. But being indecisive isn't the same as telling them "fuck you". I could see how some holdout situations could be looked at that way. But when when Favre was pulling that "I need some extra time to decide if I'm coming back" song and dance, I think that is exactly what it was, him being indecisive. I don't think there was any intent on fucking with anyone.

I think the big difference was in the past, there was no viable replacement. Now there was. If there was no Aaron Rodgers and they were just stuck with Brian Brohm, they would have welcomed Favre back with open arms.