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Will Brett Favre and Packers reach accord?
Will Brett Favre and Packers reach accord?
Tuning into the latest NFL news is like watching a bad daytime soap opera as Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers continue to wrangle and tangle. Stay tuned for the latest episode of As the Egos Burn.
If this were pro-wrestling, Brett Favre would come back as the masked “Dr. Midnight” and play quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. Then again, you can’t get betting odds on pro-wrestling.
Too bad, because the Favre situation reads exactly like the kind of soap-opera storylines that wrestling milked to death in the ‘90s. Favre is the hero: small town upbringing, boyish charm, 16 seasons of service for the good people of Green Bay. In the Packers front office, we find the evil overlord bosses, refusing to grant Favre his freedom after (perhaps) driving him into retirement. All he needs now is a catchphrase that looks good on a T-shirt. “You’re With Me, Leather” would sell like hotcakes.
So, what’s really happening here? Everybody involved is hiding something, not just from the press, but from each other as well. Here are some of the given circumstances:
- Favre turns 39 years old in October.
- The Packers offense is almost entirely in its early 20s.
- Aaron Rodgers (age 24) is already a fourth-year QB.
- GM Ted Thompson is lukewarm at best about bringing Favre back.
From purely a football perspective, it makes sense for Thompson to move on. The history of 39-year-old QBs in the NFL is short and anything but sweet. Warren Moon (91.5 passer rating) was effective at this age. Len Dawson (65.8) was not. Rodgers was a first-round pick with plenty of promise who will cost millions of dollars less than Favre to employ.
It also makes sense for Favre to leave town. He’s talked before about the age gap between himself and his teammates; although the Packers were 13-3 last year, joining a more veteran team like the 9-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers would still give Favre a reasonable shot at another Super Bowl – plus a big, fat contract playing for a warm-weather club.
Where everything bogs down is this whole “legacy” thing. Someone needs to embrace reality here. Joe Montana and Jerry Rice didn’t spoil their legacies after leaving San Francisco, nor did the 49ers wind up looking like chumps. That came later. Thompson should be pleased he has the opportunity to trade Favre, even for a second-round pick and some tackling dummies. It’s his job to be the bad guy, after all.
MVP Props
Now wouldn’t it be something if Favre did win another Super Bowl. He’d probably get the MVP award if he did; for now, his name is absent from the odds list on the futures market. Tom Brady is the favorite at +300, followed by Peyton Manning at +500 and LaDainian Tomlinson at +600. Nearly everyone on the list is either a QB or a running back, which makes sense, since the Associated Press hasn’t voted in someone from a different position since Lawrence Taylor in 1986.
These MVP awards often come in bunches. Favre won three in a row between 1995 and 1997, then Manning got a pair earlier this decade. Brady has a tough act to follow: himself, after re-writing the record books last year. But he’ll have virtually the same offense surrounding him, and the Patriots should still be a top Super Bowl contender. He’s the man.
ROY Props
The AP hands out Rookie of the Year honors on both offense and defense. They have never voted in a “non-skill” player on offense. Wide receivers rarely get the call; running backs have won 30 out of 39 times, including Adrian Peterson in 2007. This year’s favorite is Oakland Raiders RB Darren McFadden at 3-1, but for value, I like QB Joe Flacco in Baltimore at 50-1. He’s drawn comparisons to Ben Roethlisberger, who won in 2004, and I don’t think the Ravens are far away from respectability.
AP voters have been steering away from the trenches on defense as well, picking five linebackers in a row and seven of the last eight. Jerod Mayo (9-1) will get ample exposure right out of the box in New England, and he’s the best prospect of the 2008 Draft at that position.
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Originally Posted by Illusion
