Thoughts on Brett Favre
Written by Justin Phillips on July 15, 2008 – 11:43 am - Welcome, if you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or subscribe to our email newsletter. Thanks for visiting!
Right now, Brett Favre is probably the only man in the world that is ‘readjusting’ his positions more often than Barak Obama. Every day it’s a new story or excuse on why Brett decided to hang it up or why he thinks he should play again.
My personal opinion on the issue is Brett Favre should not be wearing a Packer jersey come September, not because his asking for release makes him a traitor, or that he’s throwing Packer Nation under the bus, but because it’s time for a the team to move in a new direction, which should continue to focus on youth. Brett Favre is now a distraction to the team and is going to cause more harm than good to the organization. Though I would prefer a trade, I think that is impossible and his unconditional release is the best thing for both parties. Brett can’t be traded because he’s owed $39 million on the last three years of his contract and there aren’t a whole lot of teams out there that Favre would want to go to (a.k.a. a Super Bowl contender) where he would start and could afford him. However, if the Packers could trade #4, I don’t think it would be too hard to get a second or third round pick for him.
The last thing on the Packers execs mind should be to allow Brett to be welcomed back with open arms, since the Packers have allowed Brett to become the single biggest distraction in the NFL. Yes, he’s a bigger distraction that T.O. and Randy Moss… probably combined. If the team decides to bring him back, they’ll be faced with a quarterback that will probably quit on the team mid-season if the team starts off 2-5. They’ve invested a lot of time in Aaron Rodgers and its evident that that the team is committed to having Rodgers be the starting quarterback. I’m not saying he’ll be able to lead the team like Brett, I’ll reserve that honor for Brian Brohm, but it’s time to move in a new direction, if for nothing more than the truth that comeback or not, Brett is at the end of his career. Ted Thompson is the type of person that values youth in an organization and the last thing the team needs is a 38 year old Brett Favre, that can’t make up his mind to play or not, to take away snaps from a younger player that deserves a shot. If the Packer brass is stupid enough to bring back Favre this season, all of Packer Nation will have to go through this same process again next off season and the process will drag itself our further, while other capable quarterbacks are forced to wait.
Am I the only one that remembers when Brett slapped Javon Walker around for not honoring his contract and threatening to hold on and demanding to be traded? Three years later Brett becomes the whiney boy that isn’t having fun so he wants to take his ball and go elsewhere. Well I’m sure Javon needs someone to go to the LA clubs with now.
Many other quarterbacks have tried to revive their diminishing careers after the teams that they made their careers established they did not want them. Joe Montana went to Kansas City, Warren Moon had to go through Seattle and Kansas City before he knew to hang it up, Joe Namath went to the Los Angeles Rams to die, and even Johnny Unitas finished his career off in San Diego. Brett should probably take a page out of the books of these quarterbacks and realize that the sun is setting on his career and probably hang it up before he embarrasses himself. But if he doesn’t , I’m sure the Bills, Dolphins or Raiders could want him.
Turning to fans that want Brett back, I think most of them are fools. Holding rallies like the one in West Allis are a complete waste of time and are just silly. The AP did an informal poll on Brett’s return.
Here’s Brett’s interview from On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, in case you missed it last night. I got a few questions on why he would go on Greta instead of a sports station, but Greta is an undying Packer fan from Appleton.
Rumor has it that in tonight’s interview Brett will be trashing Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy.
Last 5 posts by Justin Phillips- Darling/Wasserman Debate - August 24th, 2008
- The 24th Assembly Debate - August 23rd, 2008
- Former MU Student dies at Olympics - August 14th, 2008
- Broadway Brett - August 6th, 2008
- There he goes again... - July 24th, 2008
Posted in Beyond the Facade, Brave New World |
July 15th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Agreed. There were Packers before Brett Favre, and there will be Packers after Brett Favre. This is a football franchise, not Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”
That said, Brett Favre’s Hamletesque indecision pales in comparison to that of John McCain these past two years. For instance, the DREAM Act show he put on yesterday–first he cosponsors the bill last year, then he opposes the bill he co-sponsored at the behest of the Republican leadership, and yesterday he announced to La Raza (can you say “pander”?) that he supports it again.
Even his seemingly most deeply held (or at least, his most outspoken) principle, his staunch opposition to torture, has disappeared in the past two years as he has run for president. From decrying waterboarding as “an exquisite torture” and calling it a form of mock execution (illegal under both U.S. and international law) and pushing a bill to prohibit “enhanced interrogation techniques” (Orwellian language, gotta love it) from being used on detainees, he caved in to calls from Republican leadership by “compromising” his bill to include amnesty for past acts of torture and the right of judges to deem information gathered under torture as admissible. Since then, he has consistently voted against bills that would explicitly declare waterboarding illegal.
And that’s not even including his flips on abortion, gay marriage/civil unions, the Bush tax cuts, his own campaign finance reform bill, ethanol, Social Security, the Law of the Sea, immigration, Rumsfeld’s Iraq policy, the display of the Confederate flag, and a whole slew of people he once decried as corrupt and now actively supports and includes in his campaign: any number of Religious Right leaders, Henry Kissinger, Grover Norquist, Sam and Charles Wyly, etc. One really has to wonder, whither the myth of the maverick? What principles does McCain have left to jettison next?
I seem to recall a certain wise saying about motes, beams, and eyes which might apply here…
July 15th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Sounds like there is more to the story than what has been published… I call it DRAMA!! Its turning into a bad divorce case than a happy retirement.
July 15th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Favre should just stay retired and everyone involved will be better off. https://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/bring-back-brett-favre
July 15th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Kat-
You’re one of those people that loved the vile comments that people on the DailyKos, AP and LA times said after the death of Tony Snow arent you?
July 15th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Nice non-sequitur, Justin.
Any substantive response to Kat’s comment? Can you refute any of it?
July 15th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Even- I was just pointing out that like Tony Snow’s passing became about vile partisan commentary, Kat unnecessarily politicized my comments on Brett Favre. As for a rebuttal, since I intended this post to be a discussion about Favre, so I hardly see this as the forum to bring up McCain’s policies of the past, however if anyone wants to make any substantive comments about Brett’s situation, they are more than willing to like:
SPECT3R- Yes it’s like a breakup that you know is coming but no one is going to admit it.
July 15th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
“Brett Favre is probably the only man in the world that is ‘readjusting’ his positions more often than Barak Obama.”
I’m sorry, it was Kat who politicized your comments on Brett Favre?
July 16th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I just made a comparison, one which is undeniable. Kat was the one who turned the whole thing into an anti-McCain stump speech
July 16th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
And all Kat did was follow your lead and make what she thought was a more apt comparison. And she actually backed it up with evidence, something you seem unwilling (or unable) to do.
July 16th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Actually, Justin, I was the one on DKos taking people to task for saying horrific things about Tony Snow. Would you like a link to prove it? Have two:
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2008/7/12/75628/8216/429#c429
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2008/7/12/75628/8216/395#c395
I’m Elsinora–if you don’t believe me, ask Brandon, he can verify. And yes, I do expect an apology for the smear against my character.
Also, Justin, I do believe you were the one who politicized your commentary: “Right now, Brett Favre is probably the only man in the world that is ‘readjusting’ his positions more often than Barak Obama.”
First off, it’s Barack. Second off, you accused a candidate of flip-flopping and then whined that somebody “politicized” your comments. If you throw a dodgeball, you can’t complain when somebody whips it back at you harder. You knew what you were getting into.
Third off, when called out as a hypocrite (which, in this case, is clear-cut), you then said that your politicizing of your piece was justified because it was an “undeniable” comparison. McCain’s unwillingness to keep any constant principles is also undeniable. Case in point: instead of refuting a single argument I made, you launched an ad hominem attack (an easily refuted ad hominem, I might add).
I eagerly await your apology AND your rebuttal to my charges against McCain. The ball is in your court now.
July 17th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Give it up Evan. Justin is not one to admit that he made a political statement in a blog if it hurts his points nor is he one to admit that he is hypocrite when it comes to political blogging. Notice his potshots at Obama over insignificant things, and his silence on McCain. I would love to see this site actually look at what McCain’s says.
July 17th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I know, I know, Richard.
While I disagree with pretty much everything on here, obviously, Daniel at least puts some thought behind his posts and is clearly very intelligent. Sadly, neither can be said for Justin.
July 17th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Regardless of whether one disagrees with this site, it would be so much better with more honesty and a look at Republican principles. I come here to get a feel for conservatives and see what they think. This site is much better than the other Republican sites out there.
I would look at Brian’s post’s. I consider him to be mostly fair and knowledgeable.
July 17th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
I see you decided not to display my rebuttal, Justin, so I’ll just have to post it again. But honestly, censorship of legitimate opposing positions? I thought better of you.
Your response, Justin, is known as an “ad hominem.” Essentially, you could not refute any of my points so you chose to attack my character. Unfortunately, your attempt to deflect is both see-through and easily refuted itself. I am a poster on DKos (I go by the handle Elsinora), and I took my fellow Kossacks to task for their attacks on Tony Snow:
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2008/7/12/75628/8216/429#c429
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2008/7/12/75628/8216/395#c395
Yes, I do expect you to be man enough to apologize. I also expect a legitimate rebuttal of my points next time, if you have one. (And no, when the first line of your post is a slam against Barack–note the c in his name–Obama, “My diary wasn’t political!” is not a legitimate rebuttal. It’s a flat-out hypocrisy.)
July 17th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Kat…I rarely glance at the comments that have been marked; they are usually spam and the like. I did not censor it deliberately, sometimes peoples comments get brushed into the spam dustbin without it ever being realized. and kudos for coming to coming to defense of Snow. apologies for that. I’ll get to a rebuttal when I chose to make a post about McCain, but I intended this to be about Brett..
as for the C in Barack… I’ll just go back to referring to him as B. Hussein as to avoid any misspellings
July 17th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Even-
Facts are meaingless. You can use facts to prove anything that’s event remotely true.
I try not to bog myself down in things like that
July 18th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Justin. Do you realize the complete absurdity of what you said? That is equivalent to saying “facts are not necessary to prove points–all you need is your gut”. Remind you of any of our illustrious leaders? Want to know why Bush is the laughing stock of the world…because he doesn’t think facts are important either. He goes with his “gut” must be the “compassionate” part of him.
July 18th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Richard-
Not a simpson fan?
July 18th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Not too much. I like a few individual Simpson episodes. I apologize for missing the reference.
July 18th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Thanks, Justin. I’ll be looking forward to that McCain post.
As for Obama’s name, that’s not a problem to me just as long as you also call John McCain “J. Sydney.”