Can you blame him??

I do not question the decision to go with Rodgers instead of Favre. I never have, and I think you know that in fact I’ve actually posted many times that it was the right choice. I question how thompson handled Favre once that choice was made, once they decided Rodgers would stay and Favre would go.

I’m not sure I understand your point at all, sorry, I think you are bascially saying: Favre not being enthusiastic about camp in 2005 and 2006 made it was OK for Ted Thompson to pull the switcheroo on him in the middle of the night and send him to the Jets after he told him he was going to the Bucs? Favre being reluctant to go to training camp not last year, but the year before, somehow magically makes it ok to do that to him?

Huh?

Again, you are not even replying to what I said. I’m not talking aobut, I am not questioning the decision to go with Rodgers instead of Favre, or anything contribuing to that decision. Heck, as I said I AGREE with it, from the Packer perspective. I am talking about what went down AFTER that, something you don’t even address.

He had stopped practicing altogether, even at the HS in Mississippi. He was convinced when he said no that his career was over.

Purple – cripes, someone can’t utilize profanity without you calling them stupid? What exactly was stupid about what I said? I took time and thought in crafting a personal observation that I think plenty of (although not all) Packer fans would also agree with. You can think it’s unfair or inappropriate, but that hardly makes my point of view stupid.

And qualifying your belief that “fans in Lambeau” should be “bigger than most, and will show their years of appreciation as he enters the game” with “I hope” doesn’t negate what is clearly a preemptive chastisement towards those who think Favre acted like a jerk over the last two years and might [gasp] boo or hiss at him entering Lambeau in a Vikings uniform, regardless of all the swell memories.

And how exactly to you envision “fans in Lambeau” showing “their years of appreciation” without cheering? Flashing supportive gang signs, perhaps? Maybe wearing Wrangler jeans?

But this goes to my point – this issue is a lot more complex on this side of the Mississippi than you can ever “hope” to understand because you never went through anything remotely resembling what Favre has put Packer fans through. He was our quarterback for sixteen years, and we supported him through good and bad. And now he’s the Vikings quarterback. While I realise that Minnesota is a perfect fit for him and I appreciate his desire to play football without any off-season conditioning or participation in training camps, that doesn’t mean he had to go and play with the Packers’ greatest current rival. Despite that fact, going to the Vikings was his 1st choice. Let me repeat that: Brett’s first choice was to go and quarterback the Packers’ most bitter division rival if he couldn’t get his way and just roll in at the tail-end of the ‘08 Packers training camp like he did the ’09 Vikings camp. That’s completely insensitive and inexcusable.

And for these reasons, I don’t have to support his decision; I don’t have to show him respect while he helps the Vikings win because he’s a Packers legend; and all the stories about how mean ‘ol Ted Thompson was to Brett Favre by putting the team first (i.e., getting the best draft pick) after the latter did everything within his power to turn the ’08 Packers training camp into a media circus so the team would give in to his demands isn’t going to change how I think.

I’m well aware of that puddn – but it just chafes at me a lot more when Vikings fans tell me how I should support Favre than it does when fellow Pack fans do. If that doesn’t make sense to you, I don’t know what to tell you.

Mr. “Please read more carefully”, the “guy” is us fans, not Ted Thompson.

Remember, you preemptively chastised us Packer fans who won’t cheer Brett when he graces Lambeau in a Vikings uniform as “small”:

I hope the fans in Lambeau are bigger than most, and will show their years of appreciation as he enters the game.

Furthermore, Thompson didn’t “take up” with Rodgers until Favre retired. He also took up with two other quarterbacks (Matt Flynn and Brian Brohm) in the draft because Favre retired.

Later, Favre sent out waves that he might be contemplating un-retiring, so the Packers sent reps down to Mississippi. Favre decided to remain retired.

Finally, Favre officially un-retired during training camp (sound familiar?). The Packers management took a stand against being held hostage anymore and told Favre to do us all a favor and stay retired (i.e., here’s $20 million to go ride your tractor). Favre, as the spoiled, self-absorbed celebrity he is, pitched a fit and eventually Thompson traded him to the Jets for draft picks. And to make a big deal about the Packers not personally calling Favre about the decision to accept the Jets stronger offer over Tampa Bay’s reveals a real lack of knowledge about the situation, because neither side was talking to the other at all by that point.

Favre initially told Thompson, et al., that he wished to go to the Vikings, but there’s no way any professional sports team would ever trade a disgruntled star to a division rival. That’s just commonsense. Nevertheless, commonsense hasn’t stopped ignorant Thompson-haters from repeatedly asking “if Favre wasn’t good enough for the Packers, why not release him and let him go wherever he wanted?”

That’s the point: the Packers never said Brett couldn’t play anymore, they just wanted to move on as an organization after years of playing “will Brett retire?” every offseason. And it would have been ridiculous to allow Brett to go to a division rival as well as receiving no compensation in return. That would have been bad management.

Of course, none of these facts takes anything away from how great Favre has played so far this year and how perfect a fit it is for him as well as the Vikings to be in Minnesota. But to turn that reality into evidence that “TT sux!!!! ZOMG!!!” is simply not a logical conclusion. The Packers could still have Favre right now and they wouldn’t be any better and arguably would be worse since Rodgers would have likely left as a FA after the 2008 season.

I ever said Favre is without blame. I made a couple of points…

1) TT is equally to blame
2) Favre is the only one to be man enough to stand up and say both sides handled it poorly
3) I just “hoped” that Packers fans would show him the appreciation they have of him in the past when he enters the field in Lambeau by giving him a standing ovation. Gametime, I understand wanting to beat his brains in…Is any of that off base?

Just about everyone loves the way Brett loves and plays the game and if you boo him then so be it. In my mind thta just shows how little respect you have for the game.

Personally, it would be FAR more pleasurable, as I am sure you can imagine, to hear all Packers fans boo like there is no tomorrow and then witness Brett beat you again.

So, going back to my point… For respect fo the game and the man, I hope it is different…. Vikings fan, Packers fan, or not.

I will say I did go to the Dallas Cowboys new stadium “Jerryworld” on the opening night against the Giants. I can clearly see how such a “playground” can put people to work and generate sales tax pretty darn easily to pay for such a building. That being said, I don’t want the Vikings to leave and maybe the state legislators need to take a trip down there to see how people flood such an entertainment experience even in this economy.

Your last sentence says it all!…. The man’s desire to play outweighs everything else. I don’t believe he can give up the feeling of competition as much as he may try to each year.

Now that being said, I do believe when he retired both times, his body was beaten up and he thought in his mind he could walk away and spend some time with his wife and daughter. But each year, as he starts to see the players practice, and then compete, his inside urges start up again.

Hey look, how many players walk away while they could still start at their position? Not many. Most wait until they are a backup and then retire.

Who do you think sends all those text messages to Peter King and helps get this media circus going. ESPN and the rest of the media are primarily to blame, but if you think Favre is just minding his tractor while all this goes on around him, you’re naive.