Bus Cook Propels Brett Favre Back into the Headlines

Did you enjoy these last two years of Brett Favre retirement-free media coverage? Good, because the hiatus has officially ended.

Favre's longtime agent James "Bus" Cook spoke with the Mobile Press-Register to discuss his principal client. According to Cook, Favre has never looked better.

Today, he could play today. I saw him the other day. He's in the best shape I've ever seen him in, physically. His arms look like a blacksmith's arms.

At first, this seems fairly innocuous. While Cook represents a cavalcade of active players, no other client commands the attention of Favre. Consequently, Cook gets asked about him regularly, so it's not surprising for Cook to make comments like this. However, the same cannot be said for the specifics Cook got into.

[Favre] rides a bike probably 30-50 miles a day. He runs four or five miles a day. He's coaching at high school and they're undefeated. He loves it. His body fat is 7.5 and he weighs 225 pounds. He could play today, better than a lot of them out there today."

There's no mistaking the intent behind those statements. Cook is advertising his client's readiness to play again in the NFL. Agents don't make waves like this unless it's with their client's understanding and blessing. It's not unreasonable to deduct that Favre is interested in playing in the NFL again.

That doesn't mean it's time to revive Favre Watch, however. Favre is 44 (soon to be 45) and hasn't played a snap since being viciously Wootton'd late in the 2010 season. The timing is additionally problematic as the season is already almost a quarter over. There are only a handful of teams that with the sufficient desperation at quarterback to consider a player like Favre, and likely none of them would care to deal with the circus that follows him.

All of which is to say this story isn't likely to go anywhere, but it's not for a lack of trying on the part of Cook and his client.

Jason Hirschhorn covers the Green Bay Packers for Acme Packing Co. He has previously written for Lombardi Ave, College Hoops Net, LiveBall Sports, and the List Universe. He is also currently a senior writer for Beats Per Minute, an indie-music webzine. Follow him on Twitter: @JBHirschhorn