Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Brett Favre: Out of Retirement?

There is no question that Brett Favre loves to play football.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Would Brett Favre come out of retirement to play again?

In his latest public comments, the star quarterback said he's retired for now but also that he "very well could be enticed" to return to Green Bay under the right circumstances.

"I guess my best response would be, right now no," Favre told the Sun-Herald in Biloxi, Miss., when asked if he's coming back. He spoke to sportswriter Al Jones, who is working with him on a book foreword.

But Favre conceded he might have a tough decision to make if, say, Green Bay called and asked him to come back because of team injuries.

"It would be hard to pass up, I guess," he said. "But three months from now, say that presents itself, I may say, 'You know what, I'm so glad I made that decision. I feel very comfortable in what I'm doing and my decision.'

"Yeah, I can probably be up there doing that and playing, but again, I don't know. It's only speculating. I think the world of that team. I had a lot of fun, not only this year, but over my career. Those guys I played with this past year, a lot of young guys, a lot of fun."

Saying that his Packers replacement, Aaron Rodgers, has "fallen into a great situation," Favre added: "And if that opportunity presented itself and they did call, it would be tempting. And I very well could be enticed to do it."

I wish Aaron Rodgers a healthy season, but he is rather injury prone.

It would be wild to have Favre come out of retirement to fill in for him if he suffered an injury.

I don't think too much should be made out of Favre's comments. When asked to speculate on returning to play for Green Bay, Favre said he would not, but that he would find it tempting.

That's exactly what I'd expect him to say. I'd be surprised if he said there is no way under any circumstances he'd want to play the game ever again.

He was asked to speculate on how he'd react to a hypothetical situation. He gave a response. No big whoop.

I'm not expecting the Packers' plans to retire Favre's number to be postponed over this.

I don't think Favre will be the Barbra Streisand of the NFL.

Last Thursday, The Times reported that Favre's agent, James "Bus" Cook, has put out feelers to other teams to gauge their interest in trading for the three-time MVP, whose rights still belong to the Packers. The story added that there was no indication Favre knew Cook had done so. Cook denied the report.

NFL sources provided the Cook information on the condition of anonymity to protect their relationships around the league. Additionally, the NFL maintains strict anti-tampering rules that ban teams from approaching players who are under contract elsewhere.

On the subject of not turning in his retirement papers to the league, Favre said: "So at some point, Bus told me this too. 'OK, you send your papers in today. You send one in tomorrow that says you're un-retired. So it's no big deal.' "

Favre went on to tell Jones that he wouldn't want to return if he wasn't in shape.

"It would be hard to go up there at 38," he said. "It was hard to stay in shape. I say that, I worked out and I worked out hard. Week in and week out, I was just drained ...

"But to think that if they called me in October and told me, 'Hey, we need you this week.' That would be hard. I'm sure mentally, I would be refreshed. I'd be away from it for a long time. But mentally vs. physically, the last thing I'd want to do is go up and it's, 'Oh this is great and all that stuff, and me be excited and then just flop.

"You just can't show up and play."

Stay tuned for more Favre rumors.

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