Favre's Ugly "Retirement"

In life, we all have to make choices, difficult ones.

I can't imagine having to make a personal choice that hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people would care about. It must be awful to have so many people sitting in judgment of your decisions.

Then again, I can't imagine what it's like to have throngs of fans worshipping me. I can't imagine making millions and millions of dollars and being a living legend.

Brett Favre has given so much of himself to the Packers and he's received so much in return.

It's really unfortunate that what was supposed to be the end of Favre's NFL career has led to so much bitterness and finger-pointing and hurtful accusations.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Several sources have confirmed that Favre wants to return to the National Football League to play for an 18th season, thus reversing the decision he made to retire on March 4, but the new twist is that he might play for another team.

On Friday, the Packers received a letter from Favre’s agent, James “Bus” Cook, formally requesting Favre’s unconditional contractual release, according to ESPN, which first broke the story.

The letter was the end result of a fruitless conference call that took place Tuesday, according to several sources, involving Favre, Cook, Packers general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy, in which Favre expressed his desire to play again, apparently for the Packers.

But Thompson and McCarthy indicated to Favre that they had moved on, according to several sources.

After news of the letter broke Friday, the Packers released a statement that reinforced that position.

“The finality of his decision to retire was accepted by the organization,” the statement said in part. “At that point, the Green Bay Packers made the commitment to move forward with our football team.”

No one in the offices at Lambeau Field returned messages Friday.

In the letter, according to ESPN, Cook suggested that Favre should be granted his request to be released and also asked that the action be taken “with no strings attached.” Favre does not want to be traded, according to several sources, because he wants the freedom to choose another franchise, particularly one that has talented players but needs a quarterback.

...“Well, I hope that everybody realizes that Brett Favre would prefer to play for the Green Bay Packers. That’s a given,” Steve Mariucci, Favre’s friend and former quarterbacks coach, told NFL Network Friday.

“But after his conference call Tuesday with the Packers, Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy and Bus Cook his agent, he just got the feeling that they were moving on.

“He said, ‘I get it, I understand that, you can go into the future with a younger quarterback. Just tell me what you’re going to do because I do feel like I can play and I want to play. And if it’s not for the Packers then at least give me a chance to go somewhere else and play.’ ”

Favre did not publicly comment Friday but two people close to him said there was deterioration in the relationship and lines of communication between Favre and Thompson that ultimately led to his written request.

I don't think it's a given, as Mariucci claims, that Favre would prefer to play for the Packers.

Other than what Mariucci has said, I get the impression from the comments of people close to Favre that he would prefer to play for any other team but the Packers at this point.

When I first heard the news of the letter this afternoon, I was angry at Favre. Then, I was angry at the Packers for not seeing to it that Favre would remain in Green Bay for at least one more season, especially after being just one win away from a return to the Super Bowl. Now, as more information comes out, I'm really ticked off at Favre.

Jay Glazer writes:

In the latest chapter of Favre's retirement/comeback saga, the Green Bay Packers legend asked the team for his unconditional release on Friday, but FOXSports.com has learned that the organization has no intention of granting that request. If anything, sources say, the team would be prepared to welcome Favre back as a backup to quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Why the hard line from the Packers? Because this is not the first time Favre has waffled on the issue, and the last time he did, the quarterback's uncertainty threw the Packers' draft preparation into turmoil. Here's how it went down:

Back in late March during the NFL owners meeting, Favre informed the Packers that he wanted to play again, multiple sources have told FOXSports.com. Not only did he insist he was returning, both head coach Mike McCarthy and GM Ted Thompson agreed that Favre still had something left to offer and they would welcome him back. Despite the fact that those close to Favre have stated Thompson did not want Favre back, Thompson's was the deciding vote in agreeing it was not too late to have him un-retire at that time and start for the Packers in 2008.

In fact, team brass went as far as chartering a jet to fly to Mississippi to make it official later that week. The agreement was that the NFL's all-time leading passer would return for the year but would play an active role in making the situation easier on Rodgers, who would now be pushed back an extra year before taking over.

The group was set for this huge move when Favre suddenly phoned the team two days before the meeting was to take place and informed McCarthy that he had changed his mind yet again and was staying retired.

While team officials were stunned by Favre's reversal, they made the decision to move on and draft his replacement, a move that Favre indicated he understood at the time. The Packers selected two quarterbacks in April's draft, Louisville's Brian Brohm in the second round and LSU's Matt Flynn in the seventh round.

Then, a few weeks ago, Favre phoned the team stating he had that "itch" again to play. However, since he had jilted the Packers in March, the team simply took his latest request with a grain of salt. In addition, the team has put considerable time and attention into making Rodgers comfortable as the heir apparent.

I think it's amazing that none of this waffling by Favre leaked out.

A jet was chartered and the announcement was set that Favre was going to come out of retirement!

Wouldn't you think that something about this would have surfaced at the time?

It seems that the Packers were sparing Favre embarrassment. The "unretirement" announcement that never was could have been splashed all over the media and make Favre look a little unstable.

According to one Journal Sentinel source, Thompson has done more than he has let on to give Favre the opportunity to return. He said Thompson wouldn’t reveal those attempts publicly because he doesn’t think it’s necessary or that it was his place to do so.

In any event, I don't get how Favre could have felt unwanted. I don't see how he can claim the Packers didn't respect him or that they were pushing him out the door when Favre was jerking them around like that.

So we have dueling stories: Favre believes the team doesn't respect him. Favre's unreasonable flip-flopping shows his lack of respect for the team.

What about the fans? We're part of the equation. The Packers and Favre let us down. I don't like being jerked around and misled and uninformed. As a stockholder, I want more respect. I'm an owner!

This cannot end well. It's too late for that. This is not how the story of Green Bay Packer great Brett Favre was supposed to end.

Very, very sad.