Favre and McCarthy Talk and Talk and Talk

Last night, I was anxious for 8:15 to arrive.

It was going to be the time of the press conference that would finally give us answers. We'd find out about "the plan."

When 8:15 passed, I wasn't alarmed; but as the minutes ticked away, what I feared came to pass.

STILL no answers last night. Unbelievable.

From the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

The two began a crucial meeting to determine Favre’s future with the Packers at 6 p.m. Monday, and at 8:40 p.m., they still were talking. So, the Packers canceled a press conference scheduled for 8:15 p.m. to announce whether they were going to open the starting quarterback job to a competition between Favre and Aaron Rodgers.

It’s unclear how long the meeting lasted, but the two undoubtedly had much to discuss after a tumultuous month in which animosity between the quarterback and franchise escalated day by day.

“They’re still talking, and I don’t know how much longer it’s going to go,” Jeff Blumb, the Packers’ director of public relations, told a large crowd of local and national reporters at the Packers’ media auditorium.

“What does it mean? It just means that they’re still talking. Rather than keeping everyone here until we don’t know how long, as a courtesy to you guys, we’ve decided we’re just going to try again tomorrow.”

It appeared the meeting went well into the night. Favre’s SUV remained parked at Lambeau Field until at least 10:30 p.m., though there were indications the meeting might have ended about 10:15 p.m. Favre and McCarthy left Lambeau Field in separate vehicles at 11:22 p.m.

Blumb said the rescheduled press conference likely would be before the Packers’ 2 p.m. practice on Tuesday.

A four and a half hour conversation -- It must have been pretty intense.

Favre and McCarthy obviously had a lot to say to each other.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

McCarthy wanted to get Favre alone, away from the influences of family and friends, to find out his commitment to playing the game. A source said he thought that sitting face to face and looking Favre in the eye would tell him a lot about Favre's commitment to play an 18th year in the National Football League. The two were still talking late into the evening, more than five hours after the meeting began.

Favre and McCarthy pulled out of the parking lot in separate cars at 11:21 p.m., more than five hours after the meeting began. Favre pulled out first and, without stopping, drove past reporters gathered near the team's loading dock on the south side of Lambeau Field. McCarthy followed and also did not stop.

It was not a given that Favre would suit up for the Packers this season.

At the same time McCarthy was sizing up Favre, the quarterback apparently was sizing up the coach.

According to former Packers quarterbacks coach Steve Mariucci, a close friend of Favre's, Favre wanted to see whether McCarthy was serious about allowing him to compete for the starting quarterback job. Favre might be wondering whether the competition with Rodgers that he was promised would be legitimate.

"You hear that he's in a meeting with Mike McCarthy for three hours or whatever, or more, and so I don't know, maybe there's a curveball," Mariucci said on NFL Network. "They have to hammer out something. I think they have to find some common ground.

...According to [Jeff Blumb, the Packers' director of public relations], McCarthy will address the team this morning and then hold a news conference probably between 9 a.m. and noon to discuss Favre's future. No guarantees were made that Favre would be on the field when the team returns to practice at 2 p.m. today.

I guess plenty of "sizing up" was going on between Favre and McCarthy, and it was unexpected.

Their meeting was supposed to take about an hour.

The quarterback meeting was scheduled for 7 p.m., and offensive and defensive meetings were to follow the 7:30 p.m. team meeting. But with McCarthy and Favre still discussing matters, the quarterbacks went through their review of the Sunday night intrasquad scrimmage, and the others went to their scheduled meetings later.

McCarthy certainly underestimated the time it would take to discuss matters with Favre.

That's not a good sign for those hoping that Favre will stay with the Packers.

The entire team was left hanging, and so were the fans. This can't possibly be a productive training camp. All the drama has to have an impact that will reach well into the regular season.

Whatever McCarthy has to say at his press conference today, I expect Favre to hold a dueling press conference at some point. Deanna probably has already contacted Greta Van Susteren to set it up.

I don't think that the Favres' dramatic arrival in Green Bay Sunday night and then their scene-stealing appearance in their luxury box at Lambeau indicated that Favre was back and ready to play with the Packers. I think it was a cheap negotiating ploy and a spiteful move.

Jay Glazer writes:

Brett Favre's Packers career appears exactly as it has over the last several months, at best in limbo, at worst over. After hours of meetings and few if any details emerging, it now seems less and less likely that Favre will be back on the playing field for the Packers, FOXSports.com has learned.

The two sides are expected to meet again in the morning as they try to work toward a solution palatable to both sides. However, one detail FOXSports.com gathered from the meeting was Favre's insistence that he did not want his presence to destroy the team's chemistry. In fact, Favre was adamant that he wanted to do what was in the best interest of the locker room and admitted this distraction was not what his teammates needed.

Another agreement from the meeting was that, despite reports to the contrary, there would not be an open quarterback competition as even Favre felt this would not be in the best interests of the locker room. Thus, Aaron Rodgers is the team's starting quarterback.

...The two sides aired grievances and actually had amicable talks. In fact, McCarthy and Favre met for so long the coach was unable to attend his scheduled team meeting and chose to cancel his press conference rather than address the media before having an opportunity to meet with his players.

Thompson and Favre then met at about 11 p.m. local time as the two tried to come to determine what their next step would be.

While they did not find an answer to a situation that has become stressful to all involved, at least all parties now appear to agree that this situation must soon come to a workable conclusion.

That's right. Favre is concerned about being a distraction. That must be why he showed up at Lambeau on Family Night. He doesn't want to destroy the team's chemistry. That must be why he's in Green Bay!

Clearly, Favre is in Green Bay to pressure the Packers.

I can't help but wonder what Vince Lombardi would do in this situation. I doubt he would have allowed a player to jerk him around.
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