Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Favre and the Packers: Irreconcilable Differences

Finally, Packers Coach Mike McCarthy met the press to comment on the hours of talks he's had with Brett Favre.

Summary--

COACH MIKE McCARTHY: "He's in a tough spot."

In addition to being in a tough spot, McCarthy kept saying that Favre is "not in the right mindset" to play in Green Bay.

I got the feeling that Favre spent much of the six hours of conversations in tears.

What does Favre need?

What should the Packers do?

Does he want Ted Thompson to crawl on broken glass?

Does he want Thompson to be fired?

Favre feels hurt.

That must be a lot of hurt. Yeah, he's in a tough spot.

If Favre could get over it, he'd be playing for the Packers for a 17th season. He won't.

OK. He wants to play, but not for the Packers. That's it.

It's time for Favre to go.

He's stubborn. He can't or won't get beyond his hurt feelings. Either way, Favre needs to understand that his actions have consequences, too.

Yes, Thompson has screwed up. He's an egomaniac. He's crazy. Say whatever you want.

Still, why should Favre have the luxury of stringing the team along? Favre snaps his fingers and he thinks he should get to be the starter after the team spent months preparing for life after him? That's not the real world.

Frankly, it's very immature. This "I'm retired/ No, I'm not" stuff is unacceptable. Favre needs to take some personal responsibility for what's happened.

Why the hell did he retire in March?

I understand that Favre can't divorce himself from his emotions, but he's a big boy. Actions have consequences.

I think it's time for Thompson to go, too.

Actions have consequences. This is inexcusable.

It's important to remember that the Packers are bigger than Favre. Players come and go. Coaches come and go. General managers come and go. No one person is bigger than the Packers as a team.

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By the way, Sammy's does have good pizza.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I watched most of the "press conference" with McCarthy. Obviously he doesn't care for Favre very much. I can see how Favre could be hurt. The team he payed for all those years now treats him like dirt. The Packers' reputation has suffered. They should trade Favre already.

And, I guarantee you that the players are watching how McCarthy is treating a great player like Favre. I think that he has screwed himself for the foreseeable future.

Mary said...

Actually, I thought McCarthy handled the reporters quite well. He took pains to not put words in Favre's mouth and he sympathized with the tough spot that Favre finds himself.

I don't think McCarthy looked bad. Ted Thompson, on the other hand, seemed like the devil incarnate.

Actually, the players are fed up with the whole mess. They want to get down to business of playing football. I don't think they've lost respect for McCarthy.

In general, I don't think the reputation of the Packers organization has suffered, but Thompson's certainly has.

Favre has not talked with local media. Virtually all of his comments have been channeled through national outlets.

That's strange, considering how much support he's received from media all over the state.

It's really a shame that there was such a failure to communicate between Favre and the front office.

Anonymous said...

The team of Lombardi, Kramer, Horung and Starr has suffered a big black eye. After all of this I'll never look at the Packers in the same way.

I feel that you are too forgiving with regard to McCarthy. But you've always been nice and you look for the best in every situation. McCarthy is in the pocket of management and is going to do whatever management tell him to do. They pay his bigtime salary and he knows it.

For McCarthy and the front office to do this to one of the greatest players in the history of the Pack is unforgivable.

This is going to reverberate for years and the Pack will suffer greatly, especially after Rodgers tanks. McCarthy and management have put all their eggs in one basket and Rodgers will not hold up under the pressure. He'll be a decent quarterback in three or four years. And I really doubt that he'll be with the Pack in another couple of years.

The Packer fans better be ready for at least three years of futility. Until McCarthy is gone none of this will be finished. I'm sure his ego wants to prove that it was him, not Favre, that was responsible for the Pack's recent success. He's about to find out that this NFL coaching thing is no picnic.

How sad is it that last years snowy playoff classic against Holmgren's Seahawks now means essentially nothing in Packer history. I can completely feel for Favre. All of those years of breaking his butt for the Packers and what does he get? Not a damn thing. I'd be upset too.

It's really too bad to see arguably the greatest NFL franchise in history do this to one their greatest players of all time.

Mary said...

Don't let this change the way you look at the Packers.

The Packers aren't McCarthy and Thompson. They work for the Packers.

Team employees have screwed up before and they will again.

This is a very sad chapter in the organization's history.

I bleed green and gold. I'm in need of a transfusion today.