Favre Wanted to Stick it to Ted Thompson

No kidding. This is news?

Last summer, in the midst of his 2008 messy divorce from the Green Bay Packers, Brett Favre talked with Greta Van Susteren, telling his side of the story.

It was clear that Favre was harboring a lot of anger and a lot of bitterness.

Listen to him complain about the Packers' management and lie about not wanting to play for the Vikings.

BRETT FAVRE: If they wanted to make me a backup... the thing is they've been preaching about, 'We want to protect Brett's legacy and we think he should...' And we both know how, you know, what that's about. How does that protect my legacy if I'm a backup? 'Brett, we'll welcome you back. We'll pay you $12 million, but you gotta hold the clipboard and ball cap.' Um, that's probably better for them as opposed to letting me go somewhere and me coming back. Then their legacy, the management, would... could be in jeopardy. Um, let me worry about that, you know. You don't worry about my legacy. You know, I mean, it's a bunch of bull. That's all it is.
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GRETA VAN SUSTEREN: The thought of that first Monday night game, I think the Packers play Minneapolis. Don't they play the Vikings?

FAVRE: Yeah,... yes. Right.

VAN SUSTEREN: And to have you, that's also the day they're supposed to retire Green Bay #4, and to have you run out in a purple uniform will make the fans crazy.

FAVRE: Well, I never envisioned that. I mean, I've heard all the talk like everyone else. Um, it's hard not to, but, you know, I mean, that's always been our biggest rival, obviously, with the Bears. And did I ever think of that? No. Um, did I ever think that's gonna happen? Absolutely not. Um, and by getting a release, obviously it gives you an option to... I don't know if other teams would make a play for me... And how am I supposed to trust that they're workin' on a trade after the things that have been told to me in the past?
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FAVRE: I like my teammates. I had a lot of fun with them. I have talked to numerous guys throughout this whole ordeal. I wish them the best. I really do. I hold nothing against those guys. We had a lot of fun together. We had, you know, it was an amazing year last year. I don't want to make it any worse than it is. I mean, I've always been a Packer. I always will be a Packer. Do I play somewhere else? That remains to be seen, but I don't want to go back there just to stick it to 'em.
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FAVRE: And if I don't play again, it's not the end of the world because I look back and I hold no regrets. There's some games I wish I would have won, but I played every game the same way. And so, what you see is what you get. I don't know what else to tell you.

Throughout the interview, Favre reveals that he is really ticked off at Thompson.

Favre said he didn't want to return to Green Bay to "stick it to 'em." However, the fact that he wanted to "stick it" to Ted Thompson is so clear. It's not news.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's account of Favre's press conference when he was introduced as a member of the New York Jets:

“I’ll use [the Packers'] term: We’re moving forward,” Favre said. “All I can say is I’ve always wanted to be a Packer; I think I always will be a Packer. I’m not a traitor. Never will be. It’s business; that’s the way it works.”

However, Favre did admit that his wish for a long time was to find his way onto the roster of either the Minnesota Vikings or the Chicago Bears, the Packers’ NFC North rivals. And it wasn’t because Favre likes the food in those two places.

“Maybe that was a little bit of vindictive nature, or whatever, competitive nature, whatever,” Favre said. “I think in the end, that was probably the wrong motive and I realized that was not going to happen.”

Favre, echoing the comments earlier in the day from Packers President Mark Murphy, said both he and the Packers shared in his messy exit from Green Bay.

“A lot of things happened this off-season, a lot of shocking things,” Favre said. “I think we’re both at fault. Who’s at fault more? It’s a matter of opinion. But I really think at this point it’s irrelevant.

“We had some differences between I and a couple of other people."

Back in August 2008, Favre owned up to his vindictiveness and his desire to play for the Vikings, something he had denied ever envisioning when he spoke to Greta Van Susteren only a few weeks earlier.

You would have to be completely clueless to not have understood that Favre wanted to stick it to Ted Thompson. Of course, Favre was referring to Thompson when he was seething about his dealings with Packers' management.

But today we have this supposedly big news:

After beating around the bush for a year about the circumstances surrounding his unretirement, Brett Favre finally told Peter King of Sports Illustrated what we all knew was the truth:

"Part of me coming back last year, I have to admit now, was sticking it to Ted (Thompson),'' he said in a rather startling admission.

That wasn't so hard now, was it?

Make no mistake, Thompson has now been branded forever as the guy that drove Favre away from the Packers -- by Favre himself, which will only throw gasoline on this forever raging inferno.

Thompson was already branded as the guy that drove Favre from the Packers.

Peter King, Sports Illustrated, writes:

Why wasn't his retirement real last time?

The reality, Favre knows now, is he not only wanted to play again, but he wanted to show Green Bay -- particularly general manager Ted Thompson -- that it was making a big mistake in going forward without him. "Part of me coming back last year, I have to admit now, was sticking it to Ted,'' he said in a rather startling admission.

To me, that's not a startling admission at all.

Favre openly talked about his vindictiveness when he joined the Jets.

Yeah, he wanted to stick it to Thompson. And in the process, Favre was willing to stick it to the fans. He was willing to sacrifice his standing with Packer fans just to get back at Thompson.

FACT: Favre cared more about sticking it to Thompson than he cared about the fans.

That's not news either.