Furor over Favre

Obviously the talk of the sports world has been the prospective return of Brett Favre. Most sports talk radio hosts and television talking heads that I've heard and seen are taking the stance that it was inevitable for him to get the itch to play, and that it would be unfair to ask his replacement, Aaron Rodgers, to step aside again after taking all of the practice reps in OTA's. While I agree that a Favre return was as likely as the sun rising the next day, I don't concur on the point regarding Rodgers. The fact of the matter is that Rodgers should be working hard anyway because in the NFL the guy in front of you is just one blindside hit away from pressing you into service. So in actuality, the reps Rodgers has been getting are still valuable. The notion of it being fair or unfair is moot. The NFL and every other sport is about winning, and whoever gives you the best chance to win should be starting.

So if Brett Favre does decide he wants to return, this situation falls directly into the hands of GM Ted Thompson. There were whispers before Mike McCarthy was even hired two years ago that Thompson was secretly hoping Favre would retire and open the starting job up for Rodgers. Perhaps McCarthy would not have minded this, either, as it would give him the opportunity to tutor his young QB and grow right along with him. If Thompson did indeed feel that way at the time, he certainly cannot be happy about a Favre return. It speaks volumes when he reportedly barely even responded to a text message from Favre less than a week ago. Vacation or not, you would think that Thompson would be a little bit more excited about the prospect of perhaps the best quarterback in NFL history returning to the franchise that he helped revive.

If Thompson returns from his hiatus and Favre is indeed serious about a return, he should be explicity clear about his stance with Favre and Favre alone. Whether he wants to include McCarthy in the conversation is up to him. But as soon as he returns, he owes it to the Green Bay Packers' organization and fans to take a stance. No more secrecy.

I know what people are going to say. "What about the wavering Brett is doing? He's been pulling the same stunt for three years." My response to that: 61,655 yards, 442 TD's, 3 League MVP's, 2 Super Bowl appearances, a Super Bowl victory and a revival of pro football in Green Bay. I think the token Jeff Tedford overrated QB can wait another year.