Reflecting on #4

Okay, so yet again I will break the cardinal rule of this blog, but I am out of state and hearing too much about Brett Favre to let the conclusion go unmentioned.

If you have been alive this morning you would know that Favre is now a Jet, and as such you are now talking to the newest Jets fan. I am honestly disgusted with the way he has been treated by the Packers. People forget that he gave them the best 16 years of his life- he played on the day his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, he played the day after his father died, he played through pain, he played through his addiction, he played through his 20's and 30's, the healthiest years of his life. I don't care that he retired; the Packers owe it to him to treat him like a man, to treat him like a man better than themselves. When I heard Coach McCarthy talk with such disdain about how Favre "didn't have the right mindset" to play for the Packers, I was awestruck at the audacity of his statements. Favre owes the Packers nothing. The Packers owe everything they have had as a franchise for the last 15 years to Brett Favre.

Spare me the excuses about how he retired and then wanted to come back and didn’t make a firm decision again until July. Spare me the excuses about how they had to go ahead with Aaron Rodgers for his sake. Aaron Rodgers was a 1st round pick, but he has done nothing to merit him being placed before a legend. I feel very sorry for Aaron, it is unfortunate that he hasn't gotten the chance to play much. In fact, I have always said he was the best quarterback in his draft class (yes, I did say this at the time). But it would be naive to chase a superstar out the door just to give a kid a chance who MIGHT turn out to be a good quarterback. As soon as Favre decided he wanted to play, that should have been it. It is appalling how the Packers spoke to Favre and about Favre as though he was a washed up third stringer trying to force his way on the roster. Forget his 3 MVP’s, his Super Bowl rings, or his passing records. He is still a Pro Bowl quarterback, the MVP runner-up, and took a team of young, raw talent to within a field goal of the Super Bowl. Treat him like the player he is.

This entire experience has taught me that the labor agreement between the player and team must be changed in the NFL, where ownership can kick a player to the curb at a moment's notice but a player is chained to the wall, unable to have a say in his own fate. The Packers brass has lost me as a fan, and with them the rest of NFL ownership.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with my Packers watch and Packers Monopoly…

(Photo Credit: NFL)