Give it up to #4, everyone. He's managed to do what few players in the history of the NFL have ever done. Favre is now more of a story off the field than he ever was on the field. While the other 31 teams benefit from the rare pleasure of flying under the radar as Favregate enters its most critical period to date, Brett and his former bosses have woven a tapestry like none other in the history of the NFL.
While I've long been a critic of Favre holding his team mates and employer hostage come the April showers, I find myself in an unusual space for this chapter of the never retiring story.
Favre's "does he or doesn't he" act wore thin with me the very first time he engaged the media in his musings. I think it's incumbent upon every professional athlete, especially those integral to a team, to manage their communication more considerately than Favre has done. The impact of Favre's off-season vacillations has, and should have worn thin among the Packer brass after the first two spring-flings. Players constantly resort to the tried and true "hey, it's a business" rap in contract negotiations, and they have a right to do so. At the same time, resource management is as critical a part of the NFL business as exists. So why not apply the same ethic to the NFL business as any employee in any other business considering retirement would do. Announce one's retirement when one is retiring, shut up until then. The pitch and yaw of Favre's externalized internal discussion is disservice to every co-worker upon whose future organizational stability is built.
It's been sickening watching the last few offseasons turn into the Wisconson Favre watch. It's clear that throwing season busting picks isn't enough to keep the Bayou baby engaged for the non-football months. Although he could spend his time wondering why he heaves hail marys into DB's hands at the worst possible moment, or why he jams January spirals into the hands of the opponents, sending his 52 team mates to the golf course of their liking.
But aside from John Madden's glee of the extension of his annual man-crush, this offseason has gone from uncertain to gut wrenching in a blink. It's a different sitchoo because Favre and his employer had "crossed the Rubicon". Favre uppped the ante considerably once he announced his spirit was willing, but his body was unwilling although still able.
Then the Packers, maybe more tired (of watching every season of the last ten end in a loss) than they care to admit, held the "get out of Favre free card" Mike McCarthy can't tell the cheeseheads he coveted. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure McCarthy appreciates all that Favre has done to elevate the organization. But there are a lot of very successful coaches who pin their success on caretakers rather than gunslingers at the QB spot. McCarthy, regardless of his positional history, likes to win with defense and strong fundamentals. Now who is Mike Mac more able to mold at the QB spot; a living legend or an unproven commodity? It's this idea that makes me think Favre may have "crossed the Rubicon" (much like Bill Cowher in Pittsburgh) with a gentle shove. It's this idea that makes me think that much more of this year's drama sits in the hands of the Packers FO than #4.
And that's ok. Just like every player has the right to retire or un-retire, every team has the right to move on.
Here's what's not ok. Every NFL team has the right to pay a player as contracted, to play them or not play them. It's not always fair, but it's what both sides agree to when they sign at the bottom line.
The Packers, in their infinite wisdom, have chosen to play the NFL slavery card. They not only want Favre not to play for them, they want him not to play for anyone. Because the Pack own Favre's rights, they're exercising the right to preserve #4's legacy against his wishes. In trying to do so, they have already tarnished their legacy mor than Favre's annual immaturity has tarnished his own.
The Packers have geometrically outFavre'd Favre with this ugly circus, and it's incumbent upon them as a respectable organization to do not what best serves them, but best serves the game. Favre, regardless of his antics is still among the best regular season QB's in the game. He wants to play. The Packers were among the best teams in the NFL last year, in large part due to an excellent young defense and emergent running game. They want to move on with Aaron Rodgers.
It's not the easy thing, it may or not be the best short term answer for the Packers, but the right thing to do is let Favre go to play where he's wanted.
Legendary QB's have finished their careers in different colors before, and franchises lived to tell the tale. No one thinks of Joe Montana as a KC Chief (and he won 4 SB's as a 49er by the way), so the Packers' insistence that they're trying to preserve a legacy doesn't hold much water.
It's become abundantly clear that the Packers FO is trying both to eat their cake and have it too. Every day that passes only makes them look more piggish.
So please, Packers potentates, let the man go. As John Madden says, two Favres don't make a Favre.
Regardless of where one sits on the relevance of the Brett Favre career calculations, his long overdue departure set in motion a series of noteworthy discussions. Among them:
1. Is Favre the best QB ever?
2. Is Favre one of the best QB's ever?
3. Is Favre the best Packer QB ever?
4. Was this year the "right" year for #4 to retire?
They're all great questions, but it merits mention that one must first define "greatness" before even entering the discussion.
1&2.
If you love stats, there's no question Favre is one of the best ever. He stands atop a class including Moon, Marino, Fouts, Kelly and a handful of others who piled up great regular season records/stats in a game more defensively hamstrung with every passing year.
It's kind of ironic for me though, that Favre reminds me of my favorite and the original GOB, Gunslinger QB, Terry Bradshaw though. Actually, it just makes me wonder how Bradshaw would have performed under the same rule set.
But if one cares about winning, the real winning, Brett Favre has more in common with Trent Dilfer than Joe Montana. That's why it's hard for me to even consider him an elite, top ten performer. The rush by the media to anoint Favre as the King of QB's is about as undeserved as as awarding the Nobel Prize in Physics for the Clapper.
Bradshaw even went on record as saying his greatest accomplishment was that her never lost a SB.
But doubtlessly, there are some greats that have lost a championship. The one that most comes to mind is the phenomenal Otto Graham. 10 Championship game appearances in ten years, and seven championships.
No one even mentions Otto Graham. Even though he played in a era where defenders abused receivers and QB's like they were inmates at Alcatraz, and Graham was the poster boy for developing the face mask after a blow to the jaw left him with 15 stitches.
Ten years, 7 Championships, 86.6 passer rating, 105-17-4 record and 88 TD's.
Now tell me that Favre compares to that? Or even try to extrapolate what Graham would have done under the NFL-lite PI, IC and Roughing rules in place today.
When you consider what Graham did, it's hard to imagine that any of the talking heads have even as much of a clue about NFL history. Or even recent history.
Don't even get me started about Johnny U.
Bradshaw is on TV every Sunday. He won 4 SB's in six years. Montana is hardly an afterthought, with the highest QB rating ever in the post season, over 100. Aikman, yeah he shows up every so often.
And what About 3-1 Tom Brady?
So until we have a stats bowl to decide the best of the best every season, Favre is a very good, but not elite QB.
The sad fact is though, we'll never be able to compare these guys side by side. So the question borders on moot.
3. Bart Starr won 5 Championships. Favre won one. So this question is a joke too.
4. No. He didn't pick the right year, he should have retired four or five years ago after that six-pick with a pick-six, meltdown in the post season. The sad fact is, ever since Favre lost his babysitters, Mariucci, Gruden and Holmgren, he's been a pressure point disaster. He's the guy you can count on to make the worst possible play when it's all on the line. Once Holmgren left, and he had left before the Packers even blew that SB to the Ponies, Favre was cursed by his own hoopla. I honestly think he started buying into the hype.
Heck, Bradshaw had Noll, Montana had Walsh, Starr had Lombardi and Graham had Brown, who did Favre end up with? Yes, the Legendary Mike Sherman. What did we expect?
Don't get me wrong kids, I had to love Favre, if only for the literally challenged mis-pronunciation of Farvruh. But include him in the elite, much less anoint him the best? Come on.
All the hoopla tells me is how sorry the state of QB'ing has become since coaches took the game from the QB's hands and the NFL rule softeners made even the Kordell Stewart experience an option.
Favre was clearly an exceptional and durable athlete, and definitely an exceptional talent. But his career numbers, however inflated, do the talking. 17 years, one trophy.
It's true, if I (instead of Jason Whitlock) had cited black on black crime as evidence of the new ####, I'd be labeled a racist and probably locked out of the site (again).
It's true, if I had reached down deep and called out blacks for being the primary perpretrators of crimes against blacks, I'd be labeled a racist and probably locked out of the site (again).
It's true (even though Whitlock is black) that the instant he chose to stand on an issue and call out blacks for being the most likely to kill other blacks, he invited a firestorm of controversy.
Yes, double standards are alive and well in America. And there not just for white folks either.
Here's what I have to say about what Whitlock had to say:
Thank God.
I didn't like his choice of metaphors, but I understand the use of a literary device as well as anyone. Whitlock pushed your buttons skillfully.
I despise the subject matter, and the ugly reality of Sean Taylor's short life. I knew about Taylor's not so perfect past and regardless of his poor choices, had to root for him. The guy was a phenom. He didn't always behave the way I wish he would have behaved, but Taylor could have played in any era, under any rule set, and been a superstar. He was that good. He played the game the way it's supposed to be played. Somehow, I felt that understanding and respect for the game would keep him safe.
I prayed for his life. I cried at his passing. I thought about the unfairness of how I cried for him and not all the other 24 year-old black men that perish in senseless violence. I'm ashamed of that.
I lost my best friend when he was 22, after he was killed in a head-on collision. I carried him to his grave.
These deaths are a death of hope.
And Jason Whitlock dared to speak about the senselessness, the ugliness, the sickness, and the tragedy. He dared to blame the guilty and call the truth by its right name.
Thank God.
He chose to stand for something, to care enough to tell people what they need to hear instead of what they want to hear.
He chose to be a writer, instead of a journalist.
Here's the news, kids. You don't have to agree with him (I rarely do), you don't have to like his style or the content about which he chooses to opine.
But you should give him your respect. He displayed the character and courage that so many "journalists' have chosen to forgo in favor of a regular paycheck.
He stood on a wall. He called for positive change and he knows that you have be fearless in order to shepherd that change. He put the truth ahead of his popularity.
In essence, Whitlock went on record as being against people killing people, black on black crime is part of that problem. I have no issue with his position.
I choose to praise him. I give him my highest praise. I call him a writer.
You may choose not to praise him. But I think you should respect him. The list of folks who tell us what we need to hear is getting shorter every day.
In what might be one of the most idiotic presentations in sports "journalism" ever, ESPN presented a "town meeting" to discuss the race issue related to Ron Mexico's guilty plea.
Despite the unbelievable cheers and catcalls from the overwhelmingly black audience, I listened in. You're going to have to pardon me for asking these questions.
But did Vick plead gulity because he was black? Did he bankroll the gambling ring because he was black? Did he electrocute and drown dogs because he was black?
Terence Mathis talked about what Vick had done for the city. Mike Vick was their guy. He spoke of how much pride that Vick had brought to their city, but then forgot to mention how Vick had shamed and disgraced his city and the NFL by murdering defenselelss animals. He mentioned how Mike Vick put Atlanta football back on the map, but forgot to mention Vick flipping off those fans twice in his home satdium.
I heard questions about why other NFL players had done much worse and avoided punishment? Who for instance? Rae Carruth? Nate Newton? Bam Morris? Jamal Lewis?
I heard compliants about media overkill, and how Mike Vick has been put through so much. Yet the crowd jeered when an animal rights activist remided them that the victims were dead and buried, killed in fights, electrocuted &/or drowned,not making plea deals.
I saw ESPN cut short Joy Behar's retort to Whoopi Goldberg when Goldberg pulled the "cultural/southern" excuse on "The View". Behar asked her in what part of the country drowning or electrocuting dogs was part of the culture. Whoopi had no answer, but ESPN didn't bother to show that.
All in all I saw, the most racially biased and polarizing events on TV since the civil rights marches/riots on 50 years ago. ESPN worked hard to enrage an overwhelmingly white viewing audience. What a disgrace.
Meanwhile, Deuce McAllister's blocking back, a white guy, breaks down and cries over McAllister's injury, telling a reporter what a great man Deuce is and how "he plays the game for guys like him".
That statement got a few lines in a small article. Why, because it proves that race isn't an issue in an 80% black league. But it doesn;t draw ratings.
Just for the record. Mike Vick ran a dogfighting operation and murdered animals. He plead guilty because he was guilty. It's time to stop buying into the excuses and call a felon a felon. Not black felon, not a white felon, just a felon.
So Mike Vick manufactures an act of contrition, and a press, worried about looking "judgmental" and "racist" describes the act as a "good first step". I'm not so sure.
I can't be the only one who noticed how desperately uncomfortable the, formerly "above the law", ex-QB looked in making his first relevant statement to the public since the story broke. He looked about as humble as Donald Trump's comb-over.
Sure he cited the three musts from "contrition for dummies" handbook. "Accept responsibility, found Jesus, ask forgiveness . . . ." but even those bare necessities sounded canned and disingenuous coming from a sedate(d) soft-spoken, Ron Mexico.
So pardon me, kids, if I'm not floating on the raft of #### Vick just set adrift. Just because he's managed to stop himself from flippping the bird at the fans and society in general, doesn't mean I believe he's on a mission from God now. The only think Vick has ever been able to fake was being an NFL QB.
Guys I'm Pulling For . . . .
Duante Culpepper
Hating the Raiders as only a Steeler fan can, it's hard to cop to cheering for any Raider. But I can't be more hopeful for anyone in the NFL than Duante Culpepper. Yes, Culpepper underperformed a huge deal in Minnysoda, and got the eight train. But what happened to him in Miami was unbelievably unfair. Regardless of the notion that Culpepper is a streaky QB whose streaks seem to last entire seasons, I've always loved his bazooka arm and his athletic ability. Aside from that, this Jamarcus Russel saga is bordering on insanity. The guy's never taken a snap and he's holding out over bonus money? For Culpepper's sake. I hope Russell continues his bizarre combination of idiocy and greed until Duante has at least enough time to prove that Miami was a fiasco.
Joey, formerly Joseph, (aka Joey) Harrington
While I'm not necessarily a Harrington believer, could a QB land in two worse spots than Detroit and Miami recently? Besides, I'd like nothing more than seeing the Falcons emerge from the ####-storm Vick tossed on them, to become a competitive franchise by playing an actual QB at QB. Maybe Harrington got what he deserved, maybe he just sucks. But no franchise and no city full of fans should be punished to death for putting their faith in a player who chose to immediatley and repeatedly #### on them.
Add to that the fact that Harrington, by a shade, is a better QB over his career than Vick, and gets sacked less often. Atlanta and the rest of NFL fans need to accept the reality that QB position does not require re-inventing. Every QB who the media ever labeled as re-inventing the position re-invented themselves out of a job.
What a wonderful lesson to be learned if the Falcons survive and even thrive with a QB at QB.
Guys I wish would stay home . . . . .
Priest Holmes
Don't get me wrong, It's impossible to dislike Priest Holmes as a man or a ball player. But at this point, you have to ask; why? KC is not a SB contender, and the odds priest would be released (if he even makes the roster) to sign with a contender are minimal. But the odds that he could be seriously injured in game action are high enough to wonder what is driving this man. As a RB, he has nothing to prove. As a competitor, he has nothing to prove. And I haven't heard that he's run out of money . . . .
What frightens me is the mere possibility that one of the NFL's class acts and former best talents will take just one more hit. One more that stops him from leaving the field for the last time, under his own power. That's something I'd rather not see happen.
I never played pro-ball, but I suited in High-School. I still remember the click-clack of those cleats on the cement, the sense of invincibility one gets when donning the pads and helmet, and the absolute thrill of performing for the folks cheering you on. i can only imagine how hard it is to move on from the biggest stage, in the niggest game in pro sports. I hear the longing in Sterling Sharpe's voice every time I see him on TV, his career cut short by a neck problem. But then I think of the late Darryl Stingley and it makes me wish Priest would move on.
Vinny Interceptaverde
Oh please. What is this guy, 65 now. So he's played in every decade since Edison invented the light bulb, big deal. I get the feeling Belichick keeps inviting him back for doing time with him in Cleveland . I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. You can get a much younger, 2nd rate QB to play 3rd fidlle for a lot less money than a 73-year veteran. And he'll probably throw fewer game busting picks.
That's what kills me about VinnyT. It's not like he's some wise old sage, whose best days are behind him. He's a sorry old choker whose best days were in high school. I mean this is the guy Jimmy Johnson benched for the National Championship game because he tore up his leg on a motor scooter the weekend before the match. This is the guy who never met a choke he didn't like.
Bill, if Jimmy from South Park were here he'd say, "it's like, come on".
I just finished reading yet another idiotic racism rant trying to excuse Michael Vick for bankrolling and participating in disgraceful, inhuman and brutal conduct over a period of six years.
The blogger, of course, defaulted to the chalk excuse that whitey was simply working to keep the black man down. This time, by letting the case simmer until sufficient evidence existed to prosecute Ron Mexico. The he segued into the "400 years of suffering" rant that's typical of all the folks who have taken the "free lunch" route into making excuses for being society's failures.
It makes me wonder why jews don't scream about societal injustice every time they get arrested. After all, the Egyptians did a pretty good number on them. Then the Germans did a number on the jews that makes slavery look like a Sunday Brunch.
Letst we forget the Armenians, victims of a Turkish Genocide that the world refuses to acknowledge.
Yet neither of those ethnicities screams injustice as an excuse for being a criminal. I guess they're resigned to taking responsibility for their actions.
But all the crying, protesting, Martin Luther Kinging, and a whole deck of race cards doesn't erase the simple fact that Mike Vick took a plea. So even if the new racists won't admit that Mexico is guilty, Mexico does. And he knows that the worst possible thing would be for the truth of his misdeeds to be visible to the public. So just like the coward he was to begin with, he took the easy way out.
But as that poor, misguided blogger stated, we should "face the facts". So let's face them.
The facts are:
Mike Vick got a huge contract.
Mike Vick took some of that money and bankrolled animal cruelty/murder and gambling
Mike Vick participated in that enterprise for 6 years
Mike Vick lied to everyone when they caught him and made his situation much worse by insisting that he was innocent, when he was the ringleader
Mike Vick hasn't gotten what he deserved, he deserved the superceding indictment for racketeering. But the judge might fix that somewhat by departing above the guidelines.
Mike Vick broke the law repeatedly and purposefully.
He got caught by accident, when the feds were following up a drug tip. Not because they were sitting and waiting to get him.
He couldn't have made the crime any easier to prosecute if he had invited the feds to bet on the fights.
People who break the law, black, brown, white, red, yellow, or any shade in between, should go to jail. That's how just societies work.
As the author said, and I agree, Mike Vick does need help. But that doesn't exempt him from punishment. If Vick didn't see that what he was doing was wrong, that means he's not only a perpetrator, but that he's a danger to society. One fact that hasn't arisen in the press is that animal abuse is one of the most common indicators of dormant sociopathic behavior. So this may just be the tip of Mike Vick's criminal iceberg.
So before we even acknowledge this racism BS, let's face the real facts. Mike Vick was given a long rope and now he's swinging from it. And there's only one man to blame.
No, I'm not jackin' a headline or jockin' Dear Abby or Andy Rooney to get a post count. No, I don't have "blog lite" on tap today. Hell, I don't even have a mustache. Not since the 80's, anyway. Nor do I jack handles from Dungeons & Dragons, regale you with my tales of swingery, or spew mysoginy.
What I do have is another blackhand smash of realitah, so all you featherweights and imaginary reptiles better take cover. 'Nuff said on that.
On to the real. 'Da Bears decided that there was a little too much gas for extracurriculars left in the Tank, so they cut him loose. It saddens me, because for some reason I liked the guy, but it was the right move by the first team with enough balls to say "no mas". Even though the NFL had taken decisive action with Mr. Johnson, the Bears made the strongest statement regarding conduct yet.
And this has what to do with Titans, again?
It led many to question why the Flaming Thumbtacks haven't parted ways with Adam (Crac-Man) Jones. I call him Crac-Man, by the way, because anyone who has 15 criminal investigations pending and goes for #16, must be smoking some powerful ####
Giant head, tiny brain. Dragon maybe?
Nevertheless, Johnson's pink slip has many buzzing about why Adam Jones still has a roster spot. Bear in mind that Jeff Fisher has gone on the record saying the Tacks have moved on. The FO has even signed a few DB's. And in the most impressive move, VY stated that Crac "don't care about us". Misuse of pronouns aside, Young continues to impress me this offseason. The example he's setting is stellar.
And what about Ron Mexico? Why is it that the Falcons endure the constant humiliation of Vick's willingness to spread venereal disease, flip off the home crowd, ####-can his coaches, and torture and kill innocent animals?
It's simple economics kids, where both Chick and Crac-man are concerned. Forget the fact that the neither team's record the last few seasons has been anything to rave about. Forget that Fisher, like Bill Cowher quickly became in Pittsburgh, is so frightened of losing that he'll start even the least competent mediocre vets over unproven talent. Forget that the last thing Bobby Petrino wants to do is start his first NFL season with Joey Harrington or Chris Redman under center. Forget that the fact that even the most exciting #### is still more exciting than a career rumdum. Forget it all, except for this.
I am so sick of being a morahn! Hey Whiz, how do you spell ####?
The games are played for money. The Tacks and the Birds both fronted a reasonable amount of cash to see these boys on the field. Tank, though, was not a bonus baby and therefore much more dispensible.
In the case of Titans, it's lot less loss, but they're going to be bearing the McNair legacy for a few years yet. So they need all the coin they can get.
In the Mexico case, Arthur (I don't know a screen pass from a screen door) Blank invested a whole forest worth of lumber in Vick and still hasn't gotten so much as a 2 x 4 back.
So these guys will stick, even if it is bad money after good. Because Reese and Blank are desperate men. Desperate not just to cover their misjudgements, but to cover their losses. Heck, if the Feds get around to serving justice to Chick, Home Depot may even impose a cover charge.
Why the Falcons can afford Vick
And don't you Mexico apologists kid yourselves into thinking that the recent lull in headlines is any sign that the Feds don't have that grand jury waiting. Just remember that they'll take their own sweet time and all of our money to get it straight, because they can.
So the real question is why the NFL hasn't take more action against Crac or any action against Mexico. Again, same answer. Because, as players and agents keep reminding us, the NFL is a business as in NFF (not for free).
So for now, the rich at least stay rich and the poor get poorer. It's like the world, Roger Gooddell and all of his tough talk seems to have a pay scale for justice.
Can you stand the upside-downness of Mike Chick's NC vote on Jim Mora Jr. ? I can't. It's downright insane when players start offering opinions on whether a coach should return next season. I suppose that the future of the NFL will be filled with loser QB's weighing in head on coaching decisions. That is as long as bufoons like Arthur Blank are the future team owners.
Even more ridiculous was Ron Mexico's statement that he had a great season. But no, that wasn't enough, he had to take it a step further and blame everyone else around him for his inability to become an NFL QB. Nice work, Mexico. You're one new HC away from being the next Kordell Stewart. Stewart, more and more looks like Mexico's daddy for teaching him how to weigh in on coaching, but Stew didn't have the tug with Dan Rooney so he got a coordinator fired (Ray Sherman). Then, when the new coordinator was too effective to blame, Stewie deservedly got himself exiled to the Bears, and eventually became an emergency punter in Baltimore.
For Mora's sake, I hope he gets fired. I secretly wish he ends up in Pittsburgh. Who wants to coach a team with a numbskull for an owner who has financially cemented a loser/quitter at QB? Blank can delude himself that the problem is anything but Chick. But the fact is, it gets worse from here as long as #7 is taking off after his first read is covered and pitching junk the minute he faces a decent defense. Besides, if the players are choosing the coaches, then you don't have coaches. Note to Jim, take the money and run.
Next on the "mobile" QB hit parade is Kordell V Young in TN. The scoreboard makes it look much closer, but the NE game serves notice of what TN fans can expect in the future. The secret of Young's success has been, just like Kordell's, a running game that disguises his deficiencies. So Young puts up decent stats, makes the team look competitive with his sandlot moves and gives you a close game until it matters. Sure, he had yet another electrifying TD run to make it interesting. But the Pats D clamped down and made VY or KY or whatever they call him throw the ball. The result, a game losing INT. End 0f drea, end of story.
The measure of Young's career will be made with what he does with the information from that NE game. Will he stick to the idiotic notion that QB's win games with their legs or will he defy his intuition and find a way to play QB and get the ball to his team mates? My guess, if his wonderlic score is any indication, is the former. Another "Korkie" teasing (TN) fans into thinking they can win out until they face a decent defense that forces him to play the position he hasn't learned.
Whay mystifies me more than anything though, is the goo####ance Young has cooked up to delight (himself) the fans. Does he have any idea how #### he looks with all those stupid machinations? You'd think he'd spend his spare time learning the playbook instead of preparing to follow Emmitt Smith on Dancing with the stars.
