Packers can now release Favre

The Green Bay Packers can now release retired quarterback Brett Favre and not have to worry about him coming back to haunt them, even if that means Favre ends up in Minnesota. With the entire league knowing Favre could be had, only two teams expressed interest and that interest was luke-warm at best and now seems to be no interest. Sure, nobody wants to give up a draft pick for somebody they know is going to be released in the near future, but still, this Brett Favre. You would think there would be one team that would want to bring him if only for ticket sales. Doesn’t say much about what the league thinks Favre has left in the tank, does it?

Almost all the teams have begun training camp so wherever Favre goes he will already have missed time learning the new offense and working with his new receivers. Hardly a formula for success. It may end being Favre gets his release from the Packers and ends up staying retired. The only teams that need a quarterback are bad ones with few exceptions. I still say Baltimore is the best place for Favre.

The time has come to put this all behind us and “jump on board now or shut your mouth” as Rodgers would say. Like Mike McCarthy said 12 times in press conference yesterday – “Aaron Rodgers is our starting quarterback.” No amount of crying or bad-mouthing management is going to change that. This whole saga has brought out the Brett Favre fans and the Green Bay Packers fans and divided the two. Half of the Brett Favre fans are Packers’ fans only because of Favre and will not continue to follow the team, which is fine. There will be a whole new batch of Rodgers fans to take their place.

Yes, this is bold move by the Green Bay Packers, but only really because Favre is such a fan favorite. Football-wise, it was probably an easy decision. Rodgers has the weight of the world on his shoulders and Green Bay Packers’ fans need to support him and help him make the team a winner. Hopefully Favre fans will either go away quietly or jump on board. I think it is going to be a very good year in Green Bay. How about Rodgers against Rivers in the Super Bowl? Two QBs who had to bide their time for a few years leading their teams to greatness.

The king is dead, long live the king.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 27th, 2008 at 8:22 am and is filed under Al Davis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Dan

    Media outlets are reporting that Thompson asked Favre not to report to camp so that the Packers have a couple more days.

    Also, Tampa Bay has denied that they asked the Packers for permission to talk to Favre. The Buccaneers are claiming Thompson told them they can talk to Favre and Cook, but that they never asked.

    What gives with all of this? Is Ted the only one who tells the truth? Or are all these other people liars?

  • Michael Legat

    Right Dan, because teams and their general managers always share with the public every step of their decision making progress during trade talks. Can’t see any problem doing that.

  • Dra

    If the Packers didn’t want Brett back (as it now seem was the case from the begining) TT should have been a man and traded him or released him 6 weeks ago. There would have been a few days of fall out and life would have gone on. But TT was not man enough to stand up and say that they didn’t was Brett back, becuase it would be a PR mess.

    Look at how the Packers handled it Reggie retired and then wanted to come back! Ron Wolf simply released him, telling the fans “That Reggie had asked to be released in order to continue playing and the Packers have granted his release. Ron Wolf is a class act! TT has no class… and needs to take care of this thing ASAP! Trade hime or Release him now!

  • Jeff

    I take your third paragraph as terribly insulting – that’s your attitude now, huh? “Jump on board or shut your mouth” is the mantra of the “true” Packer fans now?

    When Aaron Rodgers was busy being born, I was playing high school ball in Illinois and waiting for the two times a year I could get to see the Packers play on TV – the Packer/Bear games. It would be another ten years before a team lead by Reggie White, Ron Wolf, Mike Holmgren and yes, Brett Favre would bring some semblance of respect back for fans.

    But I can get on board or shut my mouth?

    We have a chance to use two quarterbacks. One has won more games, passed for more yards, blah, blah, blah than any QB in NFL history. The dude averaged (AVERAGED!) ten wins a year and had one losing season in his starting career. Last year, he led a slightly above average team (yeah, you heard me!) and helped them finish 13-3 and come within a few first downs of a Super Bowl appearance.

    The other guy hasn’t played a single full game yet, but you want to throw in behind him mostly because Favre threw one crappy pass. Brady lost to the Giants too, but I don’t see anybody throwing him under the bus this off-season. I guess pointing all this out means I’m a Favre fan and not a Packer fan. Get this straight, I want this team to win. I believe Favre gives us the best chance this year and probably next year. If I thought otherwise, I’d back Rodgers.

    I might well be wrong, and I will gleefully eat my words if Rodgers proves to be half as good as promised, but this needs to be clear – I AM A PACKER FAN! And I’m not going anywhere but out back to stomp some cute, little, fuzzy bunnies. GRRRRR!!!! Thanks for the kick in the teeth, Chief!

  • http://orlando Mark Davis

    Makes a lot of sense. As a Packer fan I’d like to see us get a draft pick for a washed up QB like what we’ve given up previously. (John Hadl in “75) As a Packer and Favre fan I will allways appreciate what he accomplished. I remember all too well the years before he got to Green Bay. I know we have to move on, the way the Colts did after Unitas left which was also sad, but I wish Brett the very best.

  • Mac

    Are you kidding me? “Football-wise, it was probably an easy decision”, what are you smoking? Why bother keeping up a web-site on the Packers when it’s obvious you have no clue. Wjat has AR done to be handed a starting QB position in the NFL?

    I’ve enjoyed this website over the years , but you can have it.

    Mac

  • Pete H

    Yes Al, Just because you disagree with peoples’ assessment of how this situation was handled, and is being handled, doesn’t mean they have earned some not true Packer fan stamp! I too watched in horror for 2 decades while the likes of David Whitehurst handed off to Terdell Middleton and threw passes to Steve Odom….or Randy Wright, Gary Ellerson, and Frankie Neal. For you to base an entire claim that true Packer fans are the ones who want Rodgers and not Favre is plain idiocy. I have always stated here that I really like what I have seen from Rodgers, but even Cade Mcnown had a couple of good halves of football. We just don’t know. Do I want Rodgers to succeed..absolutely, but to say that because I thought that the guy who should be playing is the guy who has won more games, under more coaches, with more different lineups, and is coming off a fabulous season, a game…a play away from the Super Bowl and who can walk up to the line of scrimmage and know what he is looking at defensively, and audible accordingly…with the talent that is already out there, the real possibility of going the distance…which this person HAS DONE (though you would have us think differently) to say that I am not a true Packer fan because I believe THAT guy gives us a better chance over someone who has seen 2 halves of football..and been hurt in both of them is stupid!!! Sorry, I don’t like calling people out, but it is simply a fact that you don’t like Favre, whether you admit it or not, and are always willing to pin every loss on him and every win on other factors. You have done nothing but pick the guy apart since I have been reading your excerpts. When they were 4-12, he was finished and you wanted him gone then right? Please do not denote yourself as a true Packer fan while labeling others. You are smearing what it is to be a Packer fan.

  • Jimm G

    I hate to say it but Favre is to blame for this, he retired, he said I want to come back and then changed his mind and when the soft shoe act of an interview was conducted couldn’t/ wouldn’t commit 100% to playing. Someone had to make a decision and unfortunately for Thompson whatever he did would be wrong but at least he had the stones to make a decision. Was this handled the right way? I ask what was the right way? I’ll tell you, Favre doesn’t retire, takes till now to make his decision and we are all talking about the Super Bowl, but that isn’t how it worked out. Sounds to me that Favre didn’t get his ego stroked enough the last few years and retired to “show them”, give me a break this is a team game and for the last four years he has held us all hostage. I’m sorry it will end this way, I think Favre gives us the best chance to win but… If Farve starts and we trade Rodgers (cause he won’t stay) then Favre really retires after this season who will be ready then? Brohm, give me a break? Long term, and this hurts to say, is that Favre needs to go for everyone’s sake. SAY IT AIN’T SO… it’s so.

  • Larry

    Hey guys, cool it. Rodgers has the same rights to be given a chance as any other 1st rounder. Bretts not worth 12mil anymore, as the current bidding for his services would indicate……

  • Pete H

    so what makes you think that Rodgers isn’t going to leave after his contract is up anyway??? How badly do you think he wants to be HERE after all this nonsense. He wants to start, but he can get a job somewhere else. I’m telling you right now that good or bad, he’s leaving anyway. Then what, we’ll have developed a guy, started him to get him his bumps and then watched him go somewhere else and succeed…and all while we might have been winning a Championship…without a PR mess.

  • Larry

    PeteH! Your right Brett was a play away from the SB. Thats exactly the point, he blew it…

  • Oconomowockid

    Al,
    You are a piece of work!!! I don’t care if it is your website or not. Your view of Packer fans through your warped vision is truly pathetic. I will give Aaron Rodgers the chance to prove himself. If he and Ted do not have a record similar to this past season I will be stating it and asking for change. Ted made a big statement here with Rodgers and with that comes the risk of criticism from Packer fans. We all went through too many losing years before Favre, because people like you accepted it. If Ted and Aaron do great I will give them the credit for it. If they do not, I will post that criticism here every week. Al get used to Packer fans not all thinking like you. Deal with it!!!

  • Jon

    Al is a psycho. No other way to explain it. Brett must not have looked his way while he was in the stands squealing wearing a Bart Starr jersey.

  • Jimm G

    Pete, we win 10 games with the youth and talent on this team that taste of success will keep Rodgers here (and we can franchise him). Point being the future of the Pack lies in a successful transition from Favre to Rodgers otherwise we start over which could be ugly. I think the big gamble was how to keep Rodgers had Favre stayed; drafting Brohm would have address that provided Favre stayed for two more years.

    I think if we win 10 games this year it’s a successful year, I for one thought we played above ourselves last year and in fact did not want the home game because I didn’t believe we could win it; I really thought we were a year away from being a ‘contender’. That said given the current situation I believe we are set back two to three years but we have a good nucleus that can win and challenge for the NFC title in that time frame. Of course that all depends on Rodgers succeeding which means only time will tell.

  • Larry

    Well said Jimm, great post!

  • Zach

    Pete, if anything, AR will want to stick around after this. The packers have undoubtedly stood up for him and his abilities throughout this whole fiasco. Brett just needs to give up this crazy idea and move on with his life. I had a lot of respect for him before all this, but it sure is dwindling. He sure is showing his lack of character….

  • TRIP

    Bottom line, this is a mix of emotions, loyalty, logic and everyone is going to have their own take. Just because someone disagrees with Favre or the Packers doesn’t give hint to their fanhood.