Brett Favre and Ted Thompson Are a Match Made in Hell

I am so sick of this. Yet, every day, new information comes out that makes me despise the situation more.

Now we find out the Packers offered to pay Favre $2 million/year for a decade to stay home. Seriously? Did you think he only wants to show up for the money? And if that is what you thought, did it occur to you he could make more than that doing his Bergstrom car-lot pitch?

Many of you that following my writings on this matter know how critical I have been of Favre. I believe he betrayed the Packers by talking to a division rival. (I suspect the reason you are hearing nothing more about the tampering is that the Packers' evidence would show they are paying for a cell phone for Favre, which would have to be reported as compensation to the league.)

I also believe Favre has held the organization hostage by not making a decision year after year, at one point waiting past free agency and the draft. This year, he changed his mind three times in March alone. He is revising history by suggesting the Packers forced him out, and he is slinging mud on a great franchise.

But there is plenty of blame to go on Thompson, too. For one thing, if they were not going to sign any free agents anyway, why ask Brett to give them a decision before the week of the draft?

For another, since there is plenty of cap room available, why not let him come back and compete for the starting job? I understand you are frustrated by what he is putting you through, but you are being paid to make decisions in the best interest of the organization, and that requires objectivity.

This is not a Manny Ramirez situation. I believe the Red Sox will be better for this trade because they are getting rid of not only a fielding liability, but sending a message that even a superstar must put out maximum effort every play. No one can question whether Favre competed once he showed up.

Instead, what has been created is an environment for failure for Aaron Rodgers. It is hard enough replacing a legend, but now he must do so when that legend was forced out, despite being the MVP runner-up the previous year.

Rodgers has the added difficulty of doing so with the circus this stance has fostered. I was talking with a friend of mine who is a Cowboys fan (yeah, I am a little ashamed to fraternize with anyone who likes them!) and comparing the two teams' offseasons. 

They are in one of the largest markets in the league, have one of the most flamboyant owners, a quarterback who plays lousy in the playoffs and is dating a Hollywood starlet. Also, 12-time arrestee Pacman Jones and two-time team wrecker Terrell Owens.

However, compared with little Green Bay, WI, the smallest, major professional city in the U.S. or Canada, they are without distractions.

I do not think the Packers owe Favre anything, and he owes them nothing. I understand them not wanting to release him to a team in the division. I understand him not wanting to play just anywhere. And I understand teams not wanting to trade for a guy who may not show up.

But there is a solution: Both sides admit they made mistakes and move forward. The Packers can tell Favre they are not changing the offense back from the adaptations they made based on their assumption Rodgers would be starting. After all, Rodgers is presumably the quarterback of the future, and Favre should be able to beat him, even with those changes, if he is worth the contract he has.

Swallow your pride guys. The season will be a lot harder to swallow if this circus continues.