Favre In Purple: Football Fit/P.R. Pit

In a courtship that has proven to be one of the more polarizing maneuvers in Minnesota sports history, Yahoo! Sports Rick Schwartz reported yesterday that the Vikings and Brett Favre have not come to agreement, and that the eventual Hall of Fame quarterback will remain retired.

From a sewing circle vantage, Favre has become the Lindsay Lohan of the sporting world; it’s a rep that the guy has brought wholly upon himself based on his oft-waffling on retirement in recent off-seasons.  Personally, I could care less about any Border Battle aspect of the courtship; rather it’s Favre’s egomania of the last few years that has, for me, turned the gridiron legend into something of a disorganized narcissist who can’t seemingly discern whether he wants to do any of the following: play football, farm, be on television, cash checks on personal vendettas, retire, make friends, make enemies, walk off into the sunset,  pad his luminary stats, win another Super Bowl, live in the city, live in the country, live in Minnesota, do jean commercials, play in the NFL until he gets to a point where we can’t even remember just how great he once was.

Now I feel better.  But from a purely football vantage, I’m of the belief that the Vikings would have been better in ’09 with Favre under center.  Had the Purple gone out and signed Jeff Garcia in the off-season or found a way to acquire Matt Cassel, this entire scenario would have been unnecessary.  Yet, the Vikings still appear a quarterback away from an improvement on their solid 10-6 record last year, and a deep playoff run.

And Brett Favre is better than what we’ve got.  In brief: Tarvaris Jackson is 10-9 in career starts, and Sage Rosenfels is 6-6 with no playoff experience. 

After an ’08 NFC Championship loss in which he appeared as comfortable as Brad Childress at a Vidal Sassoon show, Favre seemed rejuvenated in his comeback as a Jet last season, leading the team to an 8-3 start.  But the Jets went on to lose four of their last five and miss the playoffs; Favres's partially torn bicep tendon in his throwing arm was readily amidst the focus of the downfall.  Favre has not had surgery to repair that injury.  It’s also been reported that he hasn’t been working out since the season concluded.

In Favre, the Purple would have gained the NFL’s all-time leader in touchdowns, completions, yards, and, of course, interceptions.  Last season, he tossed for 22 TD’s and 22 picks, ranking first in the league in the latter category; he closed the season with 10 picks in his last 6 games.  The Vikings would have been his fourth team in an historic NFL career that will find the still-retired QB reaching the age of 40 come October.  Where will the Purple be come that month?  Hopefully 3-0 when they host the Packers for Monday Night football on October 5th.