Brett Favre Retires...Maybe

Brett Favre is retiring from the NFL. Unless, of course, he isn't. It's not breaking news that Favre can be wishy-washy and/or, depending on your perspective, self centered, especially when it comes to his future in the NFL. So it seems a little odd that ESPN has dedicated the entire day to a Brett retrospective when Brett himself has not even made a statement. Of course, even if he does say "I am retiring", it's still not a given that he won't play.

There is not a only chance that Favre might play, but I would say it is likely. Personally, I am still about 87% certain that Favre will start against the Saints on opening night. So what do we make of this story? And how did it come out without Brett or the Vikings saying a word? Here are the two scenarios that I think, either individually or in conjunction, created this story

THE TAKE, THE STORY, AND RUN SCENARIO: Lets say Favre's ankle has been sore for a couple days and he is feeling a little down (the high school kids won't come over and play XBOX). He gets text messages from some of his teammates and is asked when he is coming to camp. Being Brett, he responds with an "unsure about his future" answer. The anonymous player thinks he knows Favre and decides that Brett is done. Whispers begin and spread and soon someone in the media has the story and runs with it.

It is a random Tuesday in the middle of the summer. This is the time of the year when the sports media are praying to have something interesting come out of NFL training camps. Usually they would hope for a no-hitter in baseball but that's been done this year, plenty of times. So what else are they going to talk about? Why would ESPN or any media care if the story is not true? At the end of the day the viewership will be much better than a normal weekday.

This scenario leaves only one question. "If the story is not true then why doesn't Brett say so?" That leads us to the next scenario.

THE "I AM BRETT FAVRE" SCENARIO: Favre has awaken the last few mornings to one disturbing thought: "Training camps have opened and nobody is talking about me". For the first time in years the Brett question has been pushed completely out of the news. I was writing an article about some of the early season story lines and my only mention of Favre was this:

"Speaking of the same news, WHAT ABOUT BRETT? The Brett Favre show has become so predictable that I will attempt to pinpoint exactly when Favre will show up. 11:30am August 20 this is two days before the Vikings 2nd preseason game. That gives him a couple light workouts before the rest of the team plays the game, then a week to prepare for the 3rd preseason game (when starters usually play a half)."

I underestimated Brett and his showmanship or his need to stay relevant without having to actually show up to camp. But this new story of retirement is the All-Time "attention grab" scenario.

For the next week or two we will hear nothing from Brett. This will make Tavaris Jackson and Brad Childress the most sought after interviews in the sports world. A constant debate will rage about the Vikings and Childress' future. Open discussions about what Childress did to make Brett not want to play for him will flood talk shows. The coach will be placed on the "hot seat". Then with all of Minnesota about to implode on August 20 at around 11:30 a.m. Favre will ride in to save his team. (This is the perfect scenario because nobody can say he unretired because he never actually retired this time)

I am sticking to my time table. I am also going with what I know and what I know about Brett is he loves the spotlight and playing football. Oh, and getting a dig on the media is always a bonus.