SI's Peter King on the 'nightmare in Green Bay'
Sports Illustrated writer Peter King, who's close to Brett Favre, interrupted his vacation and weighed in this morning with a column headllined "Nightmare in Green Bay."
It's another insider's take on the options facing Favre and the Packers as their retired quarterback ponders a return to the NFL.
King writes: "I fully expect Favre's agent to send a letter to the Packers within the next 10 days, stating that Favre, 38, wants to be taken off the National Football League's reserve/retired list."
From there, King sorts through the options for Favre and the Packers (which Rob Demovsky did in Sunday's Press-Gazette) and comes to roughly the same conclusion as Mike Vandermause did in Thursday's Press-Gazette:
"I believe the Packers, even though they desperately want Favre to stay retired, will take him back if he presses the issue. They'll try to mollify (Aaron) Rodgers somehow, which I think will be difficult. Impossible, maybe. They'll hope Favre changes his mind and goes back into retirement sometime in August ... which, if he shows up for the first day of camp, I will guarantee you he will not do. But they'll grit their teeth and smile for the cameras when he returns, all the while cursing his flip-flopness."
Though King is tight with Favre, he's not afraid to point out Favre's cluelessness ...
"I don't believe Favre understands ... the tumult which will greet his return to the Packers, or to another NFL team. There are Packer fans who have moved on, and wish he would do the same. He doesn't realize fully -- yet -- that Brett Favre returning to the Packers would bug a slew of Packerphiles who wish he'd make a decision and stick with it and ride off into the sunset with his glory intact. Because he insulates himself from much of the football world in Mississippi, I'm sure he doesn't realize the impact that playing for another team would have on his bleed-Packer-green fandom."
... or to put the blame for the "nightmare in Green Bay" squarely on Favre:
"I keep hearing Favre was pushed into retirement by the Packers demanding an early decision this off-season, or by (General Manager Ted) Thompson not showing him enough love. He might feel that way, but I think it's nonsense. Favre stood up in front of the world six weeks after he played his last game and said he was finished. If he's not, the Packers are not to blame. He is. He'll have to take the consequences for returning, either in Green Bay (where he shouldn't expect a hug from Rodgers) or elsewhere."
-- Jeff Ash,
jash@greenbaypressgazette.com
