Keith Grieve is 28 years old and lives in Princeton, New Jersey. His sports journalism background includes two years as Sports Director for Cortland State Television at SUNY Cortland, where he did play-by-play commentary for football, basketball, and hockey. He's been a senior writer for eSports for about three years now. His day job is in retail management, but he still finds time to play hardball -- that?s right, not softball -- in an attempt to recapture his youth. Brett Favre's actions this offseason have been absolutely abhorrent. Why would a man who has given so much of himself to the Green Bay Packers franchise hold them hostage for the better part of four months while he decided whether or not to come back? Read on for the answer.
Brett Favre's actions this offseason have been absolutely abhorrent.
Why would a man who has given so much of himself to the Green Bay Packers franchise hold them hostage for the better part of four months while he decided whether or not to come back?
Because he can.
Obviously, last season was hard on Favre. Accustomed to throwing any pass, anywhere, at anytime, seemed to catch up to him, as he threw more interceptions than touchdowns. It was the first time that has happened to Favre since 1999.
So when the end of the season came for the 36 year old QB, most observers figured Favre would retire. The Packers probably figured they were not going to make a championship run anytime soon and it would probably benefit the franchise to not have his salary on the payroll.
Favre wasn't so sure and issued this edict to the Packers -- improve or I'm done.
An action admirable in the same way a five-year old in a toy store whose mother won't buy him the Transformer he desperately wants is.
Let's look at who the Packers acquired that changed Mr. Favre's decision:
* Marc Boerigter, wide receiver
* Marquand Manuel, safety
* Ryan Pickett, nose tackle
* Ben Taylor, linebacker
* Tracy White, linebacker
* Charles Woodson, corner back
Huh?
The draft hasn't happened yet, but all experts have the Packers ending up with Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk. He will help immediately, but who else besides Pickett on the above list will? Woodson didn't sign until after Brett's announcement.
Favre knew all along he was going to come back. He played the Green Bay Packers like a puppy playing with a chew toy, for no other reason than no one in their right mind was going to force the great Mr. Favre to make a decision.
The Packers are only slightly better off today than they were in January, and they still have to deal with the unhappy wide receiver Javon Walker.
Maybe Favre did need some time to think about coming back, but four months? I don't buy that. This whole offseason has been the "Brett Favre Ego Tour" and the Packers were taken for a ride.
The only decent thing Favre could do was come back because bowing out five days before the draft would have been observed as classless by even the most devoted cheesehead.
It's OK Brett, don't worry. They'll still cheer you in Lambeau.
However, you didn't fool anyone.