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What is this?
What are you thinking, Brett Favre? Vikings?
Published Thursday, May 14, 2009
Well I guess football is a business.
Green Bay proved it last year and Brett Favre is proving it this year. Gone are the days that a star stays with his team for the whole football season. Gone are the days that you get your number retired and watch your old team try to win without you.
Today business is business and it does not matter what you have done in the past or if you have been with a team for 10 years or more.
Just win, baby!
The Bears picked up Jay Cutler and look darn good. The Packers had a good draft and look stronger on defense than last year, and the Vikings, well, they look to need a quarterback.
They are looking at former Green Packers all-star quarterback Brett Favre, and as NFL as a business goes, it is a smart move. The Vikings have a strong defense, a great running game, and an improved offensive line. They are just missing a proven quarterback. Favre is more than a proven quarterback. He is a Hall of Famer with three Most Valuable Player awards and a load of league records.
Scott Schmeltzer
As a Packers fan, I want to jump up and down and yell, What are you thinking Brett! I want to tell him not to cross the border and to retire and stay a Lambeau legend.
I never want him to wear purple and gold.
Stays green, I say, stay green. The Jets were OK because they were not in the Packers division and, hey, they still wore green.
But, as a football fan and begrudgingly grasper of the NFL as a business, I have come to the realization that it would be a lot of fun to see Favre take on the corporate side of the Packers that put him in this position. Maybe if I think of it as Brett Favre versus Ted Thompson, I can have more fun watching than if it is my beloved Packers taking on a Vikings team led by Brett Favre.
Patty Jo Sanderson Photography
Tribune Publisher Scott Schmeltzer, wearing a Packers Brett Favre jersey, poses with the Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders at the set of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” when the TV show taped an episode in Freeborn County.
Maybe if I, the person who stood for a picture (see photo) with the Minnesota Viking Cheerleaders while wearing a Favre Green Bay Packers jersey, can just imagine Favre being cheered on by these same cheerleaders — who, by the way, are unbelievably nice and kind — I could gut my way through a game rooting for the Vikes.
Who knows? It could be fun!
Maybe this is what Minnesota and Wisconsin need. Something to just bring them together.
I can just see it now, cheeseheads and purple people eaters uniting as one, watching the game on TV without arguing — sharing cheese nuggets and beer together.
This is probably just the start; I see Badgers fans toasting Gophers fans at sporting events. No more jokes about why the Metrodome is used for a tornado shelter. Answer: because there has not been a touchdown in the dome for years.
I see no more bar fights in Duluth-Superior or Lacrosse, Wis. I see small children dressed likes Vikings playing with other tykes dressed like pieces of cheese. I see families finally sitting together at church before the big border battles twice a year!
Yes, Brett Favre playing for the Vikings makes me happy!
Naaaah! I still hate the Vikes! Go Packers!
Former Tribune Sports Editor Jeff Budlong always said Tribune Publisher Scott Schmeltzer has a man crush on Brett Favre.
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Comments
Posted by ddizzo (anonymous) on May 14, 2009 at 10:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If he goes to the Vikings... he is a traitor. Its that simple. Its sad to see a person so bent on vengeance, he doesn't understand the level of betrayal of those who have loyally followed him.
A classic case of entitlement and the fallacy that an individual part, is greater than the whole.
He is conceded, unforgiving, shameful, and a hall of famer.
Which one of these will he be remembered more for?
Regards,
Brets #1 Fan!
P.S. If you think I am wrong - email me at ddizzo@yahoo.com
Posted by mm (anonymous) on May 14, 2009 at 11:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
dizzo, how can you "betray" a team after they told you they don't want you starting for them anymore, and then trade you away. If there is any betrayal going on here at all (which I personally don't believe, on either side), wouldn't that be it?
Tell me, if your company lets you go tomorrow, and you have specialized skills that another company (your first company's competitor) want to hire you for ... are you a "traitor" to your first company if you take that job?
No, I didn't think so. But you apparently want to apply rules to Favre's conduct that you would not even follow yourself!
Posted by mosedart (anonymous) on May 14, 2009 at 12:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Relax ddizzo, it's FOOTBALL. Brett still wants to play becuase he enjoys playing the GAME and if the Packers aren't going to give him that chance then he has every right to go somewhere else. You are taking this way too seriously. It's this simple, he enjoys playing the game, the Vikings want him to play, the Packers don't want him, he plays for the Vikings, all sides are happy. Now get a life and realize it's not betrayal or anything else, its a man doing what he enjoys doing.
Posted by WallyZenn (anonymous) on May 14, 2009 at 12:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I remember when the Pack let go of Carroll Dale WR in 1973, the Vikes picked him up and Bud Grant had him lead his team out on to the field at the old Met Stadium when they played the Packers. As a Packer fan who attended the game, I found the moment kind of thrilling! This stuff happens. It's business. It's entertainment. And, you have to admit, a little drama doesn't hurt!
Posted by trifid (anonymous) on May 14, 2009 at 6:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I could never watch another Viking game with Brett 'Cry-baby' Favre on the team.
The commentors and the article are correct. Loyalty is now, sadly, a thing of the past. It is not seen as a virtue, but a flaw in personal business matters. Those who play this 'disloyal' game deserve all the misery that may come.
Posted by seeaboutagirl (anonymous) on May 15, 2009 at 9:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You mean to tell me Mr. Schmeltzer that you are employed by the Albert Lea Tribune in Albert Lea, MINNESOTA, and you have the audacity to declare yourself not only a "Packers fan", but a Vikings hater?!?! Just how retarded are you? Have some common sense and maybe an ounce or two of respect for your readers, who - by the way - are likely 95+% from Minnesota. Geesh ..
Face it Mr. Packer fan, whether Brett ever actually plays for the Vikings or not, the damage is done. He has to be permanently scarred in the eyes of the Packer faithful for even CONSIDERING playing for The Purple.
GO VIKES!!
Posted by ripchord12 (anonymous) on May 18, 2009 at 12:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Schmeltzer says in his article "...it would be a lot of fun to see Favre take on the corporate side of the Packers that put him in this position."
Let's clarify something. Favre put himself in this position. He retired. Do you remember that press conference? He asked to come back and the Packers were OK with the that and flew down to his home. Upon arrival, he decided to stay retired. After their departure, he wanted to come back again.
Favre's indecisiveness put him in this spot and now he has to live with it. The Vikings have always been chokers and so has Favre in big games. Maybe they'll make a good pair. If you don't believe me, check out Favre's playoff record since winning that Super Bowl. It has spiraled downhill in a hurry. He should feel very fortunate to have gotten a Super Bowl ring.
It's time for him to stay retired and let fans remember the good games.
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