Link <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>GREEN BAY — The Green Bay Packers sent team President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Murphy on a private plane Tuesday night to visit Brett Favre in Mississippi in an attempt to persuade the quarterback to stay home rather than report to training camp this week. A source told the Green Bay Press-Gazette that Murphy will meet this morning with Favre and his agent, Bus Cook, at Cook’s law office in Hattiesburg, Miss. “They’re asking him not to come up there,” the source said. “They don’t want him up there.” Favre faxed the NFL on Tuesday requesting reinstatement, and an NFL spokesman said Commissioner Roger Goodell won’t act on the request until today. Goodell apparently wanted to give the sides another day to come to some sort of agreement before reinstating Favre. Packers General Manager Ted Thompson by all appearances has wanted Favre to stay retired, but Favre’s strong desire to return to the NFL has forced Thompson’s hand. If Favre reports, Thompson faces only options that he has to consider undesirable, and Murphy’s visit to Favre is an attempt to help Thompson avoid that. It’s unclear what Murphy can do or offer to entice Favre to not show up. One possibility is persuading him to wait for an attractive starting job to open in the NFL because of an injury. Though if Favre wants to play badly enough, he might be unwilling to wait to get on the field. If Murphy’s mission fails, Thompson will have to determine the least objectionable course for handling the quarterback’s return to the NFL. Perhaps that would be to do nothing and have Favre ride the Packers’ bench as Aaron Rodgers’ insanely expensive backup. The $12 million cost alone would have to appall the budget-conscious Thompson, not to mention Packers training camp would become a soap opera and bring an unrivaled level of scrutiny and second-guessing to his and coach Mike McCarthy’s adamant stance that the starting quarterback job isn’t open for competition. Perhaps it’s trading Favre for next-to-nothing to a team outside the NFC North Division, keeping in mind they need him to accept the club for the deal to go through. Perhaps it’s doing the previously unthinkable and trading him to a team that probably would give the greatest value, the Minnesota Vikings or the Chicago Bears, even though both are bitter NFC North rivals and the Vikings are a possible Super Bowl contender. Perhaps it’s even a less thinkable option to cut Favre, which would allow him to sign with the Vikings without the Packers getting anything in return. Thompson didn’t return a phone message on Tuesday, but the Packers appear to be bracing for Favre to return to their roster, at least for the short term. “What’s happened here in the last week, 10 days, whenever we jumped into this fray, it really doesn’t factor in us changing our direction (with Rodgers at quarterback),” coach Mike McCarthy said after practice. “This is all part of a football team and an organization setting a direction, and we’re moving forward. If Brett Favre reinstates, then he’ll be part of the plan for the future of this football team. It’s as simple as that.” An NFL spokesman said the league received Favre’s reinstatement request at 4 p.m. CDT and Goodell did not act on it Tuesday. Since Thompson has ruled out releasing Favre, and there were no signs he was anywhere near trading the quarterback, there’s a real possibility Favre will end up on the Packers’ 80-man roster despite the increasing bitterness of his rift with Thompson. “We’ve got to open up a (roster) spot, so we have to figure out who it’s going to be,” said Reggie McKenzie, the Packers’ director-football operations. Whether this leads to Favre actually taking the Packers’ practice field, and setting off a potentially chaotic scene at training camp, remains to be seen. The Packers have tried to avoid that, because if Favre eventually is taking snaps in a practice setting, the Packers’ workouts almost surely will draw crowds two or three times the size so far in camp, and just as surely, some fans will be openly rooting for or against Favre and Rodgers. “It’s going to be an interesting situation,” receiver Greg Jennings said. McCarthy said he hasn’t talked to Favre but will as soon as the commissioner reinstates him. He said the two will work out a preliminary plan for his return to practice. Assuming Favre ends up on the Packers’ roster in the next day or two, he will undergo a physical examination and running test that all players perform before the start of camp. If he passes both, he’ll be ready for the practice field. It’s not clear when Favre will travel to Green Bay, but considering he won’t be reinstated until Wednesday and the team doesn’t have practice Thursday, then it appears the earliest he could possibly practice is Friday, when the Packers have two practices. Favre has been working out on his own and throwing to players on a high school team in Hattiesburg, Miss., so he probably will be in good shape. “Physically, I don’t expect anything different to be honest with you,” McKenzie said. “I do expect more determination. The fire in his eyes will probably be a little bit more.” If Favre eventually takes the Packers’ practice field, McCarthy ultimately will determine his role in workouts. He and Thompson have made clear Rodgers is their starter and will get the majority of snaps at practice, so it’s a given Rodgers’ workload won’t lessen. Favre presumably would push rookies Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn to the Nos. 3 and 4 quarterbacks, though. Because Favre missed the start of camp, McCarthy might limit him to individual and small-group drills for a day or two. But if Favre isn’t traded or released quickly, McCarthy will have to decide how many snaps to give him in each drill behind Rodgers.</div>
They can't trade him because he only wants to play for the Vikings, and if he reports they are responsible for his entire contract. He has their nuts in a vise.
I hope he reports and we'll see them pay Favre $12 million to ride the bench for the pre-season. We all know that Rodgers will be injured by week 1.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Black Mamba @ Jul 30 2008, 02:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I hope he reports and we'll see them pay Favre $12 million to ride the bench for the pre-season. We all know that Rodgers will be injured by week 1.</div> I don't think he'll ever put on a Packers jersey again. They will trade him where he wants to go first.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tim @ Jul 30 2008, 12:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>“They’re asking him not to come up there,” the source said. “They don’t want him up there.” Whether this leads to Favre actually taking the Packers’ practice field, and setting off a potentially chaotic scene at training camp, remains to be seen. The Packers have tried to avoid that, because if Favre eventually is taking snaps in a practice setting, the Packers’ workouts almost surely will draw crowds two or three times the size so far in camp, and just as surely, some fans will be openly rooting for or against Favre and Rodgers. Because Favre missed the start of camp, McCarthy might limit him to individual and small-group drills for a day or two. But if Favre isn’t traded or released quickly, McCarthy will have to decide how many snaps to give him in each drill behind Rodgers.</div> "Chaotic scene"? As in, the shareholders of the Packers filling the stands and rooting for thier legendary QB to get the starting job again? That's such a lame reason not to let him practice. These men play in stadiums with fans heckling them, calling them every name in the book, at deafening noise levels. They're telling us this would cause too much of a scene at camp? The players will be focused on simply making the 53 man roster. I don't see how this is so much of a mental distraction having him there. The only distraction being created is the one being manufactured by the coaches and executives. Had they just let Brett do what he wanted, we wouldn't even be having this discussion right now.
Favre doing so much damage to his career by causing all this drama after officially retiring. Just give up dude and enjoy life, you've played enough.
Does he even want to play for the Packers? It seems like he was sure he wanted to stay retired before he talked to Darrell Bevell and thought there was a chance he could play for the Vikings.
Favre in Purple sounds ok to me!!! Although I do like Tavaris Jackson, if the opportunity came, it would be ridiculous to walk away from it. Still never going to happen. It would make no sense for the Pack to release Favre, as he could go anywhere in the NFC including the North, and even more specifically the dangerous Vikings. And they won't trade him here, that would be COMPLETELY idiotic.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tim @ Jul 30 2008, 03:02 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Favre in Purple sounds ok to me!!! Although I do like Tavaris Jackson, if the opportunity came, it would be ridiculous to walk away from it. Still never going to happen. It would make no sense for the Pack to release Favre, as he could go anywhere in the NFC including the North, and even more specifically the dangerous Vikings. And they won't trade him here, that would be COMPLETELY idiotic.</div> It's looking more and more like their only options are to cave and let him go where he wants or pay him $12M to never see the field. Those are both terrible options. I don't know how they can go with the third option at this point, which is to start him.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tim @ Jul 30 2008, 03:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Favre not playing at all should sound way better than Favre playing for Minnesota.</div> It does, but that means he's essentially extorting them for $12M.
This is true, but it may be worth it if they want any sort of chance of winning the division for the second year in a row.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ghoti @ Jul 30 2008, 02:20 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tim @ Jul 30 2008, 03:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Favre not playing at all should sound way better than Favre playing for Minnesota.</div> It does, but that means he's essentially extorting them for $12M. </div> It doesn't mean that at all. It means that the Packers front office is made up of a bunch of arses. They don't want Favre to play for the Pack and they don't want Favre to play for someone else. That's being selfish. Given everything that Favre has done for Green Bay, he should be allowed to play for someone while he can still physically do it. Considering his performance and how far he got the Pack last year, the fact that he's not the Packers starter is indisputable truth that Ted Thompson has crap for brains.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DolfanDale @ Jul 30 2008, 12:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ghoti @ Jul 30 2008, 02:20 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tim @ Jul 30 2008, 03:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Favre not playing at all should sound way better than Favre playing for Minnesota.</div> It does, but that means he's essentially extorting them for $12M. </div> It doesn't mean that at all. It means that the Packers front office is made up of a bunch of arses. They don't want Favre to play for the Pack and they don't want Favre to play for someone else. That's being selfish. Given everything that Favre has done for Green Bay, he should be allowed to play for someone while he can still physically do it. Considering his performance and how far he got the Pack last year, the fact that he's not the Packers starter is indisputable truth that Ted Thompson has crap for brains. </div> They want to trade him. He won't go to the teams that want him. So, yes. He is extorting them because they took a stand he knows they can't go back on. I still want to know if he even wants to play for the Packers.
the packers stupidity and stubborness will come back to haunt them when rodgers stinks it up this year and Favre is doing good elsewhere............................it just makes no sense for a team that's superbowl ready to pass on the guy who gives you the best shot at winning a title...................................flat out stupid......
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ghoti @ Jul 30 2008, 12:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>They want to trade him. He won't go to the teams that want him. So, yes. He is extorting them because they took a stand he knows they can't go back on. I still want to know if he even wants to play for the Packers.</div> The Packers are the ones that can choose to make this easy or difficult for themselves. They have already decided that he won't play on their team (which is completely dumbfounding anyway), and they are asking for way too much to any potential suitors. Bottom line is, if the Pack wanted to move Favre, they could. If they asked for a bag of Doritoes in exchange for him, any team would take him. They already planned on not having him on their team this year, so any compensation they get for him is positive compensation. Meanwhile, Favre is waiting patiently for them to make up their minds.
This is all Favre's fault because of his indecisive BS. If he told them in May when he was talking to the Vikings he was positive he was ready to go, then it'd be gravy. I just want Brett Favre to show up to camp just because I want to see the awkward Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy interviews
I want him to report to camp just for the drama. ESPN will be having its lovefest. And I'll be watching the History Channel, Spike TV (CSI), USA (Burn Notice) and won't even notice. But I do know it will drive people nuts, so I am holding out hope for Favre returning. I feel bad for Rodgers though. He sat for 3 years, Favre retires, the team committs to him....then Favre is doing this. And unfairly, Rodgers will come out looking bad in the eyes of Packer fans for being the reason Favre didn't come back for another year as a Packer.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (The Return of the Raider @ Jul 30 2008, 01:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ghoti @ Jul 30 2008, 12:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>They want to trade him. He won't go to the teams that want him. So, yes. He is extorting them because they took a stand he knows they can't go back on. I still want to know if he even wants to play for the Packers.</div> The Packers are the ones that can choose to make this easy or difficult for themselves. They have already decided that he won't play on their team (which is completely dumbfounding anyway), and they are asking for way too much to any potential suitors. Bottom line is, if the Pack wanted to move Favre, they could. If they asked for a bag of Doritoes in exchange for him, any team would take him. They already planned on not having him on their team this year, so any compensation they get for him is positive compensation. Meanwhile, Favre is waiting patiently for them to make up their minds. </div> No team is going to accept a deal for Favre if they know he won't play for them. The Packers would trade him in a second if they could.
