Diner Morning News: The Favre Saga

FROM MICHAEL LOMBARDI:

06 May 2009

QUOTE:  “Autonomy, complexity and a connection between effort and reward are the three qualities work has to have to be satisfying.”  – Malcolm Gladwell

FROM ED WERDER OF ESPN... Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress and quarterback Brett Favre plan to meet at an undisclosed location later this week to discuss the possibility of the former Packers and Jets quarterback renouncing his retirement from the NFL to play the 2009 season with the Vikings, according to a source with direct knowledge of discussions between the two parties. Favre has not been working out and declined to have surgery to repair the torn biceps tendon that plagued him the final month of last season. Favre may believe the injury can heal on its own as did a similar problem with his left shoulder while he played in Green Bay. A source close to Favre told ESPN's Chris Mortensen that how the injury heals will play a role in the quarterback's decision. The source also said that the quarterback's agent, Bus Cook, is researching unemployed NFL quarterback coaches to see if one can be hired to work with Favre in Mississippi while he ponders a possible return. There is a mutual understanding that sometime soon thereafter Favre will decide whether to sign with the Vikings. The team would expect him to participate fully in offseason mini-camps and training camps, which he missed last year with the Jets.

I was wrong Tuesday when I said May was the month that the wide receiver formerly known as Chad Johnson complains about his contract – it’s actually Brett Favre-return-to-football month.  This story will never go away. Ever.  

Someone once told me that the Ohio State-Michigan game in 2035 is already sold out, even though the kids who will play in the game aren’t born yet, because we root for the uniform, not the players. To a large degree, that’s true. But sometimes we find athletes we root for and create a unique bond with them, regardless of the uniform. Trust is a key element of any relationship, personal or professional.  When you announce your retirement, we take you at your word and accept the fact that, even though the urge may be to come back to play, the mind and the body will not allow you to return to the field. But when you say one thing and do another more than once, the trust factor becomes null and void, and all the good that has been done over the years wilts away. 

I love the HBO show “The Sopranos” and miss it every Sunday now that it’s no longer on the air.  I feel the writing is perfect and there are many lessons to be learned from the characters.  In season one, as Uncle Junior is planning the execution of his nephew Tony, he meets two of his men at a viewing of a deceased woman he grew up with in the neighborhood. As Uncle Junior stands at the open casket paying his respects, his two associates show up, clearly late. Uncle Junior tells them, “When you say you’re going to be somewhere, be somewhere.” When Brett Favre says he is going to retire, then retire. The more he lies to us -- or maybe in his mind he’s not lying, just changing his mind -- the respect and trust between fan and player begin to disappear. No one wants to hear about Favre coming back, in Minnesota or anywhere else.  However, there’s more to the story. 

Why the Vikings are interested in Favre and were not interested in Jay Cutler makes no sense at all. We heard reports that Vikings coaches did not like Cutler’s personality and had problems with his behavior off the field. To me, having been around Jay Cutler for a year in Denver, this was not an accurate portrayal. People I know very well who also know Cutler think this was a ridiculous assessment. Why would you want an aging quarterback who, at best, has one year left instead of a young, athletic quarterback who will be the face of the franchise for years to come? If I were working in Minnesota, my whole objective once the season ended would be to permanently fix the quarterback position. There’s a small window for winning in the NFL, and it gets larger when you’re established at quarterback. The consensus in the NFL is that if the Vikings ever get a legitimate QB, they’ll contend for the Super Bowl, not just the playoffs.  However, just as Charles Barkley complains that the Cleveland Cavs’ offense is the worst in the NBA with a great player, most of the NFL knows that the Vikings’ offense is called “Day One Install” of the west coast -- very, very basic. 

The Vikings made a move and traded for Houston Texans back-up quarterback Sage Rosenfels. On the surface, Rosenfels seems to fit the Vikings’ west coast system, but he also turns the ball over at an alarming rate. In the 15 games he played in over the past two years, he threw 22 interceptions – but what’s more concerning is that he tends to lose the ball, fumbling eight times. Clearly, he’s not a fixture for the long-term future. Even the Vikings felt this way when they signed him to a modest three-year deal at a slight increase of the back-up quarterback market. So have they fully addressed their most pressing need? I doubt that Rosenfels will be the answer, which begs the question again, why not Cutler? 

If I were Zygi Wilf, the owner of the Vikings, I would ask a few fundamental questions of my head coach, Brad Childress, who was hired because he was supposed to be a passing game guru. 

1. Would the signing of Favre help our passing game, especially when teams blitz us?  We finished last in the NFL last season in pass offense when teams attacked our pocket. 
2. Would the signing of Favre help our red zone offense, which finished 28th in scoring last year? 
3. Would the signing of Favre help us protect the ball and prevent us from ranking 27th in giveaways by the offense? 
4. Would the signing of Favre help us cut down on sacks and improve our margin of victory? 

If Childress can show that signing Favre would help in all these areas, then there’s no choice but to go ahead and make the deal. I’m not sure he can, but that’s what Childress has to be certain about before he meets with Favre -- or else he might lose his team. 

It’s May, and it’s Favre time. But I would rather watch Uncle Junior. 

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