RealGM

MONDAY, July 14, 2008, 2:53 p.m.
By Don Walker
Favre not interested in back up duty

In an interview to be aired tonight at 9 p.m. on Fox News Network, Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre told an interviewer that he will not return to Green Bay as a backup quarterback to Aaron Rodgers, and that he doesn't want to be traded.

Asked by interviewer Greta Van Susteren about his future, Favre said he wanted to return to professional football, but said he didn't know where.

Favre told Van Susteren, a Wisconsin native and host of "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren," that he only wanted the Packers to release him, and was never committed to retiring.

The interview was conducted in the Mississippi office of James (Bus) Cook, who is Favre's agent. Fox News Network did not provide a complete transcript, but network representatives released two quotes from Favre and what they described as bullet points or highlights of the interview.

Here are two quotes that were attributed to Favre and which were released by Fox News Network representatives.

"I am guilty of retiring early and there is a reason for that. And the major issue is 'Why did he retire?' and 'He asked for a release because he doesn't want to play in Green Bay.' That's not true. And I hope people are hearing this and saying 'OK, that clears it up'."

Here is the second quote attributed to Favre: "Them moving on does not bother me. It doesn't. I totally understand that. By me retiring March 3rd I knew that could possibly happen. All I was saying is you know I'm thinking about playing again. The 'itch' has been used. That is the word that has been used if you want to say itch, or the fire is coming back, or whatever. If I'm going to play it's going to be 100% commitment.... And so if you move on, you tell me one thing, don't come back and tell the public,... just say it. 'You know, we've moved on and we'll work with Brett on whatever it is.' Don't make up a lot of stuff or give half of the truth."

According to Fox representatives, Favre said he did not want to be traded because that would cede control to the Packers.

Last week, Favre and Cook sent a letter to the Packers asking that he be released. Over the weekend, General Manager Ted Thompson said the team would gladly accept Favre back if he applied for reinstatement. Thompson did not say, however, whether the team would bring Favre back as the starter.

We'll post more developments as they become available.

humanrefutation wrote:Damn you, Mags. I totally saw this on ESPN News like 1/2 an hour ago and couldn't get to a computer in time to beat you to posting it.

Anyways...this sounds like a bunch of BS on Favre's part.He understands that we want to move on but doesn't realize that by coming back, regardless of what team that's for, he prevents us from doing so smoothly.

Brett Favre
by Greta Van Susteren

I just interviewed Brett Favre in Mississippi….he is, as you know, entangled in a dispute with the Green Bay Packer General Manager. Brett understands the GM decision..and he accepts it..(And yes he loves the Packer fans)…but now - since the Packer GM made plain he does not want him - he wants to be released by the Packers so that he can see if any other team wants him. I am rushing to the airport but you will see the interview tonight…

CharlosVllnueva wrote:It looks as though the very man who made this franchise what it is will now be the one to destroy it.

randy84 wrote:

CharlosVllnueva wrote:It looks as though the very man who made this franchise what it is will now be the one to destroy it.

Give me a break. How is he going to destroy it?

The solution is simple, let Favre come back and QB for the Packers. Rodgers hasn't even gone through a training camp as a starter, so to say that the franchise has moved on is a bunch of bull.

Plus we have no idea how good or bad Rodgers is going to be. Do you really think someone is going to give him a big contract in the offseason based on his zero starts and 1 touchdown pass?

People are really overthinking this whole situation.

According to Fox representatives, Favre said he did not want to be traded because that would cede control to the Packers.

DrugBust wrote:Now, if the Packers liked, I'm sure Thompson could give Favre the opportunity to seek a trade and if he comes back with an AFC team I'm sure Ted would be happy to move him.

Van Susteren, who is from Appleton, Wis., and is a Packers shareholder, said Favre made it clear he would not return to the Packers if he wasn't the starter. And while Favre said the Packers asked him for a list of teams to which he would accept a trade, he wants to be released to make sure he ends up on a competitive club.

CharlosVllnueva wrote:

randy84 wrote:

CharlosVllnueva wrote:It looks as though the very man who made this franchise what it is will now be the one to destroy it.

Give me a break. How is he going to destroy it?

The solution is simple, let Favre come back and QB for the Packers. Rodgers hasn't even gone through a training camp as a starter, so to say that the franchise has moved on is a bunch of bull.

Plus we have no idea how good or bad Rodgers is going to be. Do you really think someone is going to give him a big contract in the offseason based on his zero starts and 1 touchdown pass?

People are really overthinking this whole situation.

Quite simple.

A. Favre comes back and starts. Unless we win the super bowl when he is back or Brian Brohm becomes amazing, we revert to the Chicago Bears trying to find a quarterback while the rest of our team is in its prime after Favre leaves.

B. Favre decides to go back into retirement because he is backed into a corner. Unless Rodgers is amazing right away(which becomes less likely with the amount of pressure on him), the players on the team and all of the fans will be in a divide about what could have been.

C. We let Favre go somewhere else. This will create a divide too no matter how he plays. If he plays well, even if Rodgers does also it becomes a failure. The only way this plan works is if Favre falls miserably flat on his face somewhere.

Any way you slice it, the current team is going to cause be divided.

Not to mention, we wasted a 1st round pick and 20 million on a backup QB who now feels we ruined his career if Favre returns.

We also wasted an opportunity to trade that player when his value was somewhat high. I don't think we would get much for Rodgers at this point and the dilemma is similar because most teams that might want him reside in our division or conference.

randy84 wrote:...

randy84 wrote:Well we are in position A right now. We are the Chicago Bears looking for a QB if Favre doesn't come back.

If Favre does come back and retire then Rodgers takes over which was the plan.

And we drafted Rodgers before we had any clue as to when Favre would retire. And if you go by Favre's contract, then the franchise must have expected him to play for another 3 years.

So all this adds up to exactly nothing, unless you aren't going to let Favre QB the Packers, which makes zero sense.

randy84 wrote:And we drafted Rodgers before we had any clue as to when Favre would retire. And if you go by Favre's contract, then the franchise must have expected him to play for another 33 years.

Pack for life
Favre signs lifetime extension with Green Bay

GREEN BAY, Wisc. (AP) -- To most people, a lifetime contract means never having to worry about money again. To Brett Favre, it meant having to take a break from mowing his lawn.

"It was hard for them to get me to come to this interview, I was out cutting the grass," the Green Bay Packers' quarterback said Friday from his home in Kiln, Miss., when his lifetime extension was announced on a conference call.

Afterward, the Packers traded Favre's highly touted backup, Matt Hasselbeck, to the Seattle Seahawks for undisclosed 2001 draft choices.

Favre's never been one to fret over finances.

He said his agent tried for six weeks to get him into his office to go over the details of the extension that the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported was worth $100 million over 10 years.

"I was too busy doing something else. Not that it wasn't important to me. But I've always said that I've made great money and I meant that," Favre said.

Favre, the only NFL player to win the MVP award three times, would be the NFL's first nine-figure player, his contract topping the $90 million contract the Washington Redskins gave halfback Stephen Davis last year.

However, Favre's contract, which includes a $10 million signing bonus, is essentially a six-year deal for salary cap purposes.

The final few years of the contract include highly inflated salaries that Favre will never earn. He has said he doesn't see himself playing beyond 2006.

Before renegotiating his contract to allow the Packers to shave about $4 million off his 2001 salary cap number of $9.474 million, Favre had three years and $21 million left on the seven-year, $47.25 million deal he signed in 1998.

"I don't think it will ever affect my play," Favre said. "My first year, when I made $300,000 ... You know, I'm one of those guys who enjoys playing the game and have always said that regardless of what I make, I'm going to play it one way. And I really mean that.

"And people they may roll their eyes at that, they may not. But that's me. It's over and done with today and we go on and play football."

The 31-year-old quarterback said he could never envision himself playing for another team: "If that was to ever come up, I probably would just retire," he said.

Now, he won't have to worry about it.