[AAAAA]

Ok, who's living in Wisconsin having every program interrupte to hear about the Farve saga? I'm about to throw something at the TV.

[Brian37]

cheeseheads..................geez

[(JD)]

[AAAAA]

I'm not kidding, the broke into programming AGAIN! With the same story. I don't know how long they've been doing it, turned on the TV to watch People's Court and Judge Judy and I've seen the stupid thing FOUR TIMES! No point in watching the news, that will be the whole report.

[AAAAA]

This really is getting silly! I hope they don't release him, serves him right.

[vetswife]

I loved Favre! He is starting to whine a lot though, and that's why I never liked Marino, such a cry baby. Favre was the only quarterback I liked to watch after Elway retired!

I know how you feel though. I can't stand Philadelphia teams because of the coverage and the arrogant fans (no offense to any Philly fans!). E – A – G – L – E – S (I can’t stand it!!!!!) And I love football just not the eagles because of the fans. (really no offense to you Eagle fans!) My husband and my whole family are Eagle fans, I'm the odd ball.

Elections are annoying too, because of how they interrupt programs every time the wind blows (can't wait till fall!) Election time and football! whoopie!

The kids programs are always on anyway!

Say la vie

[lenjan]

[AAAAA]

Most of the shows I watch are on Fox, which is running these "updates" every hour. Making me crazy!

[seeker1950]

LOL...y'all are a hoot!
What's going on with Favre? I'm out of touch!
Patty

[lenjan]

Well, he had this teary-eyed press conference in March to announce he was done with football forever -- and now,of course, he's changed his mind. The Packers have him on the reserve-retired list because they suspected this would happen, but management has made clear they are moving on without him.

Soooo, his agent sent a letter asking the Packers to release him so he can go sign with another team.

I don't think it's possible to understand fully unless you live here, but Packer football is practically a religion and he is a Packers icon. The thought of him going somewhere else -- after he's repeatedly stated he wanted to retire a Packer -- and the crap he's pulling now is just leaving an INCREDIBLY bad taste in people's mouths. He is REALLY tarnishing his reputation here and the love people have for him, plus it's making the team look bad.

Basically, it's a PR nightmare and I don't envy whoever has to spin this one! LOL

[AAAAA]

Agreed Candy, the comment that he didn't think that "the fans and management did enough to keep him" really set my nerves on edge. I watched he conference and I was saddened by it even though I'm not a football fan... It was like a death. The cat and mouse game that he played for the past several years about whether or not he was retiring was very disrepectful to the fans (imo).

The fans here give him a god-like status. We pay higher taxes in Brown county to support the stadium. To the Packer fans he (or did) brought back the loyalty to the sport.

My frustration is that they're giving him the very attention that he craves. And I don't think he deserves it.

I've been in Detroit during a Lions game, in the twin cities during a Viking game, and Chicago during a Bears game, none of them have the same mentality as Green Bay. Even in a losing season, the city is a different place. It's not something I can describe really. For a big game, industry closes. They don't care if they get Father's Day off, but don't even attempt to run if the Packers are in the Play-offs or Superbowl.

My brother lives in California and he goes to watch them when they play the 49's. Fans that cannot get home tickets travel, they fill up the stadium at the away games (the hotels and away stadiums run out of Miller lite within hours.)

[seeker1950]

Thanks, Candy, and A...for filling me in on this. Yes, I thought he was retiring gracefully...sounds like NOT!
Patty

[AAAAA]

Oh there is TROUBLE in dodge! Apparently the local news isn't quite saying the same thing as the NFL and ESPN. The GM and HC apparently don't know the fans very well at ALL. Willing to let him back but he'll be a back up! There will be riots in the streets! I'm even sucked in and I HATE football. I don't foresee watching an entire TV program for a while.

[lenjan]

From the Packers beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
The Packers general manager said that in late March, he received word from offensive line coach James Campen, a close friend of Favre's, that the quarterback was having strong feelings about coming back from retirement. Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy discussed the possibility of Favre returning and both agreed it was not too late for him to come back.

They sent word to Favre that he was welcome back and that they would fly down to Mississippi to finalize plans for his return. But within days of telling Favre of their plans, Favre called back and said he and wife Deanna had decided to stick with their original decision on retirement.

Thompson went through a time line of events from the end of the NFC Championship Game to last Tuesday when Favre called to ask for his release. He said he visited Favre at his home in Mississippi and in April and Favre did not ask him whether he could return to play for the Packers.

The latest development caught Thompson and McCarthy by surprise and both men were struggling with how to handle a muddled situation.

"There are people out there who I know are anxious and mad and nervous and all those things," Thompson said. "I want people to know that we know that. We're going through the same things. It's gut-wrenching when you think about it. We're struggling to do the right thing. We don't have all the answers.

"It doesn't bother me when people think we picked the wrong guy or we made a personnel decision that wasn't right. But when it gets to something as core value as this, it concerns me that there would be people who would think less of us. That's important to me. It always has been.

"People think I'm stoic and don't care what anybody thinks. Sure I do. If it's something like a draft pick, I'm fine with that. I want people to know that I know fans care so much and we care too. We care about the legacy of the Packers and the legacy of Brett Favre."

"We don't have all the answers."

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

Way to stay classy, Brett. NOT.

That's what bugs me so much: He went out a beloved hero and now he's proving himself to be just another selfish, prima-donna jock. It's hard to take.

Also, I want the money I spent on the career retrospective special edition Sports Illustrated back, thank you.

[AAAAA]

lol there is all the merch! My brother, who only calls when there is something really wrong, called this morning to find out the local opinions. He's a true blue Packer fan and said that all of the memorabilia that my mother just sent him for his birthday would have to be burned if he went to play for someone else. I tried to reason with the boy. How would you feel if the person that retired from your job last year with all that fanfare decided to return before you had a chance to even show your worth.

Typical fan reply "he's been on the bench for three years already, still pulling home a salary, what's one more year on the bench."

He's watching the NFL channel now trying to get updates. I'm sure we look like fools to the rest of the country. But this truly is BIG deal here.

[lenjan]

Oh, I agree. And I'm sure the other 49 states think Wisconsin is nuts, but it is what it is.

I had heard about the backup thing, yeah. And I have heard from others that they will burn everything Packer-related if he goes to play for another team. I just don't want to see him go out like that. I mean, Joe Montana retired from the Chiefs, fer pete's sake, and why? He could have gone out a Niner forever, since that's how people think of him anyway, but what they saw at the end was a pathetic old guy with an outsize ego trying to hang on. It makes me sad Brett's headed that direction too.

That said, if he signs with the Vikings or the Bears, I *will* enlist my cousins in the Mafia to see what they can do. (KIDDING, I'm kidding about that part, but I really truly DO have cousins in the Mob!)

[AAAAA]

LOL although brother is very upset at the thought of him being a Viking, Lion, or Bear (wonder how hubby will feel about that, he's a Bear fan. Can you imagine shopping in Green Bay with a Bears shirt, unreal) he says "they play the same game" blah blah blah, with what I know about football you couldn't fill a thimble. LOL he also made threats, although his was to the GM and HC. He's like "Green Bay isn't a big town, ppl know where they live."

[lenjan]

LOL well, I think Ted Thompson and McCarthy actually have handled this as best they can. It's Brett who's being the prima donna. He needs to act his age and learn how to stick to a decision.

The Journal Sentinel is running a poll, what do you want Brett to do: Play for the Pack, play for another team, retire already. Play for the Pack and retire already are neck and neck! Go vote. LOL JSO

[AAAAA]

LOL like I said I think it's going to get worse before it gets better.

[vetswife]

Being an athlete myself, it is very hard to let go. He obviously loves the game and it's not about the money (which I still admire him for that). I feel for him. It's a sham he's got to go out like this. My favorite quarterback will always be Elway, I'm so glad he went out with grace although I would have loved to watch him play again. I guess a true Favre fan would just want to see him play.

[lenjan]

I loved watching him play. But he was given multiple opportunities to come back and refused, and now is pulling this. It's now time to stick to his decision and do what's best for the team instead of satisfying his own ego.

Again, I don't think you really can "get it" unless you live here and have lived through the will he - won't he drama for the last 5 years. We fans haven't known whether to be happy or sad forever. Then he finally made a decision, it took most of us a couple months to get over (seriously), and now it's time to go forward. The Packers are central to the identity of this state. They have a million people in the Hall of Fame, and I'll be there cheering Brett on the day he's inducted too, but most of the rest of them went out with grace and class, and that's what I would have appreciated my last memory of Brett Favre being, too. Now it ain't happening.

[vetswife]

yeah, I guess I don't know all gist of it. Having it in my face 24/7 I'm not hearing all the melodrama, I guess you know every detail. Being over here, I can still appreciate him and he will still go down as one of my favorite quarterbacks. Once everything dies down and he is retired for a few years, I think everyone will forget all of this, and remember him for the great quarterback he was.

[AAAAA]

I think you’ve hit it right on the head Candy. For the past several years it’s been months and months of will he / won’t he. A roller coaster every year; and every time a rumor surfaced the station that I watch the most interrupted programming to let us know what was going on. Sure, the first time he did it, it was a big decision, but year after year after… it got really old. It was similar to an unhealthy relationship, to feel loved, he had to put you through hell to see if you’d stand by him.

When he held the conference after the announcement of his retirement, we all cried. He even said this must be what it’s like when you die, I’ve seen my own funeral. It was an end of an era, a hero is gone forever. Fans mourned the loss. It really was like a death. It was acceptable for grown men to tear up in public; you quite literally couldn’t go anywhere in the city of Green Bay without hearing conversations about his greatness and what the future might hold without him. And just as the wound was beginning to heal, he was on Letterman making odd vague comments. Hope was born only to be dashed again.

He has put the organization that gave him his chance in a seriously awkward position. He KNOWS his fans will fight for him, give him anything he wants but at what cost? My irritation stems from a feeling of being manipulated.

[lenjan]

And the saga continues.

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
In an interview to be aired at 9 tonight on the Fox News Channel, 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, Favre's agent. The 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 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: "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 Favre 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.

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

[AAAAA]

I watched that interview (part 2 on tonight). I didn't realize that Greta was from Appleton.

Afterwards hubby and I had a debate on who was in the right. He believes that Farve's career has earned him the right to make decisions and change his mind.

I disagree, I think he's acting like a diva and needs to grow up and stick to his decisions. He said himself that when he was talking to Mike on the phone and said "well it might have been different if I had waited until spring training to make that decision." And Mike said "why the hell didn't you tell me that then!" Farve never addresses that, if he did I missed it.

He's one of the great players, no one is disputing that. But why is he going public? Why not hash the details out with the organization the go public with a united front? In my opinion it is because he knows he's wrong.

He also said "they moved on, I always knew that was a possibility" well duh! They're not going to pack it up and close shop.

Wonder what Part 2 of the interview will reveal tonight.