Favre’s Fallout

Brad Childress made a visit to University of Southern Mississippi to see his favorite quarterback practice at a high school football camp on Monday. No, Childress didn’t have any relatives at the camp. He was there visiting Brett Favre, and trying to get a decision out of his superstar quarterback. Childress left without a clear message from Favre, but he did send a clear message to every team across the NFL. That message read, “My team is nothing without Brett Favre”. Okay, so Childress really didn’t say that, but he might as well have. When most players are gearing up for training camps that start within the next two weeks, Favre has been deciding whether to come back or not. Favre has been stringing the Vikings on since the end of the season about whether or not his ankle is good enough for him to comeback. Without Brett Favre, the Vikings seem like a fringe playoff team in a good division. With Brett Favre, the Vikings are a bonefide Super Bowl contender. Brett Favre’s play last year saved Childress’s career, so I guess you could say that Childress owes Favre a visit to try and persuade him back into the NFL, but you have to believe that some people in the Vikings organization aren’t too happy about it. Favre will likely miss most, if not all, of two-a-days, and might miss more time if he doesn’t feel fully healthy.

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How could this not ruffle some feathers when you are practicing what is essentially your second string quarterback throughout your whole training camp. Not only does it hurt the Viking’s play, but it also has to hurt their chemistry. I know you’re saying that Favre did this last year, but last year was different, because he wasn’t returning to the same team. How can you look at a guy as professional if he just skips a part of his job? You can’t. I’m not saying that Favre is going to be welcome when he returns to the Vikings, but what I am saying is that if he fails to deliver, there is going to be people talking about his absence at training camp as the possible reason for the Vikings failure. Does Favre deserve the blame for the Vikings’ failures during the season? No, but he puts himself at risk for not being there when everyone reports to camp in early August. There are many other factors that could cause the demise of the Vikings (like Adrian Peterson’s fumbling problem), but the media will easily be attracted to the fact that Favre was a no-show at camp. Minnesota showed its hand after the draft when they didn’t acquire a quarterback that could replace Favre, so I don’t blame Favre for taking all the time he needs, but he better get up to speed very quickly, because anything worse than a spot in the NFC Championship game would be a disaster in what will probably Favre’s last season.

By: Louis Greco
ProFootball-fans.com Staff Writer