Looks like Brett Favre’s training camp opens today just like it did exactly one year ago today when he showed at Vikings training camp on August 18, 2009. I’d rather watch Muhammad Ali fill a bird feeder than hear anymore conjecture about Favre’s status right now.
Seriously, Favre’s off-the-field decisions are about as anticlimactic as a Lady Gaga outfit. Just like Madonna perfected the strong, sexual, over-the-top liberated-woman act in the 80s, and Elton John before that, Favre has perfected the boring-the-shit-out-of-me act of pretending to retire.
The Favre Rules
So Brett Favre can pretty much dictate to the Vikings when he’ll show up for training camp, when he’ll practice and when he’ll play. He owns that organization more so now than he did when he was beating up on them as the leader of the Packers.
Think about it: what quarterback in the history of football has been able to dictate his own terms like Favre? Which begs another question: what quarterback in the history of football would act like this? Could you imagine a scenario where Terry Bradshaw or Troy Aikman flirted with retirement more often than Cher, or through their absence, demand a different set of rules to play by?
The Favre Questions
Has Favre earned the right to show up when he wants to?
Absolutely.
Is it right?
That’s a tough call when you consider the rest of the team is out there busting their ass.
Does Favre give the Vikings the best chance to win now? Can he take them to the Super Bowl?
Does Lindsay Lohan like muff?
Is there resentment towards Favre in the locker room?
Not being in the locker room everyday — although I would retire from this blogging stuff to become the Vikings’ locker room manager — it’s hard to know for sure, and you can trust the beat writers who are closest to the situation won’t investigate locker room animosity for fear of retribution, so drawing from my own experience I know players who receive preferential treatment are discussed and even vilified by some teammates.
Is that healthy for a locker room?
No.
But will it costs them wins?
About as likely as Spencer Pratt making up with Lauren Conrad. Seriously, this is the NFL, once the game starts it’s about the team — one obvious exception made for Terrell Owens.
Vikings’ 2010 Outlook
With Favre back in the fold, I expect the Vikings to not only return to the NFC Championship game, but to win it this time.
It took five Minnesota turnovers — remarkably none from Adrian Peterson — for the Saints to squeeze past the Vikings in overtime. Counting on turnovers to win games is a little bit like counting on your opponents suffering an injury and it’s extremely rare for a team to be as fortuitous with turnovers as the Saints were throughout 2009 into the next season.
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