We’ve said a few times over the past few days that we wish we’d stuck to our guns in the wake of Brett Favre’s retirement press conference.  We suggested at the time that this story has been too weird for Favre to simply fade away and never be heard from again, and we rightly made a big deal out of Favre’s supposed throwaway line to David Letterman a month later, but we never said unequivocally that Favre would be back.

Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com did.

“The tears were real, the intention virtuous and the end result will seem oddly familiar,” Freeman wrote on March 6.  “Brett Favre will be back.  You can count on it.”

The following excerpt from Freeman’s item is prophetic.  It appears below in italics.

Favre’s own words betray him.  He kept saying repeatedly:  I can still play.

When I hear a great athlete use such a phrase it sets off alarms.  Favre might have convinced the rest of the world he’s done, but I’m not even sure he’s convinced himself yet.

I can still play.

Those aren’t just prideful words.  It’s almost a forecast of things to come.

A few months from now, Favre will be fishing, and he’ll be bored senseless.  He’ll think:  I can still play.

A few months from now, Favre will be throwing the football with his friends, and he’ll think:  I can still play.

The body will be healed, the soreness gone, and Favre’s mind will forget — or erase — all of the reasons that made him retire in the first place.

Training camp will come and the missed camaraderie and competition will pull at him and Favre will think:  I can still play.

Those words will stay inside his head and he won’t be able to ignore them.

Then he will sign with a playoff team that lost its starting quarterback in training camp, or a team that wants to rent a winner for a year or two.

Favre won’t be back in Green Bay, but he’ll be back.

The tears were real, the intention virtuous and the end result will seem oddly familiar.

See you soon, Brett.

Wow.  Well done, Mr. Freeman.