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In his first comments regarding his request to be released from the Green Bay Packers, quarterback Brett Favre tells Greta Van Susteren that he no longer felt welcome in Wisconsin.
“I am guilty of retiring early and there is a reason for that,” Favre said in an excerpt of an interview that was given to the Associated Press. “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.’”
In other words, Favre is pointing a finger of blame at the Packers.
He also said that the Packers asked for a list of teams to which Favre would accept a trade, and that Favre said he prefers to be released so that he can play for a competitive team.
There also are signs that the situation is turning ugly. In response to a weekend media blitz from Packers G.M. Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy, Favre hinted that the two men are being less than truthful about the time line of events regarding Favre’s retirement.
“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,”‘ Favre said. “Don’t make up a lot of stuff or give half of the truth.”
Meanwhile, Favre will be at Lambeau Field on Saturday night to introduce former teammate Frank Winters for the team’s Hall of Fame. Anyone got an extra ticket?
July 14th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Keep it up Brett. Everyday you add to your legacy of being a selfish, egotistical, big headed king of all pics that you are. I’m lovin it.
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Rating: 2.85 / 5 with 13 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
I still believe Brett Favre could have avoided all of this by simply making a concrete choice and being more clear when appropriate. He deserves the brunt of the blame.
But, the Green Bay Packers are not innocent in all this, and if Favre felt pressured to do what he did, then that stinks. If he genuinely wants to play (that seems to be the case) — and the Packers are genuinely committed to Aaron Rodgers (ummmmmmm?) — then the Packers must release Favre to let him play.
Though it is not a good situation whatsoever, the Packers must respect Favre’s wishes. He has earned at least that much
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Another Poem for Packers GM Ted Thompson:
Woke up this morning
in a bad, bad way…
Even my Mama
had nothin’ to say.
Tried everything,
can’t get no relief.
Been treatin’ Brett Favre
like a Side Of Beef…
Took a national poll
of the public and the fans,
They said C’mon Ted,
Let a Man Be A Man!!!!
Nothin’ left to do
nothin’ left to say
Cause Now Every Day
Is Brett Favre Day
Gotta take these Lemons
and make Lemonade
Cause I don’t wanna see
another Brett Favre Parade
They’re outside my window
and outside my door
Gotta do something now
Can’t take it no more…
FREE BRETT FAVRE!!!!
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Rating: 2.1 / 5 with 12 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Why do i keep getting this image in my head of a 5th grade girl fight involving slapping and pulling hair?
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Rating: 2.7 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
God, I didn’t know he picked the number four because he wanted to act like a 4-year-old.
Favre: “Waah… I don’t feel wanted! I want to go play for someone else!”
Packers: “Okay, who do you want to play for?”
Favre: “I’m not telling!”
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Rating: 3.1 / 5 with 13 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
i see these posts out there saying bf has a trade veto. and the pakc has a trade veto. officially neither has a veto. unofficially, the trade location has to be minimally agreeable to both.
i am sure bf has the shorter list.
Well, lets see. i dont see the pack trading him inside the nfc north. or likely the nfc south (pack plays all in 08) or seattle or dallas or even the afc south (pack plays all in 08). i also dont see several of those teams being in the bf sweepstakes.
the remaining teams are phi, nyg, was (should be interested), stl (should be interested), sf, ari. and the afc north, west, east. usual suspects: buf, kc, bal, nyj.
except for st. louis… these go-to destinations are all… cold weather teams. and most arent near the kid’s college or kiln, ms.
was made the playoffs sans bf in 07. buf could possibly make the playoffs as is in 08. kc and nyj arent going to the playoffs in 08, bf or no bf. a repeat of st. louis’ 07 ir nightmare and it wouldnt matter if bf is qb there. bf might help balt this year.
there it is. baltimore.
chad jackson territory again… what offer is too good to not pass up?
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
I don’t understand this whole “I didn’t feel welcome” line of reasoning. What on earth more could the team have done to make Favre “feel welcome?” For cryin’ out loud did he expect Thompson & McCarthy to go schlepping down to Mississippi, hats in hands, on their knees, holding petitions with thousands of signatures from the good people of Wisconsin, begging Favre to come back to earn millions of dollars playing a GAME for chrissake?! The starting job was Favre’s as long as he wanted it, and he’s the one who created this whole situation with this multi-year drama about whether he’d retire. I think maybe all of the special treatment Favre is rumored to have gotten during the Sherman years may have went to his head.
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Rating: 3.55 / 5 with 12 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
hey florio, maybe i’m missing something but it seems lost in all of this is the extreme tampering evidence committed by bus cook. isn’t it illegal for an agent to negotiate with other teams while his client is under contract? last i knew the packers had not given permission for them to seek a deal with other teams. thoughts?
favre, taking this to foxnews is your last straw. hopefully now all packers fans, such as myself, can see that you are playing them just like you are playing the team by trying to win their sympathy. you’re pathetic and i never thought i’d say that. oh, how my favre jersey will collect dust in my closet. your legacy is fried to a crisp. rodgers might not have your arm but it’s certain he will honor his word. the pats never thought they could win without drew bledsoe. well, every player is expendable and for as legendary as your career was, it has now become expendable at the expense of packer fans whom you tried to con by driving a wedge between them and their team. unfortunately, some fans are buying the crap you are selling.
how sad that you won’t be remembered in the same way bart starr, willie davis, ray nitshke, max mcgee, herb adderly, paul hornung, etc. are. your legend will be remembered but this sad run to the media and foxnews proves you have tried to turn us lifelong fans against our own team. that’s unforgivable and is a desparate, pathetic act. thanks for the memories but no thanks for the final nightmare.
here’s to aaron rodgers beginning a new era.
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Rating: 3.4 / 5 with 10 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Boo frickin’ Hoo Brett. Maybe if you didn’t jerk the team around the past three years on whether you were coming back or not they would have been a little more welcoming.
This guys ego makes me want to vomit.
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Rating: 3.4 / 5 with 10 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
What’s next a tearful talk with Oprah about how no one loves
him? Favre as victim is too much to take.
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Rating: 3.55 / 5 with 11 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I’d be willing to fly from Duluth International right to Green Bay to see the Winters induction ceremony.
Just the look on the faces of the cheddar heads would more than make up for the plane ticket, the induction ticket, and the Champaign bill.
I could see Favre taking a swing at Thompson…. and Ted folding like a $2.00 chair.
Is the ceremony being broadcast via internet?
Maybe if it’s dark enough out, we’ll be able to see the fireworks from Minnesota.
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Rating: 3.85 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
What?!? Favre is blaming someone else for something he’s done? I can’t believe it.
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Rating: 3.6 / 5 with 11 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Hey Brett before you go believing all the press clips about how great you were, remember this; you won just as many Super Bowls as TGrent Dilfer.
Two final words: F–k Favre.
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
TV highlights for the rest of the week:
Don’t miss Ted Thompson on the O’reilly Factor. Bill wanted Brett, but it’s a no spin zone.
Bonita Favre will be on Lasrry King.
For daytime viewing, Scott Favre appears on the Jerry Springer Show, where he will discuss his appearance on COPS.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Exactly what has Favre done wrong? He wants to play. The Packers have exclusive rights. So he asks them first, nicely, if they want him back. They say, no. So he asks, again nicely, if they’ll give him his release. They say, no. Oh, and they don’t want to trade him either. If Brett had wanted to screw the Pack, he’d have retired, and then un-retired a la Junior Seau and played for whoever he wanted to play for. He didn’t do that. He’s done the right thing, taken the high road. It’s Ted Thompson who has injected an element of hostility into this, and Thompson and McCarthy who spent the entire weekend giving interviews and boo-hooing to the media, and putting their spin on things. I’m sorry, but I don’t see what Favre has done wrong. It’s not a crime to want to play again - Michael Jordan retired three times before it stuck. If the Packers had simply given him his release, this entire situation would have gone away overnight. If they’re really committed to moving on, and believe the team is better with Aaron Rodgers as QB, what do they have to lose by releasing him? If he’d stayed retired, they wouldn’t have had him anyway. I think it’s the Packers management who has ratcheted up this situation and really made it untenable. They had options; Brett didn’t. And of course they’re stupid for turning down a QB who threw for 4200 yards last year.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Well, he needs to tell the truth as well then. He should be honest and say he simply doesn’t want to play for Ted Thompson, and now that he isn’t coming off a season where he sucked, he feels that he has leverage to go somewhere else.
What did he want the packers to do? Wait until now for him to make his decision….well, that’s pretty unrealistic, and Brett Favre knows that.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
boo hoo hoo. is brett favre a grown man or a 8 year old little girl? he didn’t feel welcome? what a freakin titbaby. i hope he does play this year and sucks worse then he did in last game when his last pass was an int.
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
His Greta interview was pathetic. He looked a spoiled kid who can’t get over the fact that “the girl” he dumped is now “seeing” someone else.
Get over it, Brett. Get over yourself already.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Why should he expect the Packers to release him rather than trade him? They paid his salary and if he comes back will continue to pay it. That means they can do with that “asset” as they wish. Why release him when they can trade him and get something back? If Favre was not so self-centered he would say “this is a list of 10 teams to whom I want to be traded.” Sure the Packers might say that the best offer they received was from team number 11, but I doubt it (And if they did, then they would be the “bad guy.”)
Favre created this mess, but it does not look like he is prepared to do anything to solve it by giving GreenBay something for their troubles.
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Rating: 4.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Well that Van Susteran interview was a fluff piece if I’ve ever seen one. It’s clear he recieved a fair amount of coaching before it was conducted. Brett = innocent good guy. The Packers = dishonest bad guys. There were no tough questions in the interview at all. No mention of what he was doing to the team and to Rodgers with his indecision. In fact, no mention of Rodgers at all. In fact, he said part of the reason he didn’t feel welcome is because the Packers “drafted those two kids”. Ummmmm Brett? The NFL Draft was AFTER you retired!!!! You retired and the Packers needed depth at the QB position. It’s not hard to figure out.
Then there was the gem where he said “I knew once I retired that it could happen” in reference to the Packers moving on w/o him after his decision to walk away. “Could” happen? It should’ve been an obvious certainty to Favre that the team would move ahead and plan for the future once he retired. What did he expect? A period of mourning or something where life stood still in Packers Land? Please.
Then there’s the part where he tries to deny that he’s ever envisioned playing for other teams. If he wasn’t thinking about it he’d not have requested his release. Greta didn’t bother to grill him on it of course.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
When the Packers don’t want you they ask you take a cut in pay. Were you asked to take a cut in pay? I didn’t think so. Of course they want you back.
I still hope you’re the starting QB for the Pack this year. Grab your helmet and jock and c’mon back. You’ll have fun.
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Rating: Not yet rated
July 14th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
what a media dinkus
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
April of 2006, Favre says, “What are the gonna do, cut me?” Now its They pressured me to make a decision. Coming off a NFC Championship game season?
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Rating: Not yet rated
July 14th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Hey - join me and the six other people who still want BF to be our QB next year.
TIME: NOON
DAY: NEXT SUNDAY
LOCATION: THE WAFFLE HOUSE
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Rating: 3.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 14th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
I don’t get a lot of the negative comments thrown directly at Favre. True, he is partially at fault, but so is the organization. It is appalling to me that so many people seem to blather like idiots once they smell blood.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)