Why am I writing this at 4:30 AM? Well, there's a tsunami going on outside and I can't sleep. I think Noah just floated down the street.Consider the following:
- 2006, Thompson convinced Brett to come back:
"One story that's never been fully told is why Favre returned in 2006, after he was convinced he'd thrown his last pass. A good part of the reason was a visit Thompson made to Hattiesburg, urging Favre to play one more year and to give then-rookie coach McCarthy a chance. The Packers, Thompson told Favre, really needed him. And on that spring day in 2006, Favre decided he'd return. " Link
- Favre's "Retirement" press conference:
"I know there's been comments and issues in the press lately about why I'm leaving, whether or not the Packers did enough, whether or not Ted and Mike tried to convince me to stay. None of those things have anything to do with me retiring, and that's from the heart." Link
"I know there's been comments and issues in the press lately about why I'm leaving, whether or not the Packers did enough, whether or not Ted and Mike tried to convince me to stay. None of those things have anything to do with me retiring, and that's from the heart." Link
- Thompson and McCarthey welcome Favre back his retirement conference:
"... both head coach Mike McCarthy and GM Ted Thompson agreed that he still had something left and they would welcome him back. Despite the fact that those close to Favre have stated Thompson did not want Favre back, Thompson was the deciding factor in agreeing it was not too late to have him un-retire at that time and start for the Packers in 2008." Link
But, Thompson haters want you to believe that Ted's been trying to push Favre out the door for years. Um, really?
The onus isn't on Ted Thompson. It's on Brett Favre. The latest reports say he "looks good," and is throwing the ball "on a line for 50 yards." Great. I don't remember a single person questioning his physical prowess. That's not why he retired. He was mentally and emotionally drained. One of the most important phrases of his "retirement" conference was:
"I know I can play at a high level, I'm just not sure if I want to."
And he retired. Then he wanted back. Then he didn't want back. Then he got an "itch." Now he wants back. John Kerry thinks he's a flip-flopper. Does this sound like a guy who's:
A) %100 committed to the week in, week out, mental/physical grind of an NFL season, or
B) An uber-competitive athlete who's just bored? The wife and kids are driving him nuts. The John Deere isn't as exciting as he thought. And he's Jonesing to hang with the fellas, chuck a few rocketballs, and slap Driver in the ass a few times. It's B, by a landslide. Again, from the retirement presser:
"But I just don't think I can give anything else, aside from the three hours on Sundays, and in football you can't do that. It's a total commitment, and up to this point I have been totally committed."
It's a total commitment, not "well, I kind of, sort of, yes, no, yes, no, maybe have the itch to play." Come on.
It's like that annoying high school couple (Zach Morris/Kelly Kapowski, anyone). "Lets go out, lets break up. Lets go out, lets break up. Lets go out, lets break up."
So the Packers finally are done playing these high school games with the 16 year old drama queen.
Brett Favre made this mess, NOT Ted Thompson.
12 comments:
All of that may be true, but Thompson's job is to put the best possible team on the field, putting feelings, egos, promises aside. So he better hope that Rodgers is as good as he thinks and the team makes the playoffs (as they likely would with Favre), otherwise he has failed and should be gone after the year.
no, because that would mortgage the future, we'd be stuck with brohm and the lsu kid, cause rodgers would leave in fa, and we'd be stuck in the qb limbo phase, like dallas after aikman or miami after marino
Anyone who believes Thompson hasn't been trying to run Brett out of Green Bay is an idiot. From firing Sherman (granted he saved himself by hiring McCarthy), to refusing to bring in any top notch talent to help out Brett, Thompson has been nothing but a failure. We're a team that relied heavily on players brought in before Thompson (Favre, Driver, Tauscher, Clifton, Kampman, Barnett, Harris etc) but no playmakers. If Thompson would've simply brought in Moss last offseason for a freaking 4th round pick we'd have been holding up that Lombardi Trophy this past year, Brett would've retired on top, and we would've avoided this whole damn mess.
Ted Thompson is a failure. Wow. Pure genius insight there.
Ted Thompson two big additions have been Charles Woodson and AJ Hawk. He deserves very little credit for drafting AJ Hawk seeing how there were 6 "Can't miss" guys that year and we picked 6th. Not even my mom could've messed up that pick. Other than that, what has Thompson done? His team building is horrible, and we'll never ever win a ring with him due to his refusual to bring in elite talent. You need a playmaker to win a title, we have none.
I'm a moron, we drafted 5th that year.
Fox is reporting that Favre was set to announce his return in March before the draft but changed his mind 2 days before it was set to be officially announced.
More and more Brett is looking bad.
I say come back as a back up and then I will personally find Rodgers and break his leg.
Thompson's team building is horrible? Then how did they go from 4-12 to 13-3? Woodson, Pickett, Jennings, Grant, Hawk, Bigbie, Crosby...all aquired by thompson.
People forget a few years ago they had Favre, Driver, Clifton, Tauscher, Barnett, Harris, Kampman...and went 4-12.
Thompson filled the holes to become a 13-3 team that was a field goal away from the super bowl. This is undeniable.
They went 4-12 that year because every one was hurt. He didn't take over a team of 4-12 talent. That is undeniable. Also undeniable is how ridiculously weak the NFL was last year.
Nobody I listed was hurt that year.
Anonymous really has a lot to say on this topic.
Thompson didn't run Favre out of town, he and McCarthy made him play within a system, in a disciplined manner. Favre has been bent because he can't play his "free-wheeling, gunslinger" style. last year McCarthy kicked his a$$ for the first time since the Super Bowl seasons of '96 and '97 (Sherman and Rhodes certainly didn't reign him in). Oh, and big surprise, the team had their best season since the Super Bowl years. Nice. Favre doesn't want to be coached, and that is why he retired. It is also why he wants to play for someone else.
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