Chicago-area residents have been forced to watch recent TV ads promoting Lambeau Field in Green Bay as a wonderful place to visit.
Bears fans will head there just as soon as they get back from the "Death to America"
summer workshop in Iran.
The ads are bad enough. Now fans have to live with the possibility that Packers quarterback Brett Favre will unretire, or whatever it is you do when you have told the world you never will play football again, only to later wonder whether the "itch"
you’re feeling will require more than a mere scratch.
On the other hand, what if he came out of retirement to play for the Bears? More than a few of you would change your names to Curly Lambeau for that, right?
Favre, the future Hall of Famer, apparently is struggling with his March retirement announcement, specifically the part of the announcement in which he said he was, you know, retiring. Sources have told ESPN.com that Favre is feeling the urge to play again and has told coach Mike McCarthy of his "itch" for competition.
One gets the distinct feeling the Packers would prefer Favre deal with the problem by visiting a dermatologist’s office, not team headquarters.
We in Chicago don’t understand this, for the simple reason the Bears have been without a quarterback since 1794 B.C.
If the Packers decide they no longer need a 36-year-old quarterback who led them to the NFC Championship Game last season, the Bears might want to take a gander at this Favre fellow. They might want to put together a caravan of Jerry Angelo, Lovie Smith and Brian Urlacher and head for Mississippi. They might want to tell Favre how much fun it would be to finish his career in Chicago. He might just appreciate being appreciated.
The Packers have sent Favre negative vibes, his family members say.
"He has felt like that for the last couple of years, that the Packers didn’t really want him back,"
his mother, Bonita Favre, told a Milwaukee TV station. "But nothing has been said. You know it has just been bits and pieces throughout the last couple of years, things that would come up, and it just didn’t seem like they went out of their way to keep him. It was kind of like, ’You’re done.”
And maybe Favre, because of that reception, is enjoying the thought of general manager Ted Thompson squirming right now.
As I pointed out when Favre announced his retirement, the guy would be quintessential Chicago if it weren’t for the green and gold jersey. He’s tough and talented, hardworking and hard-living. When I wrote that column, it was meant as a eulogy for a brilliant quarterback. It wasn’t meant as a sales pitch.
This is.
Hey, Brett, if the Packers don’t love you, maybe the Bears will. They faced you 32 times and lost 22 of them. Familiarity breeds respect.
The hardest part in sports isn’t saying good-bye. It’s saying good-bye and staying away.
There’s not always a crystal-clear, right time for retirement. Players always say they will know when it’s time to go, but the truth is that they’re rarely offered an epiphany. And Favre still can play at a high level.
At what point does he start looking self-centered? Or did he pass that point miles ago? With the idea that they had to plan for a post-Favre future, the Packers used a first-round pick in 2005 to select quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Less than two months after Favre announced his retirement, the Packers took two quarterbacks in the 2008 draft - Louisville’s Brian Brohm and LSU’s Matt Flynn.
OK, that looks bad now. Favre should have thought it through better. But it’s OK for him to change his mind.
Football’s different than a lot of sports. Plans are made and implemented with military-like rigidity. When Michael Jordan told the world "I’m back," the Bulls greeted him with open arms. When Favre wavers, the Packers seem to be put off by it. They had a plan in place, for goodness’ sake!
A Packers spokesman said the team had no reaction to the news of Favre’s apparent waffling. But you have to figure some serious eye-rolling commenced. The Packers are in an awkward position. Their starting quarterback of the past 16 years, a huge fan favorite, might want to play again. They apparently would like to move on.
Favre could help a lot of teams.
The Bears, for example. Or the Packers, if they came to their senses. Here’s hoping they don’t.
If Favre signals his intention to play in 2008, the Packers can put him on their roster or release him. He has three years left on his contract and is due to make $12 million in the upcoming season. That’s a lot of money. He’s still a lot of quarterback compared with what the Bears have.
If the Bears believe they’re a quarterback away from competing for the division title, they should do it.
If the Packers are crazy enough to let Favre go, let them. And let Favre enjoy extracting his revenge. Now what city would offer the most in the way of payback?
