Seriously.

From his chat over at PackersNews.com this afternoon:

[Comment From Geoff]
Am I a bad Packer fan if I feel like hating Favre for the number of years he plays with the Vikings x 2? If they happen to win the SB, it would be number of years x 10.

Rob Demovsky: Shouldn’t you be mad at the Packers — not Favre — for letting him go? Let me ask you this: If you worked for K-Mart and they decided they didn’t want you anymore, why not go work for WalMart? Isn’t it basically the same thing?

No, Rob, actually, it’s not. It’s not even close.

What is this, Come-Up-With-A-Horrible-Working-Man-Analogy week? Did I miss a memo? How awful is that, seriously? Am I going blind? Dance with me.

Straight from the man’s Twitter account:

I heard a rumor that Brett Favre signed with the Vikings - It doesn’t matter because Aaron Rodgers is still the best QB in the division!

That is the truth no matter what some elements of the Packer Blogosphere might want you to believe. Aaron warned us about this Top 12 list from the Ol Bag O’ Donuts Packer Blog when they snubbed James Lofton. I think the snubbing has gone way too far.

I ranted about it Wednesday night on Cheesehead Nation. Bart Starr is the greatest Quarterback in the history of the Green Bay Packers. Then I see someone has done the work for me:

While jonspike87’s video gets 1 & 2 perfect, from there it’s a downhill slide. Rejecting Arnie Herber for Don Majkowski at the 5 spot feels false and forced. Herber won 4 of the Packers 12 World Championships, how many did One Year wonder Majkowski win? I love the Majik man, and I mean no offense. Just take one look at the Packers QB All-Time record fact sheet. Then read Arnie Herber’s page & Cecil Isbell’s page. I think one could make a serious and substantial argument for Herber at 3 or 4. He most certainly is in the Top 5.

That’s the determination from Ross Tucker over at CNNSI. He makes this point in his latest column and I have to admit, it is something I’ve often thought about in terms of Thompson, Rodgers and the timing of Rodgers’ deal last season.

From Tucker:

Rodgers had proven he was a competent starting quarterback over the first half of the season and eventually finished with 28 touchdowns and only 13 interceptions while throwing for over 4,000 yards…you have to imagine Thompson was hoping he would be able to sign Rodgers to a deal that validates him as the franchise quarterback for the Packers. After the messy Brett Favre divorce, Thompson would have been toast in the minds of the Lambeau faithful if Rodgers had faltered. So Rodgers contract not only establishes him as the quarterback of the future in Green Bay, it also becomes the backbone for Thompson’s reasoning for moving forward without Favre in the first place. In effect, the Rodgers deal validates him and the entire Packers front office.Critics will point out the team was only 6-10 last season and Rodgers showed a chronic inability to find a way to lead his team to a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. Lucky for him, it doesn’t matter. Thompson was itching to place the stamp of approval on his Favre decision as soon as possible. So as soon as a new contract for Rodgers was reasonable, he pulled the trigger.

I think this is spot on.

I think most observers were surprised, not by the size of the deal, but the timing of it. I mean, really, what was the rush? What had Rodgers accomplished? And yet Thompson felt compelled to make a statement with Rodgers’ contract. (And make no mistake - that’s exactly what it was - a statement.) Yes, people will say that Thompson got a steal signing Rodgers when he did. After all, if he continues to play at a high level, and really, there’s no reason to think he won’t, then his value surely would have continued to climb. That being the case, the argument is that the Packers got a bargain signing him when they did.

Perhaps.

Or perhaps Thompson was feeling the heat of watching Favre continue to play (and play well) in New York. Don’t forget, before Rodgers signed his contract, Favre was still injury-free and throwing a record six touchdown passes in one game. No, it wasn’t all smooth sailing in New York, even before the injury. (One need look no further than the Monday night game against the Chargers, a game that saw all the good and all the bad Favre still has to offer) But the buzz on Favre was definetly positive at that point. I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest to learn that Thompson wanted Rodgers’ contract extension to be the final exclamation point in his ushering Favre out the door.

…but don’t just make shit up.

Never mind the post. It’s nothing but a long-winded, completely inconsequential slice of delusional nonsense about Favre, one of hundreds of thousands on offer all over the Internet. (Too much? Nahhhh…) It’s in the comment section where things get interesting. The author, Jim Ganzer, reacting to a reader basically destroying his whole argument in a couple of lines, offers this nugget of gold for our consumption:

Question is, why did he retire? Two days before he retired he called Thompson and McCarthy and told them that there would be no wavering this year, that he was 100% committed to doing what it took to get the team to the Superbowl the following year. Talked about what he would do etc.

Thompson responded saying that they were in no position to discuss their plans as they needed to go back and review all of his game films from the previous year before they could make a decision as to which direction they were going.

Favre was emotionally crushed and retired two days later.

His fault? Maybe, but Ted isn’t innocent.

Then we get this:

Yeah, it hasn’t been reported anywhere, even though I know of several members of the local media who knew about it at that time and opted not to make waves.

Does Jim realize just what the hell he is implying here? He’s saying, on a blog that is under the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel umbrella, that not one but SEVERAL journalists that cover the Packers intentionally sat on a story that would have certainly been one of the biggest of their careers. Does he have any idea how stupid this sounds? It’s unfortunate that a guy like this is on the same platform as Brian Carriveau over at Railbird. Brian wipes the floor with this guy, yet they are seemingly on equal footing over at the ol’ Bubbler.

I would love to hear what the powers that be over at JSOnline think about Jim’s insinuations…

Donald’s Designated Driver of All Kinds of Time, in response to Chris Lempesis of Ol’ Bag Of Donuts casting Favre as the Greatest Player In Packers History, is taking apart what he calls “The Favre Legend”. He’s two parts in and they are simply not to be missed. Great stuff DDD.

What started as a promising inquiry into Favre’s mindset as he makes his way into a Vikings uniform turned into a parade of softball questions from Joe Buck during his first live program for HBO. Buck, who was just about obligated to bring up what Green Bay fans might be feeling if and when Favre comes into Lambeau wearing a Vikings uniform, let Favre slide with some throwaway answer about Lombardi ending his career with the Washington Redskins. It would have been nice to get any kind of push back from Buck on this, especially since this is most likely the topic most people tuned in for, Packer fan or no. Favre has admitted wanting to ’stick it to Ted’ - how could Buck not bring up Thompson and his responsibility for Favre being where he is today? And how could he not point out that Lombardi was a) a million times more important to the Packers than Favre could have ever been and b) that Lombardi did not go back into coaching, much less for a hated division rival, to ’stick it to’ any member of the organization.

It was a great ‘get’ for Buck. But that’s where the ‘great’ part of the night ended.

And so it begins.

Keep refreshing this post and I’ll keep you up to date on what Favre is saying during his first interview since his release from the Jets earlier this summer.

Opens with a taped Favre-in-the-make-up-chair-will-Favre-show-up segment. Favre is decent - Buck is annoying.

Opening monologue is very stiff - now a Favre montage - playing the tears at the retirement presser, the unretirement, the coverage, the drama… all the horrible memories.

Favre appears - black t-shirt, jeans. Big cheer from the crowd.

Favre: It’s not my intention to create controversy.

Buck is pretty good - very straightforward. Do you plan on playing in the NFL next year? Favre: Maybe.

Favre confirms surgery with Andrews “two and a half weeks ago”

Confirms he has spoken to the Vikings and meeting with their trainer this past weekend.

Favre says “I could teach the offense” about the Vikings WCO.

My oldest daughter, God bless her, just said “He really needs to pick a team…”

Childress asked Favre to come to OTAs. Favre chose not to due to questions about his arm - acknowledges the media frenzy to come when he eventually signs.

Buck brings up Tarkenton. Favre says he’s heard the comments.

Favre says there will always people who don’t “give a shit” - says “This is HBO, right?”

Buck is actually doing a great job - not letting Favre get away with simple dismissive statements. Following up at the right points.

Just as I say that, Favre dismisses any traitor talk by invoking Lombardi going to the Redskins.

Favre: It’s not life and death. It’s football.

Favre says the intense scrutiny in Green Bay didn’t really get to him, but says he definitely doesn’t crave the attention the way he used to.

End of interview.

Pelissero and Seifert are both Live Blogging the Favre interview. Just to be sure this non-event is completely covered from every angle possible, I’ll join in. Make sure to have Cheesehead TV open on one of your tabs/browsers and I’ll provide instant feedback on what Favre is and isn’t saying.