Brett Favre will never be a Packer again. That much is clear as I’m reading excerpts from the second half of the interview that will be shown tonight. There is simply no way, after accusing Thompson of ‘lying’ on three different occasions, that the Packers will take him back now.
I don’t even know where to begin, there’s so much here to comment on. There’s the conversation with Thompson after the draft, down at Favre’s place, where you can finally see that these two men just can’t communicate with each other, for whatever reason. This passage is quite telling:
…it just kind of gets quiet again and OK, and he says, ‘Well, OK, if I want to talk, I guess I’m going to run.’”We stand up, and he looks at me. And he says, ‘Are you and I OK?’ I said, ‘Yes. Yes. Yes, I’m fine. Sure. No problem.’ And that was it.”
Thompson felt the need to ask ‘Are you and I OK?” because he knew they weren’t. That was one instance where both Thompson and Favre could and should have been honest and straightforward with each other, but just weren’t able to for whatever reason. I can’t really lay blame with one or the other. After all is said and done, they’re both football players, not exactly a segment of the population known for their ability to express their feelings, especially to each other. It’s just a shame that that moment, and the lost opportunity it represents, has led us here.
And ‘here’, ladies and gentlemen, is an ugly place, where Favre is throwing anyone and everyone to the wolves in his desire to play again. Offensive line coach, and Favre’s good friend and first center with the Packers, James Campen sees his private conversations about the Packers’ thinking brandied about for all to see. How will his employers feel knowing that Campen was talking to Favre about club business? Yes, he’s Favre’s friend, but he works for the Packers. Not that Favre cares in his quest to ruin as many relationships as possible.
And ruined they most certainly are.
UPDATE: Seems I’ve jumped the gun on Campen’s role here, as the Packers were not only aware of his conversations with Brett, but were in fact using Campen as an intermediary. Campen via Favre:
You know, I know they told you they’re moving on and playing there’s not an option. Playing here in Green Bay is not an option, which that’s what they want. They want to move on. But I’m telling you, if you reinstate or you force their hand, back them in a corner, they feel like they have no other option, they’re going to accept you back.
So if Favre had just shown up, he would have been the starter. But obviously, with all that’s happened, with the media circus this has become, and the relationships that have frayed between Favre, McCarthy and Thompson, it is close to impossible for that to happen.
