Ol' Bag Of Donuts Nails It Re: Vikings/Favre
Gene Bosling over at Ol' Bag of Donuts has a fantastic post up about the dysfunctional Viking organization as it compares to the Green Bay Packers.
By PackerAaron
I had planned a lengthy post about how proud I was of Ted Thompson and the Packers organization and how utterly incompetent Ziggy Wilf and company have proven to be in running our favorite rival...but there really is no need after reading this outstanding post from Gene Bosling over at Ol' Bag of Donuts.
Money quote:
...after this episode, how does Childress run his team with a straight face? He got on Adrian Peterson’s case for skipping OTAs, but he lets Favre – a player on the Vikings’ roster – skip camp, and then excuses players from practice to beg him to come back. And this is all for a soon-to-be 41-year-old quarterback who hasn’t put together two straight productive seasons since 2003-04.Compare that – or contrast it – rather, to how the Packers handled Favre. Seeing the end of his run was near, they drafted Aaron Rodgers with plenty of time to groom him while Favre was still playing. They got one more season of efficient play out of Favre in 2007, riding his renaissance to the NFC Championship Game, where Bad Brett made his customary January appearances.
And when Favre retired in March, only to waffle a month later, general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy told Favre they’d be willing to welcome him back, on one condition: He had to be in 100 percent, and they had to know. That was too much for the quarterback to promise, so they cut ties with Favre, damn the PR beating it would bring them, and moved forward with Rodgers.
Aside from the marketing deal they offered Favre – which got construed by his camp as a bribe to stay retired – I can’t see too many missteps in the way the Packers played this. They made a smart football decision by drafting Rodgers. They made a smarter one by sticking to their guns with Favre, even though his Avenger World Tour saw him make a victorious return to Lambeau last year. And they’ve been rewarded heading into the 2010 season with a 26-year-old QB who’s blossoming into one of the game’s elite passers and is leading a championship-caliber offense.
Read the whole thing. It's just an outstanding post.
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Comments (21)
August 18, 2010 at 09:54 am
That's good stuff.
GBP 4 LIFE
August 18, 2010 at 11:22 am
The Vikings are even more than ever a HUGE embarrassement to the NFL. Childress and Wilf's "you want it, you got it" handelling of Favre is a disgraceful example to show young football players. I really think the league should clamp down on this.
Although it's funny to see Favre working the Queens like his prison bitch, it also sets a tone for other veteran players to start skipping practice and working teams (that need the boost a winning season gives) for more money.
August 18, 2010 at 11:46 am
"I really think the league should clamp down on this."
Nah, if a franchise wants to be known as the Corky Thatcher of football, that's their prerogative. Sit back and enjoy.
GBP 4 LIFE
August 18, 2010 at 11:28 am
arron me and mike like donuts. please
August 18, 2010 at 11:32 am
The proverbial 'nail in the coffin' for all parties on this one: Did he accept Wilf's offer of $1 million per game? Not that the organization or BF care about the respect they get from a schmo like me, but I can't wait for the story to break that the Vikings rewarded him for not attending camp, avoiding team activities and creating so much drama.
If he did, I can't wait for future camps when Wilf/Childress attempt to play hardball with other stars. Peterson's camp are licking their chops.....
PackerAaron
August 18, 2010 at 12:59 pm
"Did he accept Wilf’s offer of $1 million per game?" Apparently so: http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Brett-back-into-open-arms.html
August 18, 2010 at 01:14 pm
If this is true:
a) Every Viking agent/player with a future contract to be negotiated just walked into camp a little happier today. Harvin, Rice, Shianco and Peterson have already displayed some sense of entitlement during this camp and I expect it to be a nightmare for Wilf/Childress to work through in future years. Karma, boys, karma....
b) Whatever shred of deeply repressed respect I may have had for BF, the Vikings and their leadership is definitively gone. But thanks are in order: regardless of your success/failure this year, your franchise is going to pay a dear price in the futre (disfunction/hold-outs/dissent/etc.).....players don't forget this type of treatment, regardless of all the public cheerleading on their behalfs for Brett. Karma, bitches...it's right around the bend.
August 18, 2010 at 01:18 pm
Uurrseein Brittfarv don' playul furre luvohteh gaim?
August 18, 2010 at 01:24 pm
I can't even joke about it, PackersRS. I live in the MN market and will be forced to listen to endless mental masturbation about BF's, 'insert cliche here'.
I've been watching games featuring BF on mute since 08'. Really, it's painfully bad..
August 18, 2010 at 01:27 pm
My favorite? He's just havin fun out there. I don't know why, but lately, when I hear that phrase, I can't stop thinking about cellphones and crocs.
August 18, 2010 at 02:49 pm
I'd love to be a fly-on-the-wall in a room with only Harvin, Rice, Shianco and Peterson after they've had a few beers ...... This 'we all love BF' illusion presented to the press is such BS ...... I can see them having more than a few laughs when referring to "Lord Farve" & his 'faithful beach' known as Chilly ...... I'm laughing now.
August 18, 2010 at 04:43 pm
Meh, whatever. We played the Favre game for plenty of years. Kudos to Thompson and company for drafting and developing Rodgers so they're not left twisting in the wind by Favre, but what's going on in Minnesota isn't that remarkable. It's called life.
August 18, 2010 at 08:34 pm
Rhetorical question - what would 1994 Favre (Sharpe holdout) and 2005 Favre (Walker holdout) have to say about 2010 Favre?
Also, the Pack offering money to stay retired is embarrassing but feigning retirement to extract more money is now fine and dandy.
August 18, 2010 at 09:52 pm
"Jethrow." That's what we call "Bad Brett."
August 19, 2010 at 02:51 am
Love the tags for this post! (And the post itself of course)
One thing I truly hate about all this, is his constant reference football being a business. It may be a business to him, since that's the way he earns his money, but it sure as hell isn't to the fans... who incidently are the people who pays his salary. Business?? In the words of Chad Cinco-de-Mayo. Child please!
August 19, 2010 at 06:21 pm
It is a business. Even to the fans. ENTERTAINMENT business. re: Tag: Vikings couldn't even sell out a playoff game
They didn't have a problem when they made the "business" decision to sign Favre. He has plenty more impact than just on the field for the MN Vikings.
August 19, 2010 at 06:45 pm
I live in the Twin Cities and the Vikings still had to beg, borrow and steal to sell out games. Not only that, but there were weekly articles featuring businesses complaining that the Favre phenomenon actually backfired on the local economy. People stayed home to watch games instead of indulging in the event itself.
Were there more jersey/paraphenalia sales, likely. Ticket and local business sales...no.
August 19, 2010 at 01:48 pm
http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/Percy_Harvin_collapses_leaves_in_ambu...
You can't make this shit up: "Players gathered for a prayer and then went through 10 plays of 11-on-11 work, which Childress said was quarterback Brett Favre's idea. The vibe was quiet and the work was sloppy, including several dropped passes."
Favre is running the practice.
August 19, 2010 at 06:16 pm
I find it hard to believe that TT, MM, and the Packer fans would not have been so quick to judge this situation if they were deciding between Matt Flynn and begging Favre to come back for another season. I am sure it was a tough decision for TT to choose to keep A-Rod as his starting QB and ship Favre away, but it would have been a non-issue if any 2nd level QB was waiting in the wings...
August 19, 2010 at 06:50 pm
Don't know why it's hard to believe, we all witnessed it. Rodgers wasn't proven on any level, but the franchise simply tired of self-indulgent Favre waffle-fest that started sometime in 02'.
There is no, 'I find it hard to believe TT, MM,........' they placed the franchise above one megalomaniac and, fortunate for Packer fans, chose wisely.
Vikings took the opposite approach and will pay a dear price in the future when their young players expect comparable treatment financial reward with a sense of entitlement.
August 20, 2010 at 12:12 am
just a fyi the media deal was brought up by Andrew Brandt before the Giants Championship Game to Bob Harlan
So the Favre camp can say it was a bribe all they want but Brandt posted it on his web site...
If no one knows I love shooting holes into all the false things the Favre camp spews