After All the Madness, Favre Better Excel

All right, Brett Favre. All right, you maddening flip-flopper and hopeless egomaniac. You asked for it. Last month, when you decided to stay retired after retiring and unretiring and retiring in an 18-month drama requiring daily Dramamine, I wrote the following: "This is it as a football player, Brett. Or else a country that once wanted to love you will view you as a psychotic laughingstock, if it doesn't already.''

Today, America views Favre as a psychotic laughingstock. Because there he was Tuesday, in purple shorts and a purple helmet, wearing his No. 4 as he trotted onto a practice field with the Minnesota Vikings. Why he changes his mind the way the rest of us change boxer briefs, I could not explain if I consulted 100 of the world's leading shrinks. But it's a fair bet that Favre was playing a con game with the Vikings and the rest of us all along, not wanting to participate in offseason mini-camps, organized team activities and the dreadful early stages of training camp. He showed up when he wanted, days before the second preseason game Friday night in the Metrodome -- where he'll be the starting quarterback, of course, so the Vikings can sell more tickets and ramp up sales for those $259 FAVRE jerseys.

At a news conference Tuesday night, Favre showed up in his signature graybeard and a battered red cap and let tears fill his eyes at emotional intervals. He was asked how he is dealing with the national criticism, which is coming from analysts and pundits on almost every channel.

"Don't watch,'' Favre fired back defiantly. "Like my old roommate and center, Frank Winters, said, 'Dude, it's America.' It is what it is."

But aren't you concerned how people judge your legacy?

"No,'' he said. "First of all, when people start talking about legacy, it's mine. It's what I think of it. I know the way I've played the game, the way I've handled myself as a teammate and leader within the public -- yeah, I've made mistakes, as we all have. But If I had a chance to do it over, I'd do it the same way. I really would. I don't think anyone has played the game with as much passion and loved the game and his teammates the way I have. I haven't been the best player, but I would think every player who has played with me loved to have me in the foxhole. I have no idea what's going to happen this year. But when I look back, I'll have given everything I have to this team.''

All I have to say is, he'd better be damned good this season. It's the only way he'll regain our admiration after turning himself into an annoying, wishy-washy brat who spent the better part of four years toying with ESPN and the national sports consciousness. Nothing was proud or ethical about the way the deal went down, with both Favre and his friend/enabler, Vikings coach Brad Childress, clearly disrespecting not only incumbent quarterbacks Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson, but every player on the roster. They let the Favre Rules prevail, in effect placing him in a bubble apart from the other Vikings until he was ready to dance on his terms.

Which means he has more pressure on him than ever to perform well, hardly a certainty as he nears 40. If he doesn't, how foolish will he look? "We felt like we added a decent piece to the puzzle,'' said Childress, not realizing that decent won't be good enough. Favre will lose more than face if he repeats his struggles late last season with the New York Jets, when he threw nine interceptions in a final five-game rut that resulted in four losses and playoff elimination. Some of his problems were a function of a biceps tear that diluted his arm strength, but even when he was healthy, he stumbled on third down (nine interceptions), in the fourth quarter (seven interceptions) and when throwing the ball downfield 20 yards or more (22 percent completion percentage and 10 interceptions).

Based on that, and the fact the same injuries and poor play could haunt him this year, he should have stayed retired. Favre's reasons for unretiring don't jibe with the timeline. He says he was nervous after his offseason shoulder operation when Dr. James Andrews, the noted surgeon, told him he still has a slight tear in his rotator cuff. "What I went through last year, a torn bicep, I wanted to make sure if I was to play that I didn't go through something like that again,'' Favre said. "To say I was cautious was an understatement. Maybe subconsciously, I needed to cross over that line and take that chance. Three weeks ago, one of the reasons I said no was that I found out after the surgery that I still have a tear in the rotator cuff. I was assured by Dr. Andrews, but when I heard the news, it still scared me. Being a quarterback or a pitcher, at 39, just coming off surgery for something -- to say I was reluctant would be an understatement.''

But here's the thing: the tear is minor, and it's still there three weeks later. Why would the concerns that existed in July no longer exist in August, Brett? Something to do with not wanting to check into a dorm room too early at Mankato State? "When Brad called [Monday], I was on my way to the high school [to throw in Mississippi],'' Favre said. "He asked if I wanted to give it another shot and see if I would take that chance. After saying no three weeks ago, I talked to Dr. Andrews, who reassured me that the rotator cuff wouldn't be an issue.''

Pause right there. Didn't Andrews also assure him in July? Why does the assurance now mean more than an assurance three weeks ago? What dramatically changed in Favre's head? Not wanting to eat dorm food and deal with two-a-day practices, perhaps?

What a sham. Simply, Favre is a control freak who seems to extract great enjoyment from playing pranks on the public. This has turned into a game to see if Brett can one-up his critics and, naturally, the Green Bay Packers, the team he symbolized for 16 years. It isn't unusual to see a football legend change teams, but to see Favre in the colors of the arch-rival Vikings must be anathema for the Cheeseheads. Favre insists revenge against the Packers -- and specifically, general manager Ted Thomspon, who pushed Favre out so young Aaron Rodgers could play -- isn't the angle. Sorry, I'm not buying that, either.


"I know people out there are taking sides or whatever. But it's not about revenge,'' Favre said. "No one can take away those 16 years, which will be forever cherished by me and the guys I played with. The Packers have moved on, and I've moved on. I think it's great for football. I don't see how you wouldn't think it would be. Bottom line is, it's football. Once people are down in the hole, you don't look at the jersey. You look at the faces. I think the guys will know I'm in it for the right reasons, because I still love to play. And I can help this team.

"If you're a true Packer fan, you say, 'You know what? He chose to continue to play. And the Packers chose a different direction.' ''

Sure, madness will reign on Oct. 5 when the Packers come to the Metrodome, where Favre is 6-10 lifetime. And insanity will reign four weeks later at Lambeau Field, where Favre used to run up and down the field as that old Todd Rundgren lyric -- "I don't want to work, I want to bang on the drum all day ...'' -- filled the small-town air. But if Favre is outplayed by Rodgers and the Packers beat the Vikings once or twice, he is taking the risk of looking bad as his career ends. It should surprise no one that he doesn't agree.

"I don't think I have to prove anything to anybody,'' he said. "In fact, I know I don't. What I've done is in the books. If people can't understand it, I'm sorry. Look, I didn't come here to lose. All I want to do is win, and that's the only reason I came back. There's no substitute for playing on Sunday. And I think we can be as good as we want to be. I think the sky's the limit for us.''

At Packers camp, Thompson refused to budge on Favre questions. "You guys are just trying to get me in trouble,'' he said with a smile. "I don't have a reaction,'' Rodgers said. "It doesn't pertain to me. It has absolutely nothing to do with me. It doesn't change anything. It has nothing to do with the Green Bay Packers."

Oh, yes, it does.

In an undefined NFC, the Vikings should be considered Super Bowl contenders if -- again, if -- Favre is healthy and playing well. The same couldn't be said if Rosenfels or Jackson was the quarterback. Jackson, who can't stay healthy, most likely will be traded. "It's not a good feeling, but you have to take it for what it's worth and try and get better from it," Jackson said of the Favre news.

"It's something that wasn't a total shock to me," said Rosenfels, a journeyman who has started only five NFL games. "Obviously, this has been three months in the ongoing sort of thing. So for me personally, this wasn't what I was hoping for. I tried to get traded here and got traded here. But in my nine years, this is the best football team I've ever been on. We have so much talent. If the team needs me this year, when the team needs me this year, I'm going to be ready.''

Favre has played with good running backs, but never one like Adrian Peterson. Favre has played with good defenses, but few have been as talented as the one he inherits this season. The pieces are in place to go far. Now, it's a matter of meshing with teammates who surely grew tired of the story. When he saw them at lunch Tuesday, Favre slipped into a rookie-hazing mode. "Hi, I'm Brett from Hattiesburg, Miss.,'' he told them, "and I'm the only guy on this team who was born in the '60s.''

That elicited laughs. No one ever said Favre doesn't know how to have fun. But he's right about one thing: He's in it primarily to win his second Super Bowl ring. "A lot of friends and family have said I won't know if I'm doing the right thing unless I take a chance,'' he said. "Everyone I talked to, former players and coaches, said if I was to go back, Minnesota is the perfect fit. It's really a good football team with a very good running game, and I hope I can offer experience and leadership. The competitive fire in me told me I really can help this team. I didn't want to look back. I didn't want to say, 'What if?' ''

So, at long last, Brett Favre stopped waffling and made a real decision. Before he left for Minnesota on a white jet, he had a chat with his 10-year-old daughter on their Mississippi porch. "I can be chased by five linemen and not be scared. But when my daughter cries, I'm scared,'' Favre said. "She said, 'Daddy, I wanted you to go back and win one more Super Bowl.' I told her, 'Why didn't you tell me before?'''

Because she thought you were retired, dummy, like the rest of us