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EDITOR'S NOTE: In this excerpt from Jeff Pearlman's upcoming release, GUNSLINGER: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre, the story picks up as the legendary Packers quarterback has finished a disappointing 10-6 regular season and a Wild Card Game loss to the division-rival Minnesota Vikings. Green Bay has the 24th overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, but Favre isn't quite ready to welcome their first-round selection, a quarterback from Cal, to the team.

 

Throughout Brett Favre's 13 seasons in Green Bay, an endless stream of quarterbacks had come and gone. Once, when Mark Brunell rose from the bench in 1994, there was a (relatively slim) possibility of Favre being replaced. Otherwise, every signal caller brought to town was there solely to provide support. Through the years, the men signed to back Favre had been a mixed bag of seasoned veterans (Ken O’Brien, Jim McMahon, David Klingler, Steve Bono, Tim Couch) and unspectacular-yet-useful youngsters (Ty Detmer, Doug Pederson, Craig Nall). Some, like Detmer and Pederson, turned into lifelong friends. Others, like O’Brien and Couch, arrived and departed with barely a shadow. “When you signed with Green Bay, there was no false illusion you were there to fight Brett for a job,” said Akili Smith, the Bengals’ first-round pick in 1999 who attended camp with the Packers four years later. “He wasn’t just the team and he wasn’t just the city. He was the state. You just wanted to hang on and hold a clipboard.”

Favre was 35 by the time the season concluded on Jan. 9, 2005, with the Wild Card defeat to the Vikings (he played terribly, throwing four interceptions). After the game, he was asked about retirement and again hemmed and hawed. Maybe. Possibly. I’ll pray on it. I think so. I think no. Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel became the first local scribe to push for Favre to hang it up, noting that the league’s oldest starting quarterback had to ask himself, “what motivation would [I] have to play a 14th season with a slipping organization?” Donald Driver, the veteran wide receiver and Favre’s friend, told the Arizona Republic, “I think he’s had enough. I really do.”

Favre felt the call of retirement. The team wasn’t the same anymore. He was, by now, the oldest Packer by two years, and he struggled to relate with the modern era of me-me-me football players. Where was Reggie White? Where was Jim McMahon? LeRoy Butler? Frank Winters? The new kids were largely about highlights, headlines, attention. The locker room had once been a place of laughter and jokes and farts and stink bombs. Over the years, everything quieted. The younger Packers spent their time with headphones in their ears, listening to their own tunes while drowning out the world. No one went out after games. There was Xbox to play.

    

From the bleacher report.

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Tomlinson had been on the Packer beat since 2003, and Brett Favre was far from his favorite player. He found the quarterback to be phony, arrogant, thin-skinned. He hated how the team’s notoriously protective PR staff served as his personal brick wall, and laughed as rival journalists left offerings at the shrine of Brett. Through the years Tomlinson had heard dozens of rumors about Favre’s infidelity and drunkenness, yet felt constrained by the bonds of local Packer love to write anything. “People felt loyal to Brett, because in Green Bay he was a football God,” Tomlinson said. “But, just being honest, I couldn’t stand him.”

Old Bert wasn't able to keep that herd of cats in the bag.

Last edited by Henry
Herschel posted:

From another excerpt, Rodgers' first words to Favre were "Hello, grandpa." 

While stupid you should fill in the preceding and 2 following paragraphs.   Thin skinned Rodgers meets thin skinned Bert.  I can only assume he was trying to joke but who the **** knows with these prima ballerinas.

Edit:  I just stopped reading half way through.  Grown men, yeah.  

Last edited by Henry

All QBs are narcissistic prima donas, how Rodgers differs from Favre is he is more private.

And yes, he appears to be a bit petulant as of late.

Last edited by H5

I read that article about the Rodgers/Favre relationship and I didn't have too much of a problem with how Rodgers acted other than he sounded like an immature kid... which he was when he joined the Pack as a 21 year old phenom.  As for Favre, I've always been a bit of a defender of his, but I thought that article made him sound like even more of a jerk than we already knew him to be.

Great read.  Not really surprising.  

The last 18 months have been though when it comes to the Packers, Favre and Rodgers.  

-Favre's retirement.

-The way the Packers have handled that.

-Rodgers' play.  The one play that still is a head scratcher is the blatant INT to Woodson.  Sure, he was retiring and it padded Woodson's career numbers.  

 

El-Ka-Bong posted:

All I got from that is Craig Nall is hilarious.

But we already knew that.  

Pepper Burruss is funnier, though.

This reminded me how much I like Donald Driver

“AARON, WE GET IT. YOU’RE SMART. NOW SHUT THE **** UP.”
— DONALD DRIVER

Well, for all his brains and the high Wonderlic score, Rodgers surely can't figure out the mess he's gotten himself into the passed few weeks into this ugly season.

And as for TOG, I heard years and years ago while he was still with the Packers that he was a jerk.  And low 'n behold, he was and is.

ilcuqui posted:
El-Ka-Bong posted:

All I got from that is Craig Nall is hilarious.

But we already knew that.  

Pepper Burruss is funnier, though.

This reminded me how much I like Donald Driver

“AARON, WE GET IT. YOU’RE SMART. NOW SHUT THE **** UP.”
— DONALD DRIVER

Neither Driver nor Burress can wear a pancake on their head with the same panache, though. 

Herschel posted:

News flash: every great player (or coach, or GM) at that level has an ego the size of Canada.

In other shocking revelations: Water is wet. 

...and Donald Trump loves grabbing p*****.

Interesting excerpts yesterday saying that Favre's time in Minnesota was marred by the fact he absolutely could not stand Coach Kickass. Apparently Childress also didn't like the fact Favre was getting the majority of the credit for the one season that kickass offense actually worked.  

fightphoe93 posted:

I read that article about the Rodgers/Favre relationship and I didn't have too much of a problem with how Rodgers acted other than he sounded like an immature kid... which he was when he joined the Pack as a 21 year old phenom. 

That comment kinda goes against the narrative that slipping to the end of the first round helped make the chip on his shoulder a little deeper. Maybe he felt he fell into their laps?

Herschel posted:

Interesting excerpts yesterday saying that Favre's time in Minnesota was marred by the fact he absolutely could not stand Coach Kickass. Apparently Childress also didn't like the fact Favre was getting the majority of the credit for the one season that kickass offense actually worked.  

I'm no fan of CKA, but he did get Favre under control to the point where he threw 7 interceptions in a season (his lowest before was 13) and he almost matched that in the infamous playoff game.  He probably deserved a lot of credit for that since Favre averaged 21 ints/year during the previous 4 years.

Anything in the excerpts about the NFC Championship game interception? That still might be the most important play in Packer history that didn't involve the Packers. If that doesn't happen, the Vikings advance to the Super Bowl and likely beat the Colts. CKA is a legend in Minnesota and TT/MM come under intense pressure because Favre outmaneuvered them to get to Minny. 12 months later Rodgers is the Super Bowl MVP and TT/MM look like geniuses.

 

I was finally able to stomach reading the Gunslinger article.  I think it puts many things that have happened since then into clearer focus.  There was a division in the locker room between Favre's guys and Rodgers' guys (I think we knew that but I didn't realize how deep that rift was).  I believe that rift became amplified when MM came in, who was clearly not a Favre guy like Sherman had been.  Then, when the retirement showdown occurred, MM and TT side with Rodgers.  Not only did Favre continue to carry that deep resentment with him as he changed teams, but Favre's guys who were still with the Packers carried it too.  Now, the mindset of players like Jennings and Driver makes a lot more sense (as well as some fawning fans of Favre who continue to have trouble accepting TT, MM, and Rodgers), while the younger players supported Rodgers and were able to move forward.  Favre's anger and childish behavior all stemmed from that moment when TT dared to draft Rodgers.  This is why countries going though a regime change execute members of the previous regime.   Because otherwise they go to the Vikings.

Last edited by Dr._Bob

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