The calm before the decision
Posted by Matt Field | Posted in NFL | Posted on 02-16-2010
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It’s quiet. Too quiet.
Since the Monday following the New Orleans Saints’ win in Super Bowl XLIV, I have been cautious during my travels through National Football League news.
Sure, the Super Bowl after-party in New Orleans is probably still raging in certain quarters, but with the NFL Draft and free agency right around the corner, the Brett Favre speculation is lurking, ready to strike.
It’s kind of like the scene from Aliens where the marines are in the alien nest, but instead of a horde of scary monsters ready to jump out, it’s a flood of reports, rumor and speculation. All in all, the latter is far worse than the former, save for the exploding chest stuff.
The Vikings have made their position clear and Rick Spielman, Vice President of player personnel, went on the record telling the Minneapolis Star-Tribune the team would “love to have Brett Favre back for another year.”
Okay, a no-brainer there as Favre is still the Vikes’ best option at QB by a wide margin. The last campaign might not have ended the way the old man wanted, but he proved beyond any reasonable doubt he can still play. Favre was great, better than expected and finished up the regular season with 4,202 yards passing (ninth in NFL), a 68.4 completion percentage (third), 33 touchdowns (tied for second) and maybe most important, only seven interceptions.
The Purple really agreed with him.
While the Vikings did not win the Super Bowl, they were knocked out by the eventual champs in a very sloppy game that could have gone either way. They were close…real close.
In addition, Favre loved his time in Minnesota. He posted the following lines as part of a statement on his website;
“And to the fans – those in Minnesota, in Wisconsin, and across the country – I want to express my heartfelt thanks for all of the support and goodwill that you’ve shown me, Deanna, and the girls throughout the season. It’s truly humbling to know that so many of you are pulling for us.
Regardless of what the future holds, I want everyone to know that I will cherish the memories of the past year for the rest of my life.”
With the stats, promising playoff drive and a great big case of like from both sides, another year seems a perfect fit; all he should need to do is decide on a method of letting the world know. He has a lot of options; Twitter, texts to well-known NFL Insiders, a post on his website, full-page ad in USA Today, sky writing, Greta Van Susteren. Just pick the method - playing or not playing should be the easy part.
Or is it?
As has been the case with the Favre Saga of the past few seasons, the answer is a resounding “maybe.”
Let’s face facts – he’s getting on in years and football is a tough sport. He’s endured a lifetime of knocks and big hits. His body might be telling him it’s time to go and his mind is undoubtedly weary of another punishing season.
The old man is taking his time to make a decision. Does he have the right to do that? Of course. It’s just that although he has buckets of time, the team does not. As stated above, the Vikings are close and the trouble with being close in pro sports stems from the fact it doesn’t always last long.
If he isn’t going to play, the Vikings need to find a starting quarterback that can give them at least some of the things Favre did and that means one of five things:
- Trade: engineering a deal for high level QB could take some time to pull off
- Free Agency: Chad Pennington or Daunte Culpepper anyone?
- Tarvaris Jackson: He’s an RFA and will undoubtedly be re-signed, but if they didn’t think he was good enough before last season, would they be sold on him now?
- Draft: chances of getting a rookie who can lead you deep seemed so unlikely just a few short seasons ago, but Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez mean it’s a possibility
- Jeff George: yes he’s older than Favre, but he hasn’t played quite as much so he’s still young-ish
Not wonderful options, but if Favre is going to call it quits Minnesota will need to act.
So there it is - the situation in a nutshell. Now we want your thoughts. What do you think Favre will do?
