As many of you know, Brett Farve now wants to "un-retire" and play football again. So much so, that he even asked the Packers for his release so he can sign on elsewhere. Now to me, this is starting to deteriorate into one of those things where everyone is nice to each other for as long as they can be and then their true colors show through.
In this instance, the Packers have been very gracious. When Farve couldn't make up his mind last year about whether he wanted to retire or continue to play, they waited very patiently for him to decide without saying a word (at least publicly), eventhough I'm sure they would have loved for him to have made his decision sooner than he did (dragging it out through the off-season). Certainly there must have been some consternation about his fence sitting when you consider that, with all due respect to Farve, there is a business side to football (or is it a football side to business?) and that business side involves making decisions about player personnel, i.e., the drafting of players, cap issues, etc. Farves' delay in making his decision last year almost certainly put their draft strategy in jeopardy if it didn't actually determine who they drafted.
So when he did come back to play his final season, the Packers were good sports. But its not like they were doing him a favor. The guy could still play and they were a better team with him in the line up. He got them to the championship game, only to lose to the Giants. When he tried to pull the same antics again this year, again they were gracious because they could afford to be.
Fave, feeling the pressure/responsibility of an elongated decision making process from the prior season, was much quicker to decide this year. And that decision was to retire. It was the right decision as far as the viewing public was concerned. Farve was following the rules -- aging superstar realizes on his own, that its time to retire and end a glorious career. Then the team he plays for gets to sing his accolades, praise him for his contribution to the team. He goes off into the sunset and his legacy lives forever. Everyone looks like the good guys.
But now the "aging superstar" is not playing by the rules. He's not following the script. Farve is upsetting the storyline and the Packers are forced to play their hand. No, they're not the evil empire, but from a public opinion perspective, they could come off looking bad if things don't play out right. Already a week into this and they not only told him the organization has moved on, but they're also not letting him out of his contract. And rightfully so. Its a public relations nightmare, but at the end of the day, there's no way the Pack could allow Farve to be free to sign elsewhere. The;yr not going to allow him to sign with any team in the conference, let alone their own division. Farve's only chance of playing this season is if he allows them to trade him to the AFC. That's if the Packers are even inclined to trade him at all. On the other hand, if they keep him, they have to pay him $12 million, which I'm sure they weren't planning for. So who knows how his salary effects their salary cap. Even if they take him back, they said he would have to be in a reduced role, such as a backup QB. Can they afford to keep a backup QB at $12 million? I don't think so. So we have a standoff. Depending on how badly Farve wants to play, it could potentially get very ugly. Now, Farve is no angel in this situation either. He took forever to make his decision last season, but he was a great player and he deserved the slack to make that decision. But now he comes off as most modern athletes do--a spoiled arrogant brat whose sense of entitlement is so great he is willing to put the team that he has served for so many years into chaos, not to mention the risk of tarnishing his own legacy, for the sake of squeezing out one or two more years of football. And really c'mon, for what purpose? Because he can't get over himself? He can't see that there's nothing left to accomplish? Everyone already acknowledges that he is among (if not considered the) greatest QB's to ever play the game. Isn't that enough? And so, the gloves are off.
No comments:
Post a Comment