Vikings vs. Packers
By carpenter5
@carpenter5 (6782)
United States
November 1, 2009 5:17pm CST
Today was the day that Brett Favre and Packers fans have been talking about for weeks. The first matchup between The Packers and Brett Favre in Green Bay since Favre signed a contract with Minnesota, and became their starting quarterback.
If you know me at all, you know that I'm a die hard Cowboys fan, so there's no love in my house for the Packers anyway, but what I saw from a huge majority of their fans today really turned me off of Packer football, and would have probably caused me to change allegiance, had I been a Green Bay follower.
When Brett Favre ran onto the Lambaugh field for the first time today, he was booed by fans who two short years ago thought he was God's gift to football. I have to say, I thought it was horrible sportsmanship, and just bad manners!
If Green Bay had simply released Favre to play for the Vikings last year, there would never have been the farce of him playing for New York and then having to announce his retirement, and then coming out of retirement.
Personally, I'm glad to see the old man still playing. It gives me hope that I can continue to do things that the world thinks I'm too old to do!
So what are your thoughts? Not on the retirement issue. This isn't a Favre bashing article. I want to know what you think about the Green Bay fans booing as he came out onto the field
2 people like this
7 responses
@solared (1207)
• United States
2 Nov 09
Them personally booing Farve was classless, he led them to the Super Bowl, and thats how they treat him, he was run out of town, he didn't wanna leave.
When you watch the post game interview you see the tears in his eyes, and his voice choking up, I thought he was gonna break down you can tell this affected him, I'm glad he shown up the Packers.
@AmbiePam (92871)
• United States
2 Nov 09
The Jets fans didn't even know how good they had it with Favre at the time. I mean the guy played hurt and no one knew it until this season when he was gone. I've always associated the NFL Packer fans and the St. Louis Cardinals fans as the classiest in sports, football and baseball respectively. But I can't say that for the Packers anymore...
1 person likes this
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
2 Nov 09
I completely agree with you about him being run out. It was very obvious that the administration wanted him GONE. I felt bad because the Vikings wanted him, and the Packers were being Butts about it. He had to retire from both the Packers and the Giants in order to keep Green Bay from suing him for Breach of Contract!
Tacky...Tacky...Tacky.
1 person likes this
@bounce58 (17387)
• Canada
1 Nov 09
I am currently watching the game right now. It is about 13:39 left of the 4th quarter. The Vikings are still ahead 24-20, but the Packers have had the momentum in the last quarter or so...
Anyway, I also didn't like what the Packer fans are doing right now. Considering that Farve was their main man for several years. I saw one fan with Farve's old jersey no. 4 and written at the back wad Benedict Arnold.
Minnesota has just scored another touch down, it's now 31-20. The old man is turning me into a fan.
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
1 Nov 09
Yeah, I'm watching too! There are a few fans with signs that say "Welcome back Brett". But I did see some fans with his number 4 printed on it with a Big Red line through it.
I have not liked Aaron Rodgers from the day he came into Green Bay. Not sure why...just something about him that rubs me the wrong way! I believe if Favre had stayed at Green Bay, he would have been forced to play back up and he's too good for that...Even at 40!
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
2 Nov 09
I'm playing Fantasy Football with my husband, sons and some of their friends. One of the guys has his team loaded with packer players. He was supposed to win, and ended up getting killed because Favre did so good! (He had the Packers defense too!)
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
3 Nov 09
I'm a wisconsinite and packer fan and I think the coaches let Brett go too early.. I don't think (obviously) that he wanted to retire, and why should he have to if he doesn't want to? He does look funny, to me, in a viking uniformbut Minnesota, if I'm remembering correctly is his home state.. so hey! live and let live, and cut people some slack is my motto.. Love Brett, always will, and also like Aaron Rogers.. Can I root for everyone? Hubby says packers need a better coach.
1 person likes this
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
3 Nov 09
I don't know much about the Packer's coach, but I do agree that they let Brett go earlier than they should. But was this a coaching decision or an adminstrative one? There has been some questioning among some that I'm playing fantasy football with that perhaps pushing Favre out was a concession that the owners made to Rodgers when they drafted him.
@happy6162 (3001)
• United States
2 Nov 09
I do like the Green Bay Packers they are my favorite team. I do though think what the fans did today was wrong. He was traded to Jets and then left them and retired. The coach for Vikings called Farve and ask him to come out of retirement I do not see anything wrong with him playing for the Vikings. They did say that he had a shoulder surgery about a year ago but he did not seem to be having any problems with the shoulder today. Even though the fans were wrong with what they did Green Bay Packers are still my favorite. They were just out played by the Vikings today but hoping next week they will win.
1 person likes this
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
3 Nov 09
ha! Are you certain you aren't my nephew? LOL This sounds like the same speech he gave me on Sunday afternoon after the game! In a way I can see how they felt. It would have been like Troy Aikman going to the Packers! I'm glad to see that some Packers fan still had class and didn't boo Favre though. I just thought that was totally useless. All that did was hurt him and his family.I can't imagine how his children felt hearing their dad getting booed in the city where they'd been born and raised!
@millertime (1394)
• United States
2 Nov 09
There were a lot of hard feelings involved in Favre leaving the Packers but he said several times he was going to retire. He even said it before he played his last year with them so a lot of the fans thought it was his idea. It only came out later that he said they were more or less forcing him out and he didn't really want to retire. Well, that wasn't what he said before, that's what he's saying after the fact. Was he forced out by bad management or was it that they got tired of him flip-flopping his decision during the off-season and screwing up their planning? Anyway, that's water under the bridge at this point.
The main reason that they booed him is that he's playing for the team that is their arch-rival. It wouldn't be any big deal if it was just about any other team. A lot of the fans feel betrayed because he went over to the team that is their most hated rival. I don't think it's that big a deal that they booed him for it. He'll live through it, all they did was make a little noise and it's probably not the first time he's ever heard boos. They have it out of their system now and probably won't bother the next time he shows up at Lambeau.
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
3 Nov 09
My question to you would be this: If he had said "They're trying to force me out" who would have believed it and how many would have simply thought he had his underwear in a wad and trying to get the pity of the Packers fans?
It reminds me alot of when Houston Nutt left Arkansas. I didn't want him to go, but I certainly would not have booed him when he entered Razorback stadium for the first time as the coach of Old Miss!
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
6 Nov 09
I really can too. I know that Favre seems to have alot of class. He has not said anything negative about the Packers that I've heard. I don't think he would have publicly admitted that he was being forced out even if that is the case. Everything is merely speculation at this point. I'm just going to enjoy watching him whiz the ball downfield and know that old doesn't equal washed up!
@millertime (1394)
• United States
4 Nov 09
Nobody knows for sure what would have happened but I definitely got the impression at the time he first talked about retiring, that he was doing it of his own accord. He was saying things like he was having a harder time getting himself up to the level of play that he needed to be coming from the off season, he wasn't sure he could still get to that level, etc. I felt he was feeling like he wanted to retire and he changed his mind in the off season and decided to come back.
Now, if he was telling management this, they have to start planning for his retirement and bring up his replacement. When he changes his mind, it delays the plan and puts his replacement on hold for another season. If he does this a second time, now it starts to become a problem. If you're the guy that's going to be his replacement, how many times would you want to plan on being the QB only to have it ripped away just before the season starts? How long would you stick around and put up with that? As management, how would you handle the problem? At some point you'd have to go with the new QB or you'll lose him to another team. He won't wait around forever with the clock ticking on his career. It's a hard decision to make but at some point, you have to commit.
Was Favre honestly considering retirement on his own and changed his mind (twice) or was management simply forcing him out because they thought he'd reached his peak and his ability was winding down? I think if he was definitely committed to keep playing and they were just forcing him out against his will, he could have said so up front. He simply could have stated that he wanted to keep playing for the Packers but management wanted to go with a new QB so he may have to go to another team to continue playing football. If he would have said that, the Packer fans would have been on his side and I think would have understood.
I don't really know which scenario is true, maybe a little of both, but I can see both sides.
1 person likes this
@SMkoking (33)
• United States
1 Nov 09
Brett Favre still has it, there is no question about it. The fact that he left the Packers for the Jets, now the Vikings is just absurd. I think he should have just stayed with the Packers for his career, and not made so many people second guess his thoughts. He is playing tremendous right now against the Packers, and looks no where close to the age of 40. As for the booing, I think it is completely appropriate, especially in Green Bay. I would have booed as loud as I could, as for the fact that Favre basically "kicked" Green Bay in the fact with the retirement issue.
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
1 Nov 09
See I disagree with the reasoning that Favre left Green Bay. It is no secret that the administration saw Aaron Rodgers coming in and felt that Favre was getting too old. I do not feel that someone of Favre's calibur should be a back up for anyone! I believe that had he stayed at Green Bay that this is exactly what would have happened.
I don't think he had any intentions of ever retiring, but had to go through the motions in order to play for the team he really wanted to be traded to in the first place!
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
3 Nov 09
Ok...I hope you won't think I'm hateful for this...but you see it's this way. I'm a die hard Cowboys fan...and quite frankly I love it when Green Bay gets beat by anyone! LOL
I know, my nephew says that I need to find a new team to root for, but it's one of the things I have left of my dad. Before he passed away in 2004, we always watched the Dallas game and then we'd call each other after the game and go into our "Armchair Quarterback" mode picking apart the game and deciding what we'd have done differently if we were Jimmy Johnson or Troy Aikman!
@AmbiePam (92871)
• United States
2 Nov 09
I just answered your previous discussion and mentioned the Viking/Packer game. If I had waited I would have seen this discussion first! I was a Packer fan when Brett Favre was with them. And when he retired I wished the Packers well, although I wouldn't have counted them as my favorite team (Cowboys and Colts are my favorites). When Favre wanted back in, I thought okay, does he not realize they have practiced all summer, changed their plays to suit Aaron Rodgers? So I wasn't upset they didn't let Favre come back. However, I also think Favre deserves to go wherever he wants to. So I was glad to see him go to the Vikings after his initial season as a Jet. Adrian Peterson, as you know a former star at OU, is on the Vikings, and I'm always in his corner. But I really didn't start to get behind Favre until I heard about all the bonfires about burning Favre memorabilia (sp?). I mean, football is his job. If some guy switched to a rival company, would all the clients of his former company have a hissy fit? I realize sports is a different animal. But when it comes down to it, Favre wanted to stay in Green Bay. I don't blame them for not letting him. But when given no other option, let the man be. It's his life, his legacy, and his business. That's what I wish Green Bay fans would understand.
1 person likes this
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
3 Nov 09
I still feel that Favre knew his days at Green Bay were numbered. In order to continue to play the game that he loved so much, he had to go somewhere else. I don't understand the concept of out with the old and in with the new when the old isn't broken. Perhaps they felt bad about all the money they were paying Aaron Rodgers to simply sit on the bench?