Enough Brett Favre talk already!

As a sports fan, I've been inundated with the story about Green Bay Packers QB Brett Favre.

This despite the fact that we're in the middle of baseball season....a day away from their annual All-Star game.

But the NFL-crazed sports media insist that pro football is the #1 sport in America, and they need to keep it on the front page of the papers and the lead story on the various TV and radio sports shows, so we're saddled with Favre, whether we care or not.

Do I care? What does it sound like?

But to be fair, it's not so much the NFL that is keeping the flames of this story burning...unfortunately, it's Brett Favre himself, in an attempt to spin this story to keep his carefully cultivated image as the quintessential Packer, competitor, team man, and great quarterback intact.

What's the matter, John? Don't you respect the accomplishments and abilities of one of the best NFL quarterbacks of this generation?

Let me make myself clear on that point. I absolutely respect Favre for his fine career, his physical prowess, and his track record as one of the NFL's better quarterbacks. No one can argue with that.

What I can argue with is the set of myths that have developed around Favre in recent years.

Favre did not put the Green Bay Packers franchise on the map. They were among the league's best teams in the 1930s and 1940s, with names like Don Hutson and Curly Lambeau prominent in that tradition. It is Lambeau who Green Bay's home football field is named for.

And then, in the late 1950s, the great Vince Lombardi assumed control of the Packers, and made that franchise synonymous with excellence in football....to the extent that many fans to this day(yes, including me)feel that those great Packer teams were among the finest football teams to ever take the field. It was during this era that the truly greatest Packer quarterback ever, Bart Starr, led the Packers during those successful salad years, so to speak.

Now to be fair, the franchise had fallen into a decline phase when Favre joined the team from the Atlanta Falcons in the 1990s...and he did lead them to one Super Bowl title in 1997. And during the majority of that time, Favre was among the NFL's leading passers, even if the Packers didn't win another Super Bowl.

But time takes its' toll on all of us, and in recent years, Favre showed an increasing inclination to force his passes, and as a result, threw an alarming 36 interceptions in 2006. This began an annual ritual where Favre and the fans would wonder aloud whether it might be time for Favre to step down and call it a career.

Each year from then on, the football media would print articles as to whether Favre would retire or not. Favre never tried to quash that talk, and my feeling is that he didn't do so because he enjoyed the attention, and the subsequent discussions would nourish a legacy that he and his fans would nurture at every opportunity. I don't know that that's what he wanted, but from his actions it certainly appeared so.

Last year, the Packers posted an NFC best 13-3 record, and fell one game short of a Super Bowl, losing to the eventual champion New York Giants on a freezing afternoon in Green Bay. The Giants clinched their come-from behind win on a late interception of Favre by Cory Webster, and it seemed to not a few observers that Favre was rattled by the cold, and a strong Giants pass rush.

The Packers have always known that a Favre retirement might be imminent at any time during the last three seasons, and Favre did nothing to discourage that impression...in fact, he always inferred that that was a possibility. To prepare for that day, two years ago the Packers drafted highly touted Cal QB Aaron Rodgers in the first round. Rodgers never had much of a chance to show what he might do, because Favre insisted on starting every game to pad his record for starting in consecutive football games, regardless of their importance or his physical condition. In other words, even if Favre had small injuries, he would always at least start each game.

In one game though, Favre was having one of his worst games in his career in Dallas against the Cowboys when he was injured, and Rodgers had to come in and replace him. Rodgers was outstanding in nearly leading Green Bay to a come from behind victory...but unfortunately, Dallas hung on to win. Rodgers' performance assured the Packers that Rodgers had the ability to run the team should he have to.

Running a major league sports team is a full-time, 12 month a year operation. And again the talk of Favre retiring became a topic in Green Bay. The Packers asked Favre this past March to inform them of his plans. After all, to make the moves necessary to prepare a team for a coming season, they're not able to wait until training camp to make those moves...there's no time or way.

So, in a press conference in March, a teary-eyed Favre told the Packers and the public that he was finally going to call it a career. Assured that this was his decision, the Packers drafted a couple of good young college quarterbacks to increase their depth at the position, and their talent.

Now, as can be expected from a longtime athlete accustomed to success and the notoriety gained by his career, Favre is understandably having second thoughts about his decision, and has indicated his desire to return.

But the team is not the Brett Favre Packers, it's the Green Bay Packers. The organization made the moves it did this spring based on what Favre told them and the rest of the world at his March press conference. Does Favre actually expect them to just pre-empt their plans to accommodate his personal wishes? This is the "ultimate team player"? I don't think so.

I understand completely if Favre wishes to keep playing football...if playing for the Packers is what he loves most, I can see why he is apparently having the regrets he is about his decision.

But he has to realize this is a world of adults, and not kids on a playground. If he wants the Packers to realize that he might want to change his mind, he has to be grown up enough to realize the Packers have the right to decide whether they want him to keep playing for their team. Favre can't have it both ways.

Tonight with Greta Van Susteren, Favre claims that the Packers pressured him into an early decision about his future, claiming also that he said in that press conference, "I can still play". Favre said no such thing. The overwhelming impression he gave in that press conference was that he was retiring, however reluctantly, and that the Packers could go on without him.

Now, Favre is trying to play the media for sympathy, and manipulate public opinion into putting pressure on the Packers to allow him to come to camp again as their #1 quarterback.

I find this most disingenuous, and all too typical of ego and pride driven athletes in this day and age. If Favre is all about sport's best values, why won't he take responsibility for his words and decisions, instead of trying to make himself the issue and putting the team he claims to love so much in an awkward position?

Would Bart Starr...or any Packer during the Lombardi era...do anything like this? No.

If Favre is what his fans and the majority of the sports media claim he is, he'll put the Green Bay Packers' interests first and proceed accordingly, accepting responsibility for his behavior and moving on from there.

This story doesn't deserve the kind of attention it's been getting.

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