Favre saga messy

Intrigue aplenty in Green Bay

Radio talk shows and television sports chat shows of every description can never thank Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers enough. In a week that ordinarily is Siberian in its chilling effect - aside from the baseball All-Star Game, what else is there to hash out? - the now-he's-playing-now-he-isn't-now-he-is-now-he-isn't-now-he-is iconic quarterback and the team representing the smallest market in all of major league sport have provided a journalistic gift that just keeps on giving and giving.

The latest installment: Green Bay files tampering charges against the Minnesota Vikings.

According to Fox News and the Associated Press, a source familiar with the situation says the Packers feel it's a simple case of two plus two. "They feel like Favre had something [in place], and that's why he was so anxious to get this release all of a sudden," said the source.

Delving deeper, the source says examination of telephone records would indicate there has been "more than normal" contact between Favre and Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, a - you'll be shocked to hear this - former Green Bay assistant.

Yeah, well, whatever.

I don't know about you, but I was unmoved by that teary farewell press conference Favre held to announce his "retirement." He'd been guilty of crying retirement wolf at least twice before, so it seemed logical to me that we should postpone plans for the big farewell gala until the 2008 season started (or perhaps until, say, the Oct. 5 game against Atlanta in Week 5) and No. 4 was not taking the snaps.

As a general rule, I believe the best time for an athlete to retire is either when he is certifiably on top and has absolutely nothing to prove and no more reason to subject his body to the rigors of his sport (e.g., John Elway), or when, while he fully recognizes he's on the downside, he still has a little something left to give (any number of examples, but a good recent one would be Paul O'Neill, who walked away from the Yankees seven years ago following a 21-homer, 70-RBI, .789 OPS campaign capped by a productive postseason).

But Favre fit neither category. The Packers were not coming off a championship. Rather, they were coming off a very difficult loss in the NFC Championship game against the Giants, a game whose deciding play was a bad interception thrown by Favre. The Packers have a strong youth base. With minor tweaking, or no tweaking whatsoever, there was ample reason to believe they could become NFL champions in 2009.

In addition, Favre, 38, would not be leaving while he was barely functional, or anything like that. He was a far-above-average quarterback last season. Consider that in 2007, Brett Favre:

Threw for 4,155 yards, his most since 1998.

Had a quarterback rating of 95.7, his highest since 1996.

Had a completion percentage of 66.5, his highest ever.

It just did not seem logical to me that a man who loves football as Brett Favre loves football would walk away with his skills so sharp and his team so agonizingly close to being Super Bowl champion.

Now he does want back in, and here the story gets murky. The unthinkable has happened. The most popular player in the history of a historic franchise is involved in a hissing contest with the team in whose uniform he became both a secular saint in Wisconsin and a figure of national sports renown. It doesn't matter that he began his career in Atlanta. He is right there with Vince Lombardi as Mr. Packer. Favre vs. Green Bay is one sports confrontation no one ever thought we'd see.

The rest of us are stuck trying to read the tea leaves. Or cheese curd, if you will. If your franchise face wants to play, why wouldn't the Packers want him back, especially since general manager Ted Thompson insists the team did want him back as the starter until he was assured by Favre during a pilgrimage to Chez Favre in Kiln, Miss., last spring that he intended to remain a man of leisure? So, you say to yourself, what difference do a few months make?

In the absence of enlightening remarks from Mr. Thompson, the answer appears to be: a lot.

Let's now enter into the conversation the name of Aaron Rodgers, who was the team's first draft pick in 2005 and has three years' experience holding the clipboard while the all-time Iron Man QB continued to set records for durability. Ted Thompson now says the organization has committed to Aaron Rodgers as the starting QB in 2008.

This desire lies somewhere between genius and madness. Who among us knows which?

We have one small piece of evidence to suggest that it is not madness. Favre was forced to leave the Week 13 game against the Cowboys last season. Rodgers was 18 of 26 for 201 yards and one touchdown. In the face of a heavy rush, he also scrambled five times for 30 yards. Are we being asked to believe this snapshot of quarterback play is sufficient data to prove a team can casually reject the overtures of a future Hall of Famer with something left in the tank?

Yup. Apparently.

The question may be this: How good a quarterback do the Packers need? They have a very good offensive line. They have a developing receiving corps that led the league in YAC (yards after catch), the result, according to the indispensable Football Prospectus (which micromanages every play by every team, both offensive and defensive), of "spinning and juking to create big plays." They have a terrific young running back in Ryan Grant.

Football Prospectus readily acknowledges that all the above can be traced, in part, to the play of Brett Favre. It's true Favre regularly threw accurate passes, Grant's success had something to do with Favre's passing threat, and coach Mike McCarthy's inventive formations succeeded to some degree because of Favre's experience and leadership.

However . . .

"Offensively," concludes Football Prospectus, "all the pieces are in place for a smooth transition to a world without Favre." You think the Green Bay fans are buying that?

OK, so where will Favre be when the season opens? The answer may well be "wherever he wants to be." That's because, as the NFL Network's Adam Schefter tells us, Favre retains great leverage. If he gets reinstated (he's currently on the reserve-retired list) and he's traded somewhere he doesn't want to be, he can refuse to report, which will force the Packers to take him back. Would they make him be a $13 million clipboard-holder? "To carry Favre's salary, and all the distractions that come with it, would be an enormous financial and emotional burden for the Packers," Schefter says. "Thus, Green Bay would have to commit to keeping Favre or to trade him."

This is Brett Favre we're talking about. The 2007 Green Bay media guide devoted 27 pages to him. He has something of a following. So I think the word "untenable" would be an appropriate way to describe that situation.

I haven't mentioned that Favre's agent, Bus Cook, says this story will unfold at the pace of a chess match rather than a checkers match, or that Favre is scheduled to appear in Green Bay tomorrow night to introduce former teammate Frank Winters as a Packers Hall of Famer. I'm sure he can just stroll in and out unimpeded. It will be just another Saturday night in Green Bay. Of course.

So on behalf of all those radio guys, TV guys, dot.com guys, and, of course, old-fashioned newspaper guys, thanks, Brett. Beats trying to psychoanalyze Manny for the 1,039th time.

Bob Ryan can be reached at ryan@globe.com.