This image is still fresh in the minds of Packers fans
When Mark Murphy was asked on Thursday about retiring Brett Favre’s number, the team’s president and CEO replied, “Probably in a year or two. We want to do it at a time that’s meaningful to him.” Huh? Am I reading this correctly? Murphy wants to honor Favre “at a time that’s meaningful to him.” Hey Mark, how about honoring Favre at a time that won’t make Ted Thompson and hundreds of thousands of fans want to vomit! By my estimation, that would put the ceremony sometime around 2020.
Look, I’ll probably hold a grudge against Favre for longer than most. Maybe that’s because I was never a huge fan of his in the first place. I always rooted for the team, and never for a specific player. I cheered just as hard for Ed West as I did for Favre. I’m also of the belief that the organization doesn’t owe Favre anything. The Packers rescued him from oblivion and then paid him over $100 million. In return, he played his ass off every week and won a lot of games, including Super Bowl 31. I never thought either side owed the other a thing – except respect. And that’s where Favre falls short, and the reason I’m in no hurry to see his No. 4 placed alongside 3, 14, 15, 66 and 92.
As far as I know, Tony Canadeo, Don Hutson, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke and Reggie White never bashed the organization on television. As far as I know, none of those men ever manipulated their way onto the roster of a division rival with the expressed desire to stick it to the Pack. And as far as I know, none of those men ever called the GM of a division rival to give him tips on how to beat the Packers. Favre did all of those things, and probably plenty more that we don’t know about. To be honest, I don’t think his number deserves to be placed anywhere near those others, but that’s probably not realistic. At some point, No. 4 will be retired. It just shouldn’t be any time soon.
You betcha Michael! And don’t forget all his stupid INTs and always hinting the WR ran the wrong route. Funny how that stopped when he left. I’m with you 100%. In fact, I’ll go one step further and say that for his treasonous behavior in his last few years he doesn’t deserve to have his number retired. Packer HOF, yes. A lot of scoundrels get into HOFs. Ring of honor, no. Ring of honor should require class. Packer management is acting like they have Stockholm syndrome or abused spouse syndrome. Nobody how badly they are treated they are thinking of the next nice thing they can do for him. I’d much rather see Driver or Clifton up there than Favre. Someday I hope we see Woodson and Matthews up there. It will take another SB win.
He’s dead to me. He deserves the oblivion in which he lives right now as a man without a team. He did this to himself.
I don’t know what Murphy was thinking here. He seems awfully astute, but this is borderline silly. Perhaps he was just floating out a trial balloon to see how it was received. I’m guessing he sees now that it wasn’t a sentiment welcomed with open arms. How would it reflect well on anyone if Brent was booed at his own ceremony?
This is Rodgers’ time. He’s earned it, and he deserves to play out his career without the shadow of this petulant predecessor hanging over him. When Rodgers, McCarthy, Thompson, et al have moved on, then perhaps, PERHAPS they could do this. Until then, he can rot in the swamp where he belongs.
You guys talk about class, your comment want to make me puke! I feel sorry for your estranged wife if a divorce is in your future.
If my ex-wife gets paid 100 million dollars to sleep around with other guys and then complains about it I think the sentiment stands.
I figured I might as well add to the stack of stupid that is the original comment.
Brent favre is an overall asshole he betrayed all his fans his team/teammates and worst of all his wife who is a recovering cancer survivor. I think they should crap on his jersey not retire it.
Count me among those in no rush to formally retire Favre’s number. I think the biggest thing that disgusts fans is Favre was revealed as a fraud. Most everything we were led to believe about Favre was not true. That type of betrayal takes years and years to forgive and really makes you question how you would have viewed Favre’s accomplishments if you knew who he really was.
You are right, Favre does not deserve to be next to those names in the Ring of Honor because he is not honorable. I would say they can informally retire the number by not issuing it to anyone but I think I can live a full life never seeing #4 formally retired.
I’ll be fine with retiring Favre’s number on the same day he approaches the organization with a desire to mend fences. The ball is still in his court as far as I’m concerned.
I’m among the wait till 2020 0r 2040 first! Favre brought a lot of joy in the same way all Packer Players did but he also demonstrated what a classless POS he is and I’ll leave to BFF fanclub to defend him. I have about 10 miles of video tape to prove what a small time (in games that count) player he really was!!
I’d retire it this season, see if the bastard has the balls to show up. He CLEARLY miscalculated how Packers fans would respond to him when this BS first started. So he can either show and be booed relentlessly, or not show and make himself out to be a bigger asshole than he already is. It’s a lose-lose for him, which is more of a reason to do it now.
If it were REALLY up to me, I’d do it at the Vikings game and have Jen Sterger, Brad Childress, and Ted Thompson as the presenters. Chilly could pick him up from the airport in drag.
You should write screenplays. That is hilarious!
Besides being the QB who was on a winning SB team, what has he really done to deserve his number being retired? IMO nothing. Yes he was on teams that were more or less successful after decades of being in the basement of the NFL. How much was that his doing and how much was that success Wolfs ability to bring in players? IMO R. White was far more important to the Packer teams and the Packer turnaround than Favre ever was! Does Favre deserve to be in the Packer hall of fame? Yes. Does Favre deserve to be in the NFL hall of fame? Probably. Does Favre deserve to have his number retired? NO! Was Favre exiting to watch? Yes! As much for his ability to pull a win out of his butt as his ability to throw an interception. Through all his years of playing for the Packers, in clutch situations, my mantra was (repeated over and over) “Please don’t throw an interception”! Should a player have his number retired that fans would constantly pray “Please don’t throw an interception”? IMO No.
I’m with you, If favre comes to the Packers, then maybe……..But the Packers shouldnt go to favre…Ps, bret favre is no Aaron Rodgers!
I used to think it was a given that BF’s number had to be retired. Now, thanks to your article and one by Brian Carriveau I’m dead set against it. Character matters and BF sullied his for all the reasons already mentioned. In the storied history of the Packers to have only 5 numbers retired speaks to the specialness of the honor and the thought that there would be any more than a smattering of boos says now is not the time, if ever.
Besides, his number is already up on Lambeau Field…Gate # 4.
Will somebody answer this? Why didn’t the Packer organization handle Favre the way the Colts handled Peyton Manning? Now, that was class. They cut him in plenty of time for him to go to where he wanted to go. I think the Packers realize they made that mistake and now are trying to make up for it. I think we, as fans of the game, should try to remember Favre as what he was on the field and what he brought to the game. The only people that are benefiting from the ‘so called’ Favre controversy are the media! Amen!
Because favre retired. Why you people can’t understand this colossal difference is beyond me. Then he told McCarthy and Thompson he wanted to return, and they were going to welcome him back with open arms. THEN he changed his mind again and said he wanted to stay retired. And then finally he tried to force his way back onto the team. The Packers clearly were ready to move on without him, and had he not acted like a complete jackass, they probably would have been much more accommodating. favre goes on Greta Van Susteren’s show and bashes Thompson, tells her that Thompson should have acquired Moss(which was favre’s biggest problem – he ran the team under Sherman. He forgot he was an employee of the Green Bay Packers, and Thompson and McCarthy were his bosses, not the other way around), and after this you think they should have let him go wherever he wanted with no compensation? What planet are you from? Manning never said he wanted to quit, never threw the Colts under the bus, and when it became clear they were going to draft Luck and move on, both Manning AND the Colts handled the situation with class. favre handled his situation like a classless, petulant child, and in return he got what he deserved. Anyone with a functioning brain knows that his phony retirement and everything that came after it was aimed at leaving the Packers because Thompson wouldn’t give in to favre’s demands, and to make Thompson look bad. Well, favre became a laughingstock, got Mangini and Childress fired, humiliated himself and his family with his sexting(talk about class – sexually harassing team masseuses and sending pictures of your penis to a team sideline reporter while your breast cancer surviving wife is clueless), and overall because a running joke to the entire sports world, save for morons like Skip Bayless and Jason Whitlock, while the Packers won a Super Bowl with the best QB in football, who also racked up something favre never had – a Super Bowl MVP. Checkmate, game over, Thompson and the Packers win, and favre destroys a legacy 16 years in the making in less than three. “Class”.
Never ceases to amaze me the lengths some will go to to delude themselves.
Apparently delusion is in the eye of the beholder. I agree with every word Steve wrote. And I think the majority of Packer fans do as well. As Casey Stengel always said, you can look it up, it’s all true.
“You’re dead to me now.” as Michael Corleone looks out the window and Fredo sits crying, comes to mind every time I think of that treacherous b^$#*!@. I can’t stand him. I’d push him down if I was ever in a room with him.
Michael Rodney, I commission you to write the “tell all” book about the Packer’s Benedict Arnold.
They have to retire his number. They’ve been saying they are going to do it for 13 years ever since Reggie White retired for the first time. How do you people think Farve got such a big head?
That was another thing the Packers brass botched. I’ll always remember the Sunday night game in 99 when Reggie showed up in a suit and tie and Harlan proclaimed that “nobody would wear 92 on his watch”. It was a joke. Then the next year Reggie was kicking the Packers ass as a member of the Panthers.
If the Packers were smart they would keep their mouths shut about this kinda crap.
I think tney need do it right after he is inducted into the hall of fame which would be I believe 2016 so they can do the jersey and the ring of honor both at the same time and get it over with. With Reggie they did it stupid again by doing the jersey in the 05 opener and the ring of honor in the 06 opener.
Yeah, Harlan said nobody would wear 92 on his watch. Did you think that applied to other teams? Reggie was “kicking the Packers ass”? Yeah, Carolina won the game, but White was a non-factor. He recorded the final two sacks of his career three weeks earlier against the rams. I’d say another one of favre’s vintage three interception games kicked the Packer’s ass more than anything that Monday night. “Mr. Clutch” choking in prime time once again…SHOCKING.
Yeah you have a point about the Panthers game…
But this wouldn’t even be an issue if the Packers had handled these situations properly. Jersey retirements should only be discussed for RETIRED PLAYERS. Just as the Hall of Fame is only for RETIRED PLAYERS AND COACHES. If you want to retire a number, don’t issue it anymore, and if anyone asks, DON’T COMMENT! Then you can retire it whenever you want. The Ring of Honor and retiring jerseys are supreme honors and they are only cheapened when they are blabbed to the media when players are still playing. Even more so when they are used as part of a pathetic bribe to keep players retired.
The same can be said for moronic policy of naming streets by the city of Green Bay after coaches and players that are NOT RETIRED. Hell, if I had a street named after me for a career accomplishment before my career was over I would walk around like my sh** doesn’t stink too! Holmgren even had the nerve to whine because he wanted a “street” or “avenue” instead of “way”. At least MM had the sense to shoot down the idea last year for him.
I’d say everyone had a hand in creating the monster that is BLF. Including the ex worshipers turned haters. You know who you are…
White didn’t play in ’99, how were the Packers supposed to know he was going to come out of retirement in 2000 and play for the Panthers? He was retired at the time, just like favre is retired(for) now. They don’t need to retire favre’s number – who would want it now? I won’t respond to the rest of your rant, because you’re creating arguments with yourself that weren’t brought up by anyone else, which is essentially you grasping at straws.
There are no ex-worshipers turned haters, there are REAL Packers fans who supported him when he was a member of the team, and the actual worshipers who masqueraded as Packers fans because of their adoration of him. If you base your allegiance on the current whereabouts of a hillbilly on a 1930′s style barnstorming tour around the NFL, then you’re a fan of the hillbilly. If you support your team no matter who the QB is, then you’re a fan of the team. Pretty basic stuff here pal.
Because White changed his mind about retirement before. He originally announced he was gonna retire right after the 97 season but quickly changed his mind after coaxing from Holmgren. They should have been prepared for it. In the end he retired 3 times (like Farve)…BTW I am a fan of the Packers first and foremost. That is why look for them to lead in these decisions. I haven’t even gotten into the whole Wolf/Holmgren spat and I won’t even go there. We would have seen a much more disciplined Farve in the second half of his career had Wolf shared with Holmgren that he planned to retire in 2 years after the 98 season. And likely more Lombardi Trophys.
Michael Rodney, I totally agree with everything you said in this article. Favre is owed nothing.
Couldn’t agree more with the article. Favre destroyed his own “legacy” by acting like a spoiled little baby. The Green Bay Packers and the fans put this guy up on a pedestal and showered him with praise, love and admiration. He knew exactly what he was doing when his time in Green Bay came to an end. From the comments through media sources, to offering tips to division rivals, to playing for the Vikings, to… Hell, why rehash it? The guys is a bonafide self-centered douchebag. Nobody can take away what he accomplished on the field. For that, his number should be retired. But when it does, he should and will get some “boos” from the crowd at Lambeau. It won’t matter if it’s next year or 20 years from now. Wait and see how this clown will act when he enters the HOF. When’s the right time to retire his jersey? If it was my decision, I wouldn’t even consider it until McCarthy and Thompson have left the organization. Those two took a ton of heat from Favre and his boot lickers and guess what? They were absolutely correct to send Brent down the road. Enjoy your tractor superstar.
When Thompson and McCarthy leave the organization, The Packers will be my second favorite team again. Players careers end. Thompson and McCarthy’s decision was a no-brainer. But what they did to him was a sentence to hell. He didn’t deserve that.
Guys, look what McNabb is going through now, it is hard for these players to quit. Management should be smart enough to understand that!
A message for McCarthy: I hope Goodell comes down with a rule to penalize a team who’s coach is constantly lobbying the officials.
Tom,
Sherman actually was the one that gave Faver a big head and allowed him to have control. Enter Thomson and McCarthy both of whom have enough courage and don’t allow prima donna’s like Faver to control the Packers direction and future. If Sherman would have had a pair, I doubt that it would have come to the conclusion it did. IMO Faver’s own actions precipitated the result at the end of his tenure with the Packers because the team now has strong management.
Bubba,
It could have gone either way. Assume Favre did get Moss, how many more Super Bowl wins would the Packers have had? Back to Peyton Manning, he had control of the Colts for a long time, and they didn’t do too bad. As far as Packers strong management, it goes beyond Thompson and McCarthy. They will always have strong management.
favre DID get Moss in 2010, look how well that worked out – for both of them. You know what they say about assuming. In a combined 33 years in the league, favre and Moss have a combined ONE Super Bowl title.
After going on Greta Van Susteren’s show and throwing the organization that made him rich and famous beyond his wildest moonshine induced dreams under the bus, he got EXACTLY what he deserved. On top of that, there wasn’t a great desire for the services of a soon to be 39 year old cancer, who needed special treatment(ie private locker/shower), and had one good season out of the last three. New England had Brady, Buffalo was counting on Trent Edwards, the entire AFC North was set, as was the AFC South. Kansas City had a need. Miami had a need. The Jets thought they had a need(in reality the player they released to make room for brINT was MUCH better in ’08 than lord favre himself). He wasn’t getting traded to the NFC. Unfortunately, sycophants never look at the whole picture, and in this case you just assume that every other team in the league was ready to roll out the red carpet for the hillbilly, and that just wasn’t the case.
WOw… You are utterly clueless! Thompson and McCarthy were completely upfront w/ Favre from the beginning! He is the one who tried to stick the shaft at them. ANd he did a pretty good job of it too… When he first mentioned 3 wks after his “retirement” presser, they were willing to give him back the job. Then he shafted them, by changing his mind! That shows a complete lack of committment to the TEAM! Why the hell would they then turn around and give him the job in June at the expense of losing Rodgers?! Going on Grotesqua was just another shot at the organization that MADE favre. Telling Det how to beat the Packers, going to Minn all in an attempt to “stick it to Thompson” makes it all the more damning! Favre got everything he deserved, and it was all his own creation!
Only a complete moron would think otherwise!
It’s the Green Bay Packers……favre was simply 1 0f many, but he thought it was all about him…You would think that after 16 years in Titletown the guy would have know better…….Wow…That might explain all of the (stupid) picks too…Hmmm..
Good Grief Tom, if you lay it on any more thick I will start to think you have a crush on Brett. Since you seem to be his personal fluffer, you should probably do a better job primping his junk before he texts it to sideline reporters. Damn thing looked like an old horse nobody brushes anymore.
After reading all of these comments it looks like I am alone in my opinion.
Contrary to what disgruntled fans would like to think now, Brett Favre was one of the greatest QB’s in NFL history. His 3 MVP’s & his games played streak may never be matched. He was statistically among the best players during his career and he was a Super Bowl winning QB. Add to that the Green Bay revival in the 90′s and the way he played the game. Based on his play ON THE FIELD he deserves to be honored by the Packers.
OFF THE FIELD he appears to be a fraud. IMO he was completely wrong in every way during his exit from Green Bay and he let petty anger ruin what was a fairy tale relationship with the Packers fan base. He will never get that relationship back and IMO he doesn’t deserve to.
Having said that, IMO the Packers are doing the right thing. Clearly his ON THE FIELD accomplishments warrant the honor so it comes down to how much he should pay for being a huge jerk. I think he has lost enough and the Packers should bury the hatchet. I think it’s in the Packers best interest from a P.R. perspective and a player relations perspective to move forward.
How many of the 2.5 MVP’s he received were earned and how many were based primarily on his being Favre?
The subject of Favre, his retirement(s) and subsequent trade are divisive at best among Packer fans. IMO as time goes by, and the rose colored glasses come off, there will be fewer and fewer people who believe that he should have his number retired.
IMO he deserved all 2.5. Here are his stats and league ranking for each of those seasons, along with the team results (which do matter for a QB in MVP voting).
1995: 4,413 yards (led the league) – 38 TDs(1st) – 99.5 QBR(2nd) – 13 INTs (15th most) – (11 – 5 record / lost NFC championship game)
1996: 3,899 yards (4th in the league) – 39 TDs(1st) – 95.8 QBR(2nd) – 13 INTs(20st most) – (13 – 3 record / Superbowl Champs)
1997: 3,867 yards (2nd in the league) – 35 TDs(1st) – 92.6 QBR(3rd) – 16 INTs(3rd most) – (13 – 3 record / lost in Superbowl)
While I agree that he is now a divisive figure in Green Bay and that the bad feeling is entirely his fault, I disagree that he wasn’t a great player. IMO he was a great one – too bad he was such a disappointment as a person.
Even as a player only – too many INTs for my taste and too many chokes in big games. Bottom-line, a 2.5 MVP surrounded by a great team should have had more than two SB appearances and one SB win.
No, Troy, that’s not the case. I just don’t like lynch mobs set off Michael Rodney. Oh, and it seems to me your the expert on jock junk. I haven’t seen any of the pictures, nor do I intend to check it out.
JoeMadison – His three MVP’s may never be challenged? Well it’s really two and a half, considering the last one was shared with Barry Sanders, but Peyton Manning has four. A little research goes a long way.
You’re completely correct. I totally forgot about Manning passing him, I guess I am getting old. Anyway, IMO it doesn’t change the main point that his on the field accomplishments are very impressive. Thanks again for correcting me.
Retiring his number would be a slam dunk had he actually retired back in March 2008. So the question is, did he do enough damage in the next 3 years to have that honor taken away? I think he did, but I can certainly see the other side. The only thing I know for certain is that there should be no ceremony held while Ted and Mike are still working for the Packers.
I believe Henry was referring to, “Tom”, not “Steve”.
Steve nailed it.
I’m of the opinion Favre’s number should NEVER be retired. In fact, I think they should make the tryout camp invitee least likely to get asked back to wear it each and every year sort of as a scarlet letter.
Aaron Rodgers has been subjected to enough Favre drama… Retire Aaron’s number, first, after he departs, and then get around to Brett’s if you’re actually going to do it at all.
Players, coaches, and GM’s come and go. A Green Bay Packers fan does not come and go. What Farve the traitor fails to get, is that when he took a big crap on the organization, he really crapped on me. I will never forgive him for what he did, nor will I forgive all the purple #4 jersey wearing morons that do not get the concept of loyalty. Just because he is inducted into the NFL HOF does not mean he belongs up on the ring. Leave the POS in Miss. where the traitor belongs. Rodgers career in the end, will easily shadow the career of the all time interception record holder. Leave space on the ring, because I think Rodgers will be more deserved when the time comes.
Who in the hell is gonna WANT to wear #4? I say let him fade into oblivion. He is almost there. Really, the only time I ever talk bout him is when he shows up on pages like this or when a fan from another team tells me how “WE” owe him so much. Then I have to give the tutorial of how they flew to MISS. to make sure he didn’t want to return, he assured them he didn’t, they moved on, and how the inflated melon he uses as a brain decided to return. only to find a younger, more talented, and let’s be honest more attractive player in his spot. Brett- you snooze, you lose. And if ever I saw a loser……
Favre is a HOFer. Also, I hate him. One doesn’t have to over lay the other. I can see that statistically Favre is in the range where HOFers live. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a Grade-A jack***.
I’ve written plenty on boards primarily against those who either say I’m not a “true” Packer fan because I have had enough of Favre or they are running down the rest of the Packers over Favre’s tenure to justify the lofty pedestal on which he was put. And many times, in some twisted way, both at the same time – someone running the team down to maintain the Favre Narrative and when I come to defend the team then I’M to one who is not a “true fan” of the team! I guess so many people poured their fandom exclusively into Favre so there is no possible way to recognize anything about 1992-2007 without it being about only him. And so in their warped world Favre IS the team and vice versa. Which is pretty pathetic.
Without diving deeply into the fact that Favre played like Jeff George’s dimwitted younger brother the first three years, then did play like Elway’s and Young’s love child for three years, then like Tony Romo (as in not a compliment) for the last decade, Favre in the end is, again, a HOFer. But just like all other HOFers who were under contract – even the many HOFers who were BETTER than Favre – faced the same reality. The team would eventually be faced with “evolving” (a word used by Favre himself) beyond the star; time marches on, the Packers didn’t invent that reality to persecute Favre. And because time moves on and teams have a going concern that is different than individual players, EVEN THE STARS, it creates a rather simple reality for those players under a contract. A) play for the team as designed by those paid to design it, B) retire, C) work out a trade to a mutually acceptable team.
Those three options have applied to even the greats. Even Montana had to accept a trade. But in Favre’s case he added options D) and E) – either to be the de facto GM of the team to design his way (D) or, barring that, to snap his fingers and have his contract disappear in a puff of smoke (E). He wanted to dictate who the coach was supposed to be (Sherman or Mariucci) or how to spend the cash reserves (over spending for contract expiring buddies or brokering free agent deals to be rubber stamped). Even in retirement it appears Favre was supposed to have final sign-off on the draft lest “doors close” on him. If he wasn’t given that purview then he was to be able to walk unfettered to where ever he wanted.
So WHY this special treatment? And why are there so many people who are so conditioned to think that Favre and ONLY FAVRE was supposed to have these special rights? Was his HOF caliber career so much superior to everyone else’s in Canton? Hardly. And yet from the time of that “insulting, door closing” draft Favre did everything that he could to jerry rig a release. But it just wasn’t going to happen. All there ever was was A, B, or C. But that didn’t prevent him from pretty much burning his legacy as he fumed over not have option D or E handed to him on a silver platter. All the Packers did was what any team in the same situation would do. No team would trade him to where ever he wanted to go (particularly a division rival) or simply let him walk there for nothing (the other GM’s in the league would have put a hit out on Thompson if he had).
And that is about the sum of it – the people who have hoisted Favre on to such a high pedestal, have to run the team down to justify it, and from that pedestal Favre was supposed to get special options that no other NFL HOFer got, nor even most of the greats from other sports. If Favre didn’t want to play for the Packers but did want to continue his career, all there was was a trade to a mutually agreeable team that wanted him. And that was it. And he deserved no more than that. But because he thought he did he burned his legacy in an attempt to force one. And then he was so enraged that revenge was to only option.
And yet there are still so many who will point their quivering fingers at everyone else who sees the simple reality of the three options. It just makes it that much more annoying when they resort to busting out how great Favre supposedly was and how he saved the franchise single handedly and all the rest, and run the rest of the team down to make it all work out. Favre was somewhere between Jim Kelly and Dan Fouts as far as maximum quality, but he did play for a long, long time. But he wasn’t particularly championshippy and in no way was on some ethereal plain on which he got singularly special treatment at that inevitable team “evolving” time frame. Favre’s conundrum over option A, B, or C was ANY different that anyone else’s – Staubach’s or Fouts’ or Kelly’s or Aikman’s or Sanders’ or Faulk’s or Warner’s or Young’s or Montana’s. He wasn’t THAT special. And the desire for fans to honor a player are delicate and secondary to team glory. If you’re going to spend 6 years blaring on and on about how special you’re supposed to be, patience runs out. And now all that’s left are the deluded who carry on the battle cry about how singularly special Favre was and how poorly he was treated by not having special option D and E.