Favre Says No to Vikings
Kristian Wiles
July 29, 2009
Posted under Minnesota Vikings
After retiring from the Jets, going through surgery in May to alleviate a torn bicep tendon, and flirting with the Vikings in their very public attempt to court the star QB, Brett Favre said no to Minnesota and to Brad Childress. I would be surprised if I really thought the saga was over. But for the sake of this article, lets assume that I do.
I still see the Vikings as the favorite for winning the NFC North, but not by much. Brad Childress has his work cut out for him now that Favre is supposedly out of the picture. Last season the Vikings had a tremendous running game and a very strong defense but lacked leadership at the quarterback position. Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels do not have what it will take to advance this team through the playoffs.
By the way, bringing in Sage Rosenfels to compete against Jackson for the starting QB job might be the most futile move of the off-season. Why stop there? How about making a move to get T.O. to bring accountability to the locker room, or stealing Chris Henry away from the Bengals to be a character guy for the young players to look up to. In this case the cure is very likely worse than the disease.
Jackson showed signs of improvement during the last part of the 2008 season playing really well after returning as the starter. Any confidence he harnessed last season, however, has been beaten out of him by the constant replay of Favre talking to reporters, Favre throwing the ball during workouts, and Jackson’s teammates in interviews saying how much they respect Favre and how much of an asset he would be to any team. You have to feel sorry for the guy.
Despite all of this, the Viking I envy the least is Brad Childress. Imagine being the guy that has to backpedal at the speed of light away from this play for Favre, while picking of the pieces of his young QBs ego, all as he sells the team on their playoff chances without having the “missing piece” that he has been jonesing for like a cast member of “Requiem for a Dream” (my compliments to Jennifer Connelly and Marlon Wayans).
The best part of this whole situation is that a couple weeks after Coach Childress is clean and sober from his Favre obsession, the speculation of #4 coming out of retirement will start swirling again, Rachel Nickols from ESPN will be camped out on Favre’s lawn, and Childress will fall back into old habits as the infatuation flares up again.
If I were Childress I’d go with plan B, contact Michael Vick’s agent.
So you think that there is a chance the Michael Vick could end up at Minnesota to provide competition for Jackson now that he is eligible for pre-season and may well be able to play from week six. Probably one of the most suitable teams for him right now.
I heard some pundits saying he should go somewhere like the Patriots, where there is no chance of him dislodging the established QB and therefore trying to keep the circus around him a little calmer. But I don’t see the benefit to those teams in having him there and I don’t think that fits Vick’s personality, he wants to be starter when he is eligible.