No, We Have Not Stopped Hating On Favre

by Bobby Loesch on October 23, 2008 at 7:06PM

It's a shame this hasn't been discussed in these parts this week, but I quickly wanted to touch on the Favre stuff (I'm suppressing all urges to call it something stupid like Phone-gate).

One of my least favorite things is when the media takes a specific story on something they have a clear bias against and use it to hammer home a point they held previous to the story. ESPN does this all the time with the T.O. yelling-at-teammates shot they show in game highlights. I think, at every single NFL game, you'll see a teammate yelling at another teammate on the sidelines. I mean, the environment is loud, the situation calls for passion, you're in the heat of battle -- it happens. But the shots of T.O. are always used in a "oh my! what a bad teammate!"-type of way. It's just stupid and unnecessary.

I also felt the same way about Spygate. Was it cheating? Yes. Was it bad? Sure, awful. But I think a lot of mainstream media used Spygate as a gateway to take potshots at a team that was impervious to these critiques preceding Spygate. I mean, if you begrudged the Patriots in some way, there was nothing really you could do; they were simply too successful. Spygate turned from one story to a year-long pile on.

Barry Bonds also comes to mind. This is a guy everybody hated for years, and as soon as the steroid issue dropped, he got torn up faster than a kleenex at a snot party (props, Sideshow Bob). But players like Roger (white) Clemens (Texas) had no heat put on them, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary.

Which brings us back to Brett Favre. I, like many, just think he's an attention craving idiot, but I'm trying not to use this story to jump on the "he's a cheater!" bandwagon. I thought he was stupid before, I think he's stupid now. Nothing changed.

Really, this story taught me there is literally nothing Favre can do to lose the adoration of a big chunk of the media. I mean, it took ESPN about two days to finally report the story -- Jay Glazer broke the story on Sunday! Regardless of if it's true or not, it was allegations reported by a major network (FOX). ESPN had to say something, anything. But it didn't happen.

So let's say it's true. Is Favre's legacy tainted? I think so. Most Green Bay fans I know just seem like they want to move on. Keep the good memories in the past, and try not to think about the present (dare I compare it to the MJ/Wizards era?).

The odd part is, the major crux of the issue comes from one question: if Favre did give tips to Detroit, did he call them or did they call him? Most football people seem to think it's completely acceptable if Detroit called Favre. I'm down with that.

But if Favre called Detroit? My, oh, my. Totally different story, they say. That shows bitterness, spite... pettiness.

Let one thing be known: I don't think this story did much to change anyone's opinion of Favre in the greater Chicago area... for better or worse.

Over at the SportingNews.com, Mike Florio also weighed in, under the headline "10-Pack: Packers fans should burn Favre jerseys":

Technically, Jets quarterback Brett Favre did nothing wrong when, according to both FOX and the Wisconsin State Journal, he reportedly contacted Lions coaches prior to their Week 2 game against Green Bay and gave them an extensive debriefing on the Packers offense. (Favre has denied the report.) As NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told me by e-mail Sunday, "I don't see what rule it would violate any more than it does for a player (or coach) to tell his new team about his old team.

As a practical matter, however, every Packers fan should be burning their green and gold jerseys bearing the number 4.
If the reports are true, Favre's actions represent the machinations of a deeply-troubled mind. It's one thing for Favre to dislike the members of the team's front office or coaching staff. It's quite another for him to go out of his way, at a time when he should have been doing anything and everything in his power to prepare for his new team's Week 2 game against their arch-rivals from New England, to try to hurt the franchise that provided him with the canvas on which he worked all those masterpieces (except when he was throwing all those interceptions).
The Packers can't (and won't) do anything about it, the league can't (and won't) do anything about it, even if proven true. Packers fans have real power, especially since many of them own shares of the publicly-held franchise. Every Packers fan, stockholder or otherwise, should push Green Bay to rethink its marketing arrangement with Favre and whether his number should be retired. And every Packers fan should begin lobbying Hall of Fame voters to refrain for giving Favre admission in his first year of eligibility.

Commenter "Ghost of Marty Conlon" on the Sporting News Dan Shanoff Wakeup Call blog had perhaps the most concise, humorous take of all:

How is the Favre story not a big deal and Spygate was so huge. Isn't what Favre did worse? Yeah the Pats videotaped signs not good, but the team's QB of the last 15 years gave the Lions inside info, and that's nothing? Ridiculous. More tongue-bath treatment for the most over-rated QB in football history.

To sum things up: I don't think Favre is the devil, but he's certainly no American hero (though I'm not ready to strip him of his child-like gunslinger status). Regardless of what we think -- or what anyone, anywhere thinks -- I really don't see public perception of him changing. This story's a blogger fueled movement that momentarily got its head above water, but as we speak, it's already halfway down to the bottom of the lake. Metaphors, people.

6 Comments | Leave a comment

Mike | October 23, 2008 11:32 PM | Reply

You never cease to amaze me with your knowledge of graphic design.

Rickhouse replied to comment from Mike | October 24, 2008 12:04 AM | Reply

Look at how his finger points right to the phone!

Oh and agree, agree, agree in every way with whats said here. And if Jay Glazer reports it, I believe it.

Scott Phillips | October 24, 2008 6:42 PM | Reply

Jay Glazer also said Kellen Winslow had testicular cancer.... He doesn't report true facts...

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No, We Have Not Stopped Hating On Favre

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