For Argument’s Sake

Is Brett Favre being selfish?

It’s hard not to talk about this situation because it’s so prevalent in the sports media outlets. It’s everywhere. It’s even on this blog.

So for this week’s thought provoking question, I thought I’d go right to the heart of the matter. Most people are talking what the Packers administration should or shouldn’t do, and what they have or have not done. But what about Favre? He’s not completely innocent in this situation either.

But is he being selfish?

My argument is this: No, I don’t think he’s being selfish. I just think that he’s a dedicated football player who truly loves the game, isn’t ready to let it go just yet, and is stuck at a perplexing point in his life where he’s not in his prime but he’s not too old to play either. The bottom line is that Favre just doesn’t know what Favre wants. He wants to play but he’s not sure if he’s up to it. He’s ready to retire but he’s not ready to give up the game just yet. He’s confused and I can understand that. The past three years have been much of the same question for Favre — is he or isn’t he going to retire. But this year was different because the Packers didn’t want to wait for his answer. They wanted to know back in March and they had every right to ask because in previous years they had set everything aside to wait for Favre’s answer. This time they asked for an answer up front and Favre told them what he thought they wanted to hear.

Favre’s retirement press conference was highly emotional. I remember watching it and aching for him. But I also remember him saying that he wasn’t planning on making a comeback — this was it, his last hoorah, so don’t expect him to make any attempts at playing again. But Favre was not fooling us, he was fooling himself. He’s just a guy who’s stuck in that in between world of too old to be young and too young to be old. We will all be there someday and we’ll all be forced to ask ourselves if we’re ready to hang it up or wonder if we’ve still got some fight left in us.

I feel sorry for Aaron Rodgers in this mess. He’s just a kid who got signed and is ready to play. He shouldn’t have to sit in the shadows while Favre figures out his midlife crisis. He deserves a chance to play. You can’t hand him the key’s to the Range and say, “here you go kid, it’s all yours,” and then ask for it back. The Packers made their decision on their starting quarterback when Favre made his own decision on retiring. There’s nothing left to do but move on. If that means Favre should go to another team then so be it.

Favre isn’t being selfish because he’s not asking the Packers to put him back in the starting position. He isn’t expecting that. What he did ask for was a release, which I don’t think is asking too much. Now he’s asking for a trade. If the Packers don’t grant him a release, don’t trade him and force him back into retirement, well … that, to me, is being selfish.

The results of the Chris Duhon poll are in! The question was: Is Chris Duhon the answer to Starbury?
The majority of you believe that he’s not because he isn’t a true point guard.

For previous editions of For Argument’s Sake, go here.