As an avid follower of the NFC Central North my entire life, I’ve seen this before. I can’t tell you (really, I can’t) how many times Brett Favre has had less than two minutes to win a football game. And time and time again, he seems to find a way to do it. Just for the record, he now has 42 comebacks from fourth-quarter deficits or ties in his 19-year and counting career.
But he’s supposedly over-the-hill and in his new role as “game manager” for the Minnesota Vikings, Brett has been both conservative and consistent. But successful. Today, against a …read more

Various media outlets are trying to create “interesting” news by saying there is a controversy in the Minnesota Vikings locker room about who should be the starting quarterback. And of course, they’re citing make-believe unnamed sources. Ridiculous, I say. The most influential players (Adrian Peterson, Antoine Winfield, Jared Allen) lobbied to get Brett Favre on the team because they knew their current quarterback situation (Tarvaris Jackson, Sage Rosenfels, John David Booty) was unstable. And anyone else with a clue would agree.
In last week’s preseason win over Kansas City—a game Brett never should’ve played in after having had only a couple …read more

A few weeks ago (July 28 to be exact), I ended my “Brett Favre Will Stay Retired” post with the following: “So, at this time, Brett is supposedly happy being retired and doesn’t plan to join the Vikings. Whatever. If that’s the truth, do I expect Brett to change his mind? Of course. I don’t think this is the last we’ve heard of Brett Favre’s ‘unretirement.’”
Well, it might be time for me to start saying “I told you so.” According to Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer—who has spent the past couple days with the Vikings—just about everyone he talks to within …read more

In an unexpected turn of events, Brett Favre told the Minnesota Vikings today that he plans to stay retired. Even after having successful surgery on his throwing shoulder and going through weeks of supposedly successful training and rehab, Brett apparently felt the daily physical and mental grind was too much for him. Or something like that.
Vikings head coach Brad Childress offered his condolences:
“I just think it was a rare opportunity to explore a Hall of Fame quarterback who had background in the NFC and in this division. He knows our system inside out … This doesn’t change anything about how …read more

It’s too early to be talking about the NFL’s next Rookie of the Year. But if Minnesota Vikings receiver Percy Harvin’s minicamp and OTA exploits are any indication, he’s going to make a strong bid. Percy has been featured in a number of different roles thus far. He made acrobatic catches at the receiver position. He returned kicks. And he even tried his hand at running the trendy “Wildcat” formation. All with impressive results. The Vikings already have 20-30 plays specifically for #12.
Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier is glad his role of facing Percy will only be limited to practice:
“I’m …read more

Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton was my original favorite professional football player. And he’s the reason why I became a Vikings fan at five-years-old. Fran greatly advanced the role of a mobile, scrambling quarterback in the National Football League. And while he never led the Vikes to a Super Bowl win, he did manage to play in three and has to be considered one of the best QBs to ever play the game. He’s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame to prove it.
Fran made his feelings about fellow quarterbacking legend Brett Favre public today, blasting Brett for being …read more

Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress and Brett Favre will meet to discuss the possibility of Brett playing for the Vikings this season. This information is from to a source with direct knowledge of discussions between Brett and the Vikings. With all the recent speculation that Brett might wind up in Minnesota for the 2009 season, this get together was pretty much inevitable. Coach Childress and Brett will meet in an undisclosed location (top secret) later this week. I wonder how long it will be before the undisclosed location becomes public knowledge?
Here are five good reasons — in no particular …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
I’ve known all week that the Minnesota Vikings were going to trade a fourth-round Draft pick to the Houston Texans for semi-journeyman quarterback Sage Rosenfels as soon as it was nice and legal to do so. That deal went down today as the Vikes settled with Sage on a two-year, $9 million contract. Doing some quick math, that’s $4.5 million per season — more than triple what he would’ve made in Houston.
I’m not sure I understand the reasoning behind this move. With better (but yes, older) free agent quarterbacks available like Kurt Warner, Kerry …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress won’t say who his starting quarterback will be this weekend in a pivotal NFC showdown against the Atlanta Falcons. But he would have to be out of his mind to keep Tarvaris Jackson out of the lineup after TJack walked away with NFC Offensive Player-of-the-Week honors today. Facing the NFC West champion Arizona Cardinals Sunday, Tarvaris passed for a career-high four touchdowns in the Vikings’ 35-14 win. For the day, TJack completed 11-of-17 passes (64.7%) for 163 yards and a 135.5 passer rating. Still, coach Childress wasn’t committing:
“I’m looking …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
For avid readers of EMQB, you know I’ve always been a Tarvaris Jackson supporter. Until I couldn’t take anymore, that is. For all the promise and potential the Minnesota Vikings quarterback had, he was a monumental disappointment with his poor mechanics and often terrible decision-making, culminating in his benching after only the second week of this 2008 season. Many wondered if head coach Brad Childress’ choice was premature or even forced by the Vikings front office. After all, the team had spent several years touting TJack as their quarterback of the future. But the truth …read more