I think it’s pretty lame that a player can just swoop in like that and start playing while avoiding all the hard work of camps that every other player on the team had to endure.
Favre’s timing had everything to do with skipping camp and nothing to do with being indecisive. It can’t be about the money, he’s surely got plenty of that.
Ergo, it must be ego, but to me, he is doing further damage to his reputation.
But whatever, I’m not a Vikings fan. I just can’t stand Brett Favre and think that he is riding on the coattails of his prior body of work without adding to it.
I’m curious – what percent of each jersey sale actually goes towards acquiring a new stadium? Is an extra X jerseys really the difference between moving the team and new stadium? (And if so, what does X have to be? Three hundred trillion?) Tickets, sure, I can see that, but did the Vikes have trouble filling the seats last year? (If they didn’t sell out with Peterson in the backfield, I have nothing but contempt for the Vikings fans.)
And how on Earth do you see Childress NOT getting the blame for the inevitable Favre Flameout? Who else would get the blame? Favre himself, maybe, but really, he can’t hire himself (Thank God).
The Vikings sold out every game last year and have not failed to sell out a game in something like 12 years.
I don’t know why anyone is so sure that the Vikings are going to pile up losses, or that favre is sure to be a failure. This is a team that went 10-6 last year and won a division with Tavaris Jackson and Gus Frerotte at quarterback. They haven’t lost any essential personel from that team, and they’ve added to the O-line and the receiving corps. Does anyone want to argue that Favre is not a better QB than Jackson or Rosenfels? If the Vikes could win 10 games last year, why can’t they do at least that well with Favre at QB? It’s not like the Vikings are the Detroit Lions.
“Last year, the Vikings had about 55,000 season ticket holders but still struggled to sell out several games, forcing the team to turn to its sponsors to buy the remaining seats to avoid television blackouts.” Cite
"Steve LaCroix, vice president of sales and marketing, met with reporters today and talked about the team’s push to sell 20,000 remaining tickets for Sunday’s playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles. LaCroix said it’s “doable” but acknowledged that it will be a “big challenge.” Cite
No one is claiming that Favre-bucks will directly pay for the stadium, but there will certainly be significant ancillary increases in profits with him increasing fan interest. Most NFL teams sell out on paper (and most in reality) but a interesting and/or winning team will get more people who have tickets in the seats for a full 4 quarters and buying food, booze and souvenirs. Jersey sales and TV ratings will go up fill the owners pockets.
Additionally a team that’s getting talked about at the water cooler and filling sports bars all season long will increase voter and business support for a publicly funded stadium. That’s largely what Favre is about. Convincing the voters and tax payers that the ownership is committed to the city and the team. General consensus is that Adrian Peterson is being wasted right now, and that the 10-6 record and early playoff exit is a joke with that much talent. Teams that aren’t perceived as going the extra mile (and having a spotty history of off the field PR problems) are going to have a hard time getting the public support to build a stadium.
Them signing Favre is about money first and winning second. That’s fine and dandy with me, it’s a business and you can make a fair case that Favre might improve them. I don’t think he will, but you can’t say they aren’t trying something.
I think people will chalk it up to a failed experiment when it flops. Childress might get shit-canned after another disappointing season but that won’t be because of the Favre signing. Childress didn’t sign him and campaign for him, that was an organizational decision. If Childress gets a pink slip it will be for his failure to find a QB and forcing the round peg Tavaris into the square hole which necessitated this risky Hail-Mary Favre signing.
And make no mistake, if Childress gets fired after another 10-6/9-7 playoff season it will be to maintain that aura of “doing anything to win” to appease the potential voters on a stadium deal. The Vikings value PR more than sound decision making right now. Mind you, sound decision making is often it’s own good PR, but on occasion appearances will drive decisions.
They might be worse because Tavaris knew he sucked and the coaches knew he sucked. They reigned him in and tried to limit his mistakes. Favre will not be reigned in under any circumstance. He might create a few extra losses by himself in a much more competitive division this year.
Do you think selling tickets is free? You don’t think asking sponsors to buy tickets will hurt the price you can charge them for their sponsorship and advertising?
It’s not a matter of how quickly - it’s a matter of sponsors having to buy tickets to avoid a blackout. That’s certainly not a healthy sign for a franchise.
How did this end? Ask a Packer fan about 4th and 25. The last good full season Brett had was 2007 (if, according to Diogenes wins are the only marker of a good QB. He had a coach who didn’t put up with his BS and he was forced to show up for all the training camps and worked out hard all summer.
It’s funny, we all remember 4th and 26, which led to the Eagles tying the game, but we should also remember the Favre interception in overtime that led to Philly’s winning scoring drive.
I’m glad someone brought up Ahman Green. Every time I’m in a discussion about Favre IRL, someone says, “he’s never had a good running game.”
It’s like Green disappeared off the face of the earth; amazing, considering that from 2000-2004 he led the league in rushing yards and yards from scrimmage (and, not inconsequentially, made four straight Pro Bowls).
Well, he got traded to Houston after tearing his quad or hamstring. Strangely, he was never the same player after that.
Ah, how could I forget the extra yard. Thanks davidw.
Was I the only Packer fan who, in the last years of Favre being here, could kind of tell early in a game if Favre was going to be good or not? I seem to remember mentally writing off a lot of games in the 1st quarter when Favre would gunsling a little too much…
That 4th and 26 play was the end of Favre as a top-tier QB in Green Bay (Good call, davidw, on the OT pick losing the game. Most people forget that). He really reverted back to his old chuck and duck ways after that, with the nadir being the 2005 season. I think he expected that to be his last Super Bowl run and that improbable play ended it. After that it was “F*** it, I’m going deep” on every play, starting with the overtime pick.
As to the Vikes, well, he’s still better than their other options as of now. I’m more interested to see what Peterson will do now with a legit QB threat (I think). 2,000 yards, here he comes?
And yeah, inkysplotchy, you could almost always tell when Favre was going to chuck into triple coverage all day by the 1st quarter.
And yes I realize that the main point of the article is a schism between Jackson and Rosenfels supporters. However the management throwing Farve into the mix unwanted just makes nobody happy.
Let’s not forget 1996, either. Edgar Bennet and Dorsey Levens combined for more than 2,000 yards that year. Neither was a star, and a lot of that was in garbage time (still the only team in history to lead the league in both scoring offense and scoring defense.) But 2,000 yards is 2,000 yards.
The Philly INT in 2003 was the paradigmatic Favre meltdown. The NFC Championship game was a “good INT” in my book, though. The Pack offense hadn’t done anything all night and they were lucky to be in OT at all. What is the “smart play”? Dump it off, fail to convert on third down per usual, and punt? A big play was a longshot, but it was the only shot they had to win IMO. Favre has made some profoundly boneheaded plays, but the Packers played it very safe and kicked a lot of FGs last year. How did that work out?
I’m probably the only Packer fan I know who is completely ambivalent about the whole Favre saga. I had my Rodgers jersey in time for Week One last year but I plan on making the trip to Canton in five (or six, or seven) years as well.
In general, I’d agree with this statement but Favre’s performance against the Texans last night was encouraging. It was obvious that the Vikings’ favorite play was and should be hand the ball to Peterson and get out of the way. For his part, Favre’s 13-18 passing was all they could hope for out of the man. The only thing that I saw that concerned me was that Favre didn’t look particularly comfortable in the pocket. It seemed that he’d drop back and then start shuffling his feet as he made his reads. He also doesn’t look like a guy that can physically make it through a 16 game season, but I hope I’m wrong.
I also thought the announcers were a bit too harsh on Harvin for not catching a TD pass. He did stretch out (a little) and just barely got the tips of his fingers on the ball. It wasn’t like Favre hit him in the hands and he just dropped it.
But with Farve complaining of a cracked rib already, I give them to Week 3 before Minnesota begins the horror of constantly hearing “Farvre looks like he is having fun out there!” as he airs it into eleven man coverages. He is old, beatup, protected by a rookie RT and looking at 6 games with NFL North rivals dying to put the hurt on him.