If I Just Stop Talking About It, Will It Go Away?

This is a reminder to make your College Football Picks before Friday night and to set your Fantasy Football lineups before Sunday. I am making a slow comeback in each league, I can feel it. This has really been a brutal fantasy year for me…or maybe I just suck at fantasy sports.

This weekend the single most important event in the history of United States athletics is going to occur. It’s an event that has been built up and we are all probably very annoyed and tired of talking about it, but we can’t ignore it. This is the week before the Monday Brett Favre returns to Green Bay for his first game since being the victim of the Packers inability to treat a football legend well when they kicked him out the door by not guaranteeing him the starting quarterback job after he had retired and then decided to come back. I am tired of talking about this, I truly am, so I am going to present one piece of inaccurate journalism and inaccurate quotes from Favre himself and then we can all move on to a different article.

I am hoping if I stop talking about Brett Favre, he will just go away, but considering I tried that already with the media's blanket coverage of Michael Jackson and it didn't work, I am not terribly confident it will happen.

-I have read Pro Football Talk for as long as I can remember. I have enjoyed the site because it is one of the few sites where I can get accurate football rumors and analysis of a player/team situation from someone who knows enough to not be an outsider and the information is accurate but he is enough of an outsider to be able to say what he believes. Mike Florio has seemed to always do that, even as he went corporate and partnered up with NBC Sports and started shelling for Sprint to get keep the site free, it was obvious he did these things to keep the site free and didn’t lose any goodwill from me. These comments about Brett Favre could lose my goodwill though. I don’t know what Mike Florio was thinking when he typed this.

Faced with his quote from February 2009 that he was hoping last year to "stick it" to the Packers, Favre admitted that he wants to show them that he can still play.

That’s a quote that came from a Peter King article to be honest and I really doubt Peter would have written that down, because (a) I don’t know of a time when he has misquoted an athlete or been accused of doing such and (b) if there is EVER an athlete he would never misquote it is Brett Favre, his one true love.

The Packers pushed Favre to make a decision about playing football in 2008 at a time when they knew he wouldn't be able to make the commitment.

No, no, no. Brett Favre didn’t WANT to make the commitment, but he was perfectly capable of doing so. He just refused to make a decision in a punctual manner, just like he had done the season before. I will argue this until I am blue in the face, and I am getting there, but the Packers had an absolute right to force Brett Favre to make up his mind about whether he wanted to play or not. Sure, he is a legend and they owe him a little bit for playing so well over such a long period of time, but he also wasn’t working for free and they paid him well and worshipped him, even when the time came where his numbers didn’t always reflect he was as good as everyone thought he was.

Then, they bolted the door shut and pushed furniture in front of it.

Otherwise known to the 99% of America who is sane as “moved on without him because he retired.”

Not to pull a Bill Simmons but if your girlfriend /loved/unloved one says that she doesn’t know if she wants to be with you anymore and you say in response, “well make a decision so we can both move on with our lives, I don’t want to be dragged along,” and both of you agree that the relationship is finished, it’s over. That’s what happened here in a way. What Brett Favre did was the equivalent of your ex- girlfriend /loved/unloved one showing up on your front door saying, “dump your current girlfriend, I want to be back with you.”

At no point should you feel obligated to do so and if she insists on sitting on your front porch and terrorizing you by not allowing you to move on, (or constantly talking to the press and making veiled threats in regard to making the Packers life miserable about it like Brett Favre did) then police officials should soon get involved in the dispute. No matter how long you dated this girl, it was over when you both agreed it was over, and you pressuring her to make a decision about the relationship/non-relationship doesn’t mean she can get a do-over several months later. Life doesn’t work that way and that’s why I have no sympathy for Brett Favre or have a clue why Mike Florio is taking pity upon him here.

So when he decided to come back, it was too late. But then they dicked him around, hoping to keep him from playing for anyone,

Now my example doesn’t really hold as well because you can’t contractually have a hold of another person, like the Packers did Favre.

Regardless, there was no dicking around that went on and they didn’t want him to just come back and play without compensation. The Packers were willing to trade him but then Favre decided the entire situation wasn’t complicated enough and wanted to be able to choose the team he got traded to. Again, it was the Packers’ right to prevent him from playing football for just anyone, since he had signed a contract with them previously.

even after (by all appearances) they had engineered his First Annual Retirement.

This is some of the worst pro-Favre propaganda I have read. Even Peter King is embarrassed for Mike Florio right now. They wanted him to make a freaking decision so they would know whether to draft or trade for a quarterback in case Aaron Rodgers wasn’t up to the task of starting. They needed a decision before mid-June, which if I am not wrong is about the time Favre gave his decision to come back in 2007.

If Favre didn’t want to retire, he shouldn’t have. He could have stayed with the Packers and then retired later that year in training camp still a Packers hero if he was absolutely sure he was done, but Brett Favre wanted to retire, at least he wanted to for that week, so he retired. The decision was done and it would have been pointless for the Packers to stand around and wait for Favre to change his mind before deciding who would be the quarterback for the upcoming season.

Should he be pissed? Hell yes. Should he want revenge? Damn straight.

Pissed about what? The Packers didn’t share Favre’s view that ever single decision he encounters should be given months to make? The fact the Packers were more concerned with the future direction of the team rather than the future direction of Brett Favre?

And if there's any doubt that he wants to stick it to the Packers for what they did to him last year, just watch how he plays on Monday night.

I hope for his sake he does play well but really there is no reason to get revenge because he is as much at fault for this situation as the Packers are…probably more so in my mind.

-Since everyone is not tired of Brett Favre quite yet, let’s read some quotes he has made before the epic, world changing game against the Packers this Monday and then I will get to the article for the day. First Brett Favre will do his normal lying and double speak and then and I will translate what he said into English and write what he really meant by his quote.

"I didn't say it was about revenge. It wasn't about revenge to begin with. The fact that I had a torn biceps had an affect on how we finished up. I really wasn't willing to have the surgery...I felt like I could play. I think I proved that last year. Being released by New York, I still had to have the surgery to play at a high enough level. I eventually decided to have it."

“I did not play well at the end of last year because I was injured and didn’t want to have surgery to continue playing in New York where everyone hated me. I could still play football and I think I proved that until the very end of last year when I sunk my team with my performance. When I got released by New York, which happened because I had deceived them and said I wanted to retire, I knew I would have to have the surgery to play football this year for the Vikings. When the Vikings showed interest after my repeated phone calls asking them if they were interested, I decided to complete my ultimate plan to stick it to the Packers and had the surgery.”

"What I said with Peter (King) was that it was human nature -- I didn't use the word revenge -- to prove to someone that I could play. That's not motivation enough, never would be for me. It's too long a season."

“Peter King is my incredibly loyal friend who would never misquote me, but he did misquote me here. I am not afraid to throw anyone under the bus or lie to make myself look like a good person. I don’t want revenge, I just want to show the Packers I can still play football…oh, and I want everyone in the organization to die. In lieu of actual death, I wouldn’t mind if Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy and anyone else involved with the decision to not hand me the starting quarterback position had their careers ruined.”

"There were numerous, numerous throws last year...Not only was their pain, but there was (inaccuracy). It seemed like it was more and more frequent."

“I am a team player because I played through increasing pain last year and sunk my team’s chances of making the playoffs.”

On whether he wanted to play in Green Bay in '08: "Yes, it was. Why wouldn't it be? I had just had, in my opinion, the best year in my career."

“Of course I wanted to play for Green Bay, that’s why I retired! They have to chase and beg me to soothe my ego a little bit. If they didn’t know that by then, I don’t know what to say.”

Why Minnesota? Why not stay with the Jets? "Um...Well, I wasn't willing to have surgery at that time. That's first and foremost."

“If I stayed with the Jets how the hell was I supposed to stick it to the Packers by playing them twice a year like I could do if I was with the Vikings? Do I have to spell out my diabolical plan in a fucking Power Point presentation to you guys? Do you want me to say ‘I only played in New York for a year so I could get my release and eventually sign with the Vikings? This was my plan all along.’ I can’t say that. You have to get this and not force me to say it. You can’t be that dumb.”

On his release from the Jets: "None of that matters now anyways. The only thing that matters in the game on Monday night. I'm having a good time."

“I lied by saying I was going to retire in an effort to get what I wanted, which was a contract with the Vikings. Let’s not focus on my lies, let’s focus on me and this game I am playing against the Packers…I have waited two years to get to this point and I don’t want the focus to be on my lies, but on how much I mean to the Packers and their fans.”

(Favre sneaks a glance at himself in the mirror)

On why not talk to Aaron Rodgers: "For what? I think Aaron has not only done well, but I think he'll have a great career. I said that from Day One. That's why they drafted him. No one's called me. I've talked to Drive...I don't know what to tell you."

“So why would I talk to the guy who took my job as quarterback of the Green Bay Packers again? He is an asshole. If he wants to talk to me, he has to call me, otherwise I don’t give a shit if I ever see him again…unless he is lying face down paralyzed from the neck down after Jared Allen blindsides him for a sack. Even then I will go to shake his hand while he is in the neck brace and when everyone thinks I am consoling him, I will actually be telling him he is lucky I don’t punch him in the face right then and there.”

“Guess what shitheads? I haven’t called Mark Sanchez either. Do you know why? He’s an asshole who tried to take the focus off how much the Jets miss me. Has anyone ever thought about how I feel? I bitch and moan to get out of Green Bay and then Aaron Rodgers has a better season than I do and then I leave the Jets and they end up starting this year off really well with a rookie quarterback leading the way. Has anyone thought that I could be concerned people might start to see through me and start asking questions as to why the two quarterbacks who took over for me over the past two years have done as well, if not better than I have? My apologists in the sportswriting world can only blame my age for so long concerning any mistakes I may make when I continue to play in the NFL at a high enough level to start for NFL teams.”

“It’s bad enough the media has started to turn on me, especially when those assholes who write columns about me bring up my all-time NFL interception record. So I threw a lot of interceptions and am personally responsible for throwing an interception that prevented the Packers from going to the Super Bowl in 2007 and also torpedoed the Jets season last year. So what? I did it all in the name of having fun and did it with a smile on my face because I love this game and am lucky to still be able to play it. Write that comment down dammit. Write ‘Brett Favre says he still loves this game and he smiled when he said it.’”

On whether the damage can be repaired: "I'm sure it can but no one's concerned about that now. We'll deal with that later."

“Packers fans are schmucks. They will retire my number in a few years and it will all be forgotten. I am not shaking Ted Thompson’s hand and will probably pitch a fit if he is present at the ceremony, but I will get my way then, just like I did here. I always win, don’t write that down, but I always get my damn way. My jersey will be retired and I am may cry at the ceremony to try and gain more sympathy for how I got kicked out of town. I will always turn the tables on the Packers, they can’t beat me. I may actually force them to retire Edgar Bennett’s number as well as mine, just to show much power I truly have.”

-Jay Mariotti thinks this is going to be a crazy year in college football as evidenced by Tim Tebow getting injured, which of course makes no sense.

My approach every college football season is to root for confusion, chaos, relentless mumbo-jumbo. That way, maybe the goofs in charge someday will realize why the absence of a postseason tournament is the biggest void in sports.

Jay Mariotti’s approach to nearly everything is to want full chaos that way he can stand in his ivory press box (wait, he doesn’t go to games…) and take cheap shots at whoever he wants. Some men may dream of vacations or success in whatever vocation they choose, Jay Mariotti wants someone to screw up so he can roast that person in print.

(On a side note, I am actually not completely for a postseason tournament in college football. I don’t think it could match the excitement of the NCAA Tournament in college basketball, which would be the intent. I sort of like college football the way it is. If we could think of a good way to set up a tournament I may be open to it, but I am not THAT upset with the current format to change to a playoff format I am not sold on...just to have a playoff format.)

The season's most dramatic scene to date was the sight of Tebow, the indestructible tank of a quarterback often described as god-like and too special to be a mere human being, cracked so wickedly by a clean but vicious hit that his helmet whiplashed against a teammate's leg and left him crumpled like a blown-out tire.

Four weeks and less than an entire month into the season, this is the indelible image. Some may say the image of Sam Bradford, a better pro prospect and also a National Championship Game participant from last year, lying on the turf could also be an indelible image…but those people would not understand the power of Tebow. The Power of Tebow makes sportswriters forget anything else that has happened and causes them to focus solely on him and what he has done lately. He’s like Brett Favre except for being in love with himself, he loves God.

a concussion that will keep him out of practice this week and throws into question how effective and durable he'll be beginning Oct. 10, when the Gators face a difficult test against fourth-ranked LSU and its monster defense.

Yes, that monster defense that gave up 26 points to the powerhouse Mississippi State last week.

That's easy for him to say. Like all of Gator Nation, Meyer knows the ultimate legacy of the Florida program is at stake, with a third national championship in four years and Tebow's second Heisman Trophy still looming as possibilities.

The “ultimate legacy of the Florida program is at stake?” They have won 2 National Championships in the last 3 years and I really doubt anyone will be writing the program off if they don’t make it 3 championships in 4 years. Another Heisman and National Championship are possibilities but if they don’t happen the future of the Florida program is not at stake.

It’s not like Florida will struggle after this year with John Brantley as the quarterback. He is either the 3rd best or 7th best quarterback in the 2007 recruiting class, depending on who you believe more. The loss of Tim Tebow at the end of his senior season isn’t the end of the Florida Gator football program.

He must be cautious because Tebow, who has an NFL future ahead of him, doesn't want to rush back too soon and do something he'll regret later.

I find it interesting that Jay Mariotti this entire article about Tim Tebow when Sam Bradford has also sustained an injury and he is actually expected to be chosen higher in the 2010 NFL Draft. I know we must talk about all things that are Tebow-related, but I don’t think anyone really knows how Tebow will fit in at the NFL level or even if he will play quarterback. Besides if he is such a big, strong guy who can take a hit, we can’t panic every time he takes a big hit and gets taken off the field. The way he plays he is going to be hit hard a lot at the next level. I would just think if we were talking about NFL quarterback prospects and how their 2009 college football injuries affect their draft stock for the NFL, the conversation with start with Sam Bradford.

"I love these guys," Meyer said. "They're there for each other. They pray for each other, it's really cool. With all the negativity in college athletics, it's really neat."

When Urban Meyer is referring to “all the negativity in college athletics” does he mean 24 arrests for Florida football players since 2005? That is only the times the “negativity” brought on by Florida football players has been caught and been made public, it doesn’t include any arrests or anything of the like pushed under the rug. Urban Meyer complaining about the abundance of negativity in college athletics is like Osama Bin Laden picketing for peace in the Middle East.

The sudden vulnerability of Tebow adds to my suspicions that this will be a season of madness, not unlike the mess two years ago that allowed LSU to capture a national title with two losses.

Really every season of college football is a season of madness, which piques interest in the sport, and is also the reason those in charge are afraid of changing to a playoff format. This year will just be another brick in the wall of college football season craziness, so just because Tim Tebow got injured doesn’t mean this year is crazier than any other year.

Maybe Florida and Texas end up running the table and creating a legitimate BCS title game in Pasadena.

Yeah, a legitimate BCS Title unless Boise State runs the table as well…in which case it is not a legitimate BCS title game. Just because pollsters ranked Texas and Florida #1 and #2 respectively in the country doesn’t mean they actually are that good. Remember these are the same people who have put California, Mississippi and Penn State in the Top 10 this year simply because they looked like good teams on paper and hadn’t lost any football games at the point they were ranked in the Top 10.

And if that were to happen, imagine Boise State -- the little team that symbolizes the plight of have-nots in the BCS political system -- moving into the top three.

And be shut out of a BCS title game much like what happened to Utah last year? See, Mariotti’s “super crazy” situation already happened last year. This BCS buster situation has already happened and it was actually worse because Florida and Oklahoma had already lost last year and Utah was undefeated and STILL did not get a shot at the National Championship. See, every year is crazy in college football. Does it shock me Jay can’t remember this? Not at all.

For now, all eyes are on Tebow and his wounded skull.

“All eyes” being defined as “the mainstream media and Florida Gator football fans,” while the rest of the world is cheering for their own favorite team and not giving a crap about whether Tim Tebow starts against LSU or not. I would guess most college football fans are focused on their own team and their fortunes at this point.

I don’t hate Tim Tebow but he isn’t the focal point of my college football viewing experience as many in the media would have you believe. The insatiable need to have everything involving Tim Tebow shoved down the public’s throat hasn’t affected everyone as of yet.

So as they say on campuses everywhere, put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I am not 100% sure they actually say that.

When it comes to college football, the tobacco always is wacky.

Right, every year is wacky. The year that Tim Tebow gets a concussion from a hard hit is not a wackier college football year than any other simply because it involves Tim Tebow getting injured.