Jets Release Brett Favre, Open Floodgates of Favre-Vikings Rumors and Speculation

I can’t wait to hear what Ryan Russell has to say about this. (Something tells me it will involve the f-word. Multiple times.)

In case you haven’t heard, the New York Jets released legendary and purportedly retired QB Brett Favre yesterday. Essentially what this means is that Favre could now sign with any team. Previously, the Jets would have owed the Packers 3 first round draft picks if they traded him to a team in the NFC North.

If I were to be optimistic, I would look at this as opening the door for Brett Favre to sign a one-day contract with the Packers so he could officially retire at Lambeau. However, the pessimistic Florio-influenced side of me looks at this as potentially opening the door for another summer of endless Favre speculation.

Here is what PFT had to say about this yesterday:

Jets Officially Release Favre — (Pro Football Talk)

Wow.

On the same day we speculated that the stage could be set for the Second Annual Brett Favre Retirement to be followed by the Second Annual Brett Favre Unretirement, the Jets threw the NFL world a curve ball by releasing Favre from the reserve-retired list.

…

But unless Favre is planning to sign a one-day contract to officially retire (again) with the Packers, there’s no reason for the Jets to make the move if Favre has no intention of returning to football.

Clearly any initial speculation will center on the Minnesota Vikings. The whole “they are only a quarterback away from the Super Bowl” thing has been one of the most oft-uttered cliches of the past few NFL seasons. And while the Vikings signed Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme Rosenfels in the offseason, the improvement he will provide over Tarvaris Jackson is not expected to be any type of quantum leap.

The Vikings, however, are built to win now. Their first round pick of Percy Harvin, despite his much-publicized off-field issues, was looked at by many as a desperate choice by a coach in Brad Childress who knows that he has to win now – or else. And it is no secret that Favre and the Vikings had discussions last year when we all first learned that Brett Favre might wear colors other than the green and gold in 2008.

So while nothing definitive has been reported that Brett Favre is considering yet another comeback, nothing definitive has been reported to quell such speculation either. [Update: Just caught this article posted last night at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel website, saying Favre released a statement saying "Nothing has changed. At this time, I am retired and have no intention of returning to football." It is unclear if the statement was from three weeks ago or yesterday.] And reading between the lines of Favre’s statement back when he retired from the Jets could offer a little insight into his potential future plans. As Florio pointed out yesterday at PFT, Favre and agent Bus Cook had discussed the possibility of the Jets releasing Favre before he retired again in February:

“[Agent] Bus [Cook] and Mike [Tannenbaum] have been talking about this for a while,” Favre said in a statement. “Nothing has changed. At this time, I am retired and have no intention of returning to football.”

Well, now something has changed. And the question is, at this time, with these new circumstances, does Favre now have an intention of returning to football?

I have to be honest, I’m straddling the fence on whether or not I want to see Favre come back.

On the one hand, there is something inherently exciting about watching a game quarterbacked by Brett Favre. Even at his current age he has the capacity for a 3- or 4-touchdown gem on any given Sunday. He also has the capacity to throw for 100 yards and 3 picks at any time. That uncertainty and limitless potential for any game he is involved with is compelling. And the thought of Favre playing in the NFC North for a team other than the Packers immediately produces so many storylines that servers hosting sports websites across America may spontaneously combust should Favre ever come back with the Vikings.

However, Favre has become an increasingly annoying and self-absorbed presence over the past few years. If he could come back and just receive some coverage, I’d be okay with it. The reality, however, is that football news and reporting would be absolutely dominated once again by Favre stories. That inevitable overshadowing of everything else in the NFL would be a tremendous drawback from a fan perspective, and might just be enough to make the compelling Favre-in-the-NFC-North storylines more of an annoyance than an interesting component of another NFL season.

One thing we know is that the speculation train left the station last night when the Jets announced Favre’s release. And it won’t truly stop until the 2009 season begins and Favre is nowhere near an NFL facility.

I just hope that if he does come back, the mainstream sports media takes the ubiquitous advice of Viagra and sees a doctor (probably some sort of addiction specialist) should their “erection last more than four hours.” The inevitable Favre-on that would ensue from another unretirement would simply be unnecessary and would almost certainly be both overwhelming and overdone.

Brett Favre is now one of those sports figures for whom there is no middle ground. I’d be all for his return if he would just be another NFL quarterback headed to training camp. In the absence of such media restraint, however, his return would be the story again for another NFL season. I could take and would welcome Brett Favre the quarterback for another year; I could not take Lord Favre the Most Important Man Alive for another season.

But I think we all know how it would turn out, so maybe I’m not really straddling the fence at all. Stay home and stay retired Brett. The time has come for us all to move on.

What do you think?

Now that the door is slightly cracked open, would you want to see Brett Favre make another comeback in 2009?

• No
• Yes

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