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ARTICLES JACKED FROM GB POST GAZETTE FARVE'S DECISION: I'M IN
But is He in Beyond '06? Hard to say
 Brett Favre gave coach Mike McCarthy the news with a simple, two-word statement: “I’m in.”
“Those were the words he used,” McCarthy said Wednesday. Now the question is, for how long? If the veteran quarterback told the Green Bay Packers whether he intends for 2006 to be his farewell season, neither McCarthy, the team’s first-year coach, nor General Manager Ted Thompson is saying. But the feeling among many in the organization on Wednesday, a day after Favre told the Packers he will play this season, was that there’s a good chance this will be his last year. (Read More Here)
FARVE WILL BE AT MINICAMP
Brett Favre will join his Green Bay Packers teammates for their first minicamp under new coach Mike McCarthy next week and apparently for all their offseason minicamps. Last year, former coach Mike Sherman permitted the quarterback to skip the team’s three summer minicamps — two mandatory and one voluntary — so he could stay in Mississippi with his recuperating wife and work with a personal trainer on a core-conditioning program. This year will be Favre’s 16th NFL season, but with a new coach and offense, he’ll take part in all minicamps, according to a source close to Favre. Teams are allowed a fourth minicamp if they change head coaches, so the Packers will have an extra minicamp this year. McCarthy’s first minicamp will be May 5 to 7.
“He will be there,” McCarthy said Wednesday. “We’ll discuss (his participation) when he gets here, but he will take part. It depends on his conditioning.”
Though the Packers haven’t seen Favre recently, the source said Favre is in good shape and has been working out regularly this offseason doing the core-training program on his own. He began that core program last year at about this time and has not re-hired the personal trainer who tutored him, because he knows the workout routines well enough to complete on his own. He did abbreviated versions for maintenance work last season and returned to a more thorough program this offseason well before deciding this week he will play again this year. Favre is considering tweaking the core program to include more running and might hire a personal trainer for help in that regard and to push him now that he has to ramp up the workouts for another NFL season. (Read More Here)
RODGERS WILL HAVE TO WAIT
With Brett Favre returning to the Green Bay Packers for the 2006 season, the apprenticeship of Aaron Rodgers will continue. If Favre had retired, Rodgers, who the Packers selected in the first round of the 2005 draft, would have been the favorite to be his replacement. But Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Wednesday Rodgers will benefit from having another season to learn the offense and watch Favre work.
“This is a great opportunity for Aaron,” McCarthy said. “(He’ll be able) to learn another year from one of the best that’s ever played the game.” Rodgers spent last season as the Packers’ No. 2 quarterback and with the uncertainty surrounding Favre’s future, Rodgers said he spent the offseason preparing as if he would be the starter.
“I can just be the best player I can be and if my time does come, great. If not, I’ve got another season to learn from one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time and learn a new offense,” Rodgers said recently. “I’ve got a lot of challenges to learn that offense and whatever Brett does, I’m going to make myself as game-ready as I can be. If that happens, great, and if not, that’s great, too.”
Rodgers has spent most of this offseason showing how serious he is about becoming Favre’s eventual successor. He has spent a great deal of time in Green Bay, where he’s been working with McCarthy and quarterbacks coach Tom Clements.
“He has an opportunity to get better during the offseason and that will not change,” McCarthy said. “He’ll have an opportunity to get better throughout the minicamps and the (offseason workouts).”
While the Packers may be set with their No. 1 and No. 2 quarterbacks, they will be looking to add a third quarterback, either through the draft or free agency. Last season’s No. 3 quarterback, Craig Nall, left to join the Buffalo Bills. Nall was the No. 3 quarterback in 2002, 2003 and 2005 and spent a portion of the 2004 season as the top backup. But with Favre coming back and Rodgers waiting in the wings, Nall knew he was better off going to a team where he could compete for a starting job.
Even though Favre’s status wasn’t known until Tuesday, the Packers made virtually no attempt to sign a backup quarterback this offseason. With Favre and Rodgers, the Packers aren’t likely to take a quarterback early in this weekend’s draft, but it’s possible they will take one on the second day. Former Packers GM Ron Wolf made a practice of selecting a quarterback in the later rounds and had a great deal of success, picking players like Aaron Brooks, Ty Detmer, Mark Brunell and Matt Hasselbeck.
“I think there’s a chance we could take a quarterback in this draft,” Thompson said.
TEAMMATES GLAD NO. 4 WILL BE BACK
Aaron Kampman couldn’t imagine getting much better news than he got on Wednesday. The Packers’ defensive end woke up to the news that quarterback Brett Favre decided to return for another season and ended the day hearing the team signed free-agent cornerback Charles Woodson. “It was a great day,” Kampman said Wednesday evening. “That helps us get better.” Kampman said he was “ecstatic” that Favre is returning for his 16th NFL season (15th with the Packers).
“He’s a big part of our team,” Kampman said. “I’m just glad the whole thing is over. Whenever there’s uncertainty, there’s always a sense of relief once it gets done.”
Long snapper Rob Davis, a teammate of Favre’s since 1997, said he believes Favre’s return makes the Packers a better team. “I personally think that we will always have an opportunity to win when Brett is under center,” Davis said in an e-mail. “I have felt that way for the last nine years, and that hasn’t changed.” Current and former teammates reached on Wednesday said they weren’t surprised Favre chose to play again, but all said it wouldn’t have shocked them if he retired, either. “I am not surprised by it,” said former Packers quarterback Craig Nall, who signed this offseason with the Buffalo Bills. “I have said all along that it could go either way. Obviously, he wants to play football. He’s not playing for the money or statistics. He just wants to continue to play football because he loves the game. I could see him wanting to spend more time with his family after all that they’ve been through.” (Read More Here)
VEGAS UPS PACKERS ODDS WITH FARVE BACK
If the Las Vegas oddsmakers are to be believed, the Green Bay Packers will have a better chance to be a Super Bowl contender with Brett Favre than they would without him. But even with Favre, the Packers aren’t expected to do much during the 2006 season.
Shortly after the Super Bowl in February, the Packers were listed as 45 to 1 odds to win the NFC championship and 100 to 1 odds to win the Super Bowl. That was when Favre’s future was in question. Even though it’s known that Favre will play this season, no one considers the Packers to be favorites, even in their own division. As of Wednesday, the odds made a considerable shift. The Packers now have 30 to 1 odds to win the NFC championship and are 60 to 1 to win the Super Bowl. While that is a large upswing, the odds indicate that if Favre had retired, the Packers would be expected to finish last in the NFC North. With Favre returning, they’re still picked to be no better than third. (Read More Here)
ARTICLE JACKED FROM MJS
QUESTIONS STILL LINGER AFTER FAVRE DECISION The fire still burns in Brett Favre's belly and for that reason he will play another season with the Green Bay Packers. But is it his last? No one could say that definitively Wednesday, a day after Favre informed general manager Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy, who were both in a draft meeting when Favre called, that he was on board for the 2006 season. Favre made his commitment short and sweet to McCarthy over the telephone Tuesday morning. "He just said, 'Mike, I'm in,' " McCarthy said. According to both Thompson and McCarthy, Favre did not specify that this would be his last season with the Packers even though in at least one interview during the off-season he said if he came back it would only be for one more year. During the conversations the two men had with Favre, they did not speak much about the future beyond 2006. "We did not talk about that," Thompson said. "He said he was looking forward to playing. We just got past this point, I think we're OK for now. It took us long enough to get to where we are. I think we can address the other part another time." (Read More Here) |
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