The Packer Pundit

ARTICLE JACKED FROM CHICAGO TRIBUNE

IT'S WAY PAST TIME FOR FARVE TO CUT TO CHASE
Bob Verdi / April 16, 2006

Brett Favre, the great procrastinator, still hasn't made up his mind on when he's going to make up his mind. This delay of game has loyal fans of the Green Bay Packers sitting on the edge of their tractors, but I'm here to calm their nerves.

It could be a lot worse. Instead of being the quarterback in limbo for a bad football team, what if Favre had a really important job? What if he were a surgeon on duty in a hospital when they wheeled in someone to the emergency room?

"Well," Dr. Favre might say, "this guy obviously has been in a serious car wreck. Almost as bad as the car wreck I was part of all last winter. But I can't quite decide whether to operate or not. Actually, I think it's up to him to get better before I operate. And I do know that if I do operate, it will be the last operation I ever take on.

"But I still can't decide whether, if I do operate, it will be good for me, and that's all that really matters. So I don't know why all you nurses came here, because I don't really have anything to tell you. I mean, if I don't cut this poor guy, what's he going to do, cut me?"

Now before all you cheeseheads get your flannel formalwear in a knot, understand that I am on your side. I think it's absurd how Favre is holding your village, your franchise and all of you hostage while he ponders whether to return for one final season. It's Easter, for goodness sake. It's been more than three months since Favre threw his 29th and last interception while leading the Pack to a 4-12 record.

That was the first losing season since Favre went to Green Bay in 1992, and he has a right to be frustrated. It's also his privilege to lean on general manager Ted Thompson to find some better players, or else. But enough already. Favre owes it to his slobbering supporters (Edit: Bite Me Bear Toll Boy) to make up his mind before he drives all our northern neighbors to do what they do best. If he waits any longer, there won't be any beer left in the entire state of Wisconsin. They will start crossing the border to steal ours.

Favre is going to the Hall of Fame, but not by making decisions in the huddle the way he's handling this one. Of course, if you watched him force his passes while giving away a game to the Bears at Soldier Field last season, you suspect Favre's ego is already out of control. Can we send him to Venezuela to overthrow Hugo Chavez? The Packers, contrary to Favre's orders, did not beef up during the free-agency period. By talking to LaVar Arrington now, they aren't likely to uproot Favre from the golf course. Maybe Favre will wait until the NFL draft. Or maybe he will wait until Roger Clemens decides whether he wants to pitch again. That's it. Maybe Favre and Clemens have a bet on who can go longer without providing a straight answer.

How many quarterbacks have the Bears had since Favre went to Green Bay, 82? Can you imagine if any of them threatened to sit out unless the McCaskeys bought some players? Even we would laugh, which is partly the point. If Favre were trying to pull this hissy fit in a major market like New York or Chicago, he would be slaughtered by the media and the public. But Green Bay is different. Green Bay lives for the Packers, and Favre knows it. Nobody will cancel a season ticket up there if he double talks them until Christmas Eve, which isn't fair. But what does he care? The Packers have given him multiple deadlines and he has skirted all of them by tossing out a $10 million question: "If I don't tell them by (fill in date), what will they do, cut me?"

What if? The Packers can go 4-12 without a Hall of Fame quarterback.
The Bears have been doing it for decades.