A couple years ago in this space, I wrote about how Brett Favre's steady, managed, almost methodical play in Green Bay had won me over, after a lifetime of being a Minnesota Vikings fan ("Brett Favre, Superstar," 11/1/07). I leaped aboard the Packers bandwagon and rode it all the way to the NFC championship game, when the Pack lost in overtime to New York.
Now what the hell am I supposed to do?
Despite all the broken promises and outright deception that led up to Favre signing with Minnesota on Tuesday, seeing him strap on the purple helmet puts a little spring in every Vikings fan's step. Even lapsed fans like me. Picking up Favre is the boldest move that club's front office has made since it gave up a raft of draft picks to Dallas for Herschel Walker in 1989.
But it's also a desperate move by a team notoriously thin at quarterback. And while his new teammates were sweating through two-a-day practices at training camp, sleeping in dorm rooms and propping up their eyelids in meetings, Favre was at home in Mississippi. Before he even suited up for practice, he and coach Brad Childress were talking about playing time in Friday's preseason game against Kansas City.
How will special treatment like that go over with his new teammates? It's too early to tell. But Favre definitely scored some points with his country boy charm Tuesday night.
"I found myself tearing up this morning as I brought [my daughter] to school," Favre told the media, wearing a filthy baseball cap and sleeveless T-shirt. "And she said, 'Daddy, it's going to be fine. You go up there and do what you got to do.'"
