Packer fans get a reprieve

[quantum]

ESPN

[NJTank]

If he retired the Packers were gonna be 3-13, though I think they go down this year bad defense offensive line loing key players.

[EagleFan344]

I got them finishing 3rd or 4th in that division. They wont be in the playoffs.

[See Red]

that is great news, I'm not a Packers fan but I have an unbelievable amount of respect for Brett Favre and the way he plays the game.

[dwertman]

If he retired the Packers were gonna be 3-13, though I think they go down this year bad defense offensive line loing key players.

They had to let Rivera and Wahle go,could not take the cap hits.Did you see the contract Wahle signed with Carolina?

The Pack will be allright,they will contend for the division and the playoffs.They do need to work on that defense immensely though

[quantum]

I'll be interesting to see what Ted Thompson addresses this off-season. The defense needs work badly, but a replacement for Favre needs to be considered as well.

[Sterling84]

I'll be interesting to see what Ted Thompson addresses this off-season. The defense needs work badly, but a replacement for Favre needs to be considered as well.

Ted certainly has his work cut out for him. Even if Wahle and Rivera HADN'T left the defense was in shambles and we couldn't have afforded to fix that either.

But I've never agreed with this "finding a replacement" for Favre stuff. Certainly they'll need a QB at some point. But you can't replace a Marino, an Elway, a Manning or a Favre. Its going to be a transition period and whomever takes snaps will be somewhat of a step down. I'm willing to deal with that so long as they reinforce with solid players at other positions.

Since QBs of high caliber are rarely traded in this league, teams come about their field generals through pretty much only the draft and other teams castoffs.

For every blue chipper drafted (Manning) there are 25 more who are worthless. Those who aren't worthless still take a few years to break in (Culpepper, Brees, McNabb) to really show their value, which many teams aren't willing to do.

I think they should just accept that someday (between 2 and 5 years from now) they will not have #4 and that will be hard. But until then, build the franchise smartly and affordably so that the transition is less painful and we dont have to go through a 49ers-esque period of futility.

Favre was someone else's castoff. So was Steve Young, so was Kurt Warner. Brady was unheralded. I think they should just pick a guy, any guy...with some flair, toughness, and qualities they like.......build a solid core around him, and then give him the requisite time to see what happens.

People forget that many MANY of Favres early decisions would warrant a controversy or benching today. Holmgren ( or more likely his assistants) were very patient with him in the early years.

If we rush out to get a QB now, they'll ride the pine too long like Brunell or Hasselback and get antsy and we'll lose them or force Favre out. Neither is preferable.

On the flip side, if Favre goes down this year, we're screwed anyway, so let JT or Nall start and get some experience.

I hope they don't pursue anyone in the remainder of offseason.

In any event, I'll get to tell my kid they watched Favre play, even if they don't remember it.

Yay!

[Pat]

I was so happy to find this news out. This is great!

Anyway as to the Packers:

1)Why do we need a replacement? Craig Nall from what weve seen is great. Once Brett hangs them up, I think we give Nall a shot. We shouldn;t be wasting caproom which we dont have, or draft picks we really need for D on a qb when we have Favre and a great backup, and a young guy, O'Sullivan

2)Our Oline will be fine. People forget we have one of the best line coaches in the NFL. Lots of our past and present offencelinemen were picked up in really late rounds, whos to say we can't do that again? We won't be as good there but it won't be terrible.

3)Yes our defence sucks hard. But with a solid draft, smart defenseive pickups in free agency, and good coaching from our new D-Coordinator Jim Bates(I really think this guy is awesome) we could be good enough to allow our team into the playoffs. And with Favre whos to say we couldnt make a run and go all the way?

[Sec19Row53]

Amen, Sterling84. I've been married since 1988, and my wife wasn';t a football fan until she met me. So, in her lifetime of football, he's known almost nothing but successful Packer football, and almost no QB other than Favre. She has only recently begun to understand how lucky we've had it.

I agree that you don't try to replace Brett, you just continue to build around him. After he's gone, you hope to catch lightning in a bottle again. Ron Wolf's story about scouting Brett (both while he was with the Jets and after coming to the Packers) is amazing.

[DarthMan]

farves an old washed up old man

he single handedly blew them out of the last 2-3 playoffs (6 picks by the rams, late INT vs. eagles, and flip pass vs. vikes) he just cant win the biggie anymore

[Sterling84]

farves (sic) an old washed up old man

he single handedly blew them out of the last 2-3 playoffs (6 picks by the rams, late INT vs. eagles, and flip pass vs. vikes) he just cant win the biggie anymore

Fa VR e......is old by NFL standards but by no means washed up.

He really had an awful game against the Rams that year, no argument. The Eagles game was lost by the defense. 4th and 26 ends that game if the now Ex: Sharper wasn't such a wussbag. VIkes game? Costly costly picks and two terribly executed blitzes......on the first and last Minnesota TDs.

Now, I'm not a Favre apologist. When you reach legend status in a town full of them.......your mistakes get overlooked alot and hence the Favre love-fest backlash by people on the outside.

But in my eyes......he's ALWAYS done stupid plop like that. ALWAYS....thats why he's so cool. Throwing from his knees, into triple coverage.....he has no memory, no conscience BUT without that brazen attitude he would never have been worth a damn in the first place........cause his mechanics are a joke.

I've never been one to say, "he s the best in the universe, we won it all because of him". TEAMS win Championships. 96 was not all Brett......it was a great team victory and 97 wasn't all his fault. Neither have most of the other recent embarrassing playoff losses. And I frankly dont care whether or not he wins another one before hes done (it'd be great) but I just want to see him play another 20-50 times.

I know people love to hate certain players.......but if any of you ever had Brett on your team there's no way you'd be anything but excited to hear he's still got a little left in the tank.

[EagleFan344]

Hey Packer fans I wish you would quit blaming the defense and put some blame on Favre. Hes not god anymore. Hes not top 5 like he used to be. He could of won the Eagles game, but instead punted the ball to DAWK. That was the play that ended the game. And how about those 4 INTs vs. Minnesota? O, I forgot, it was Sharpers fault because he told Favre to throw the picks.

And the Packers wont be in the playoffs. Right now IMO they are the worst team in the division.

[Pat]

Yes to me Favre is as close to a God as any athlete ever will be. However he DID make some major bonehead plays. ie. that toss thing near the endzone vs. minny. He also led us to 2 Superbowls, including one win. He also is one of the greatest qb's of all time. He deserves some slack for what hes done for us. Hes made some mistales in the playoffs lately but tho its part his fault its not all his fault.

And our defense sucks. They do deserve a ton of the blame. Theres no playmakers. The secondary is terrible, the linebackers are a mess, and the line desperately needs help at the end. If you watched any Packers games last year(maybe except week 1) you'd see how some teams could just walk through us. It was horrible, without Favre we wouldn't be even close to 10-6 or in the playoffs.

[lopernv]

Holy crap, you guys don't fluffing sympathize one of the best QB's in recent years, and even though I'm as far away as a Packers fan, I wouldn't say "Haha he was too old anyways!". I wouldn't be bitching about it, but I wouldn't be crying about it.

You guys who aren't Packers fans are agruing like freaking six year olds. Grow up and act mature and like your age.

This coming from a 12 year old.

[EagleFan344]

Holy crap, you guys don't fluffing sympathize one of the best QB's in recent years, and even though I'm as far away as a Packers fan, I wouldn't say "Haha he was too old anyways!". I wouldn't be bitching about it, but I wouldn't be crying about it.

You guys who aren't Packers fans are agruing like freaking six year olds. Grow up and act mature and like your age.

This coming from a 12 year old.

he hasnt been one of the best qbs the last few yrs...

[lopernv]

Holy crap, you guys don't fluffing sympathize one of the best QB's in recent years, and even though I'm as far away as a Packers fan, I wouldn't say "Haha he was too old anyways!". I wouldn't be bitching about it, but I wouldn't be crying about it.

You guys who aren't Packers fans are agruing like freaking six year olds. Grow up and act mature and like your age.

This coming from a 12 year old.

he hasnt been one of the best qbs the last few yrs...

He has been one of the main reasons why the Packers have been so good. He lad a freaking fanchise for g-d's sake, Not the best player in recent years? He won a goshdarn Superbowl.

Out-freakin-rageous.

[EagleFan344]

Holy crap, you guys don't fluffing sympathize one of the best QB's in recent years, and even though I'm as far away as a Packers fan, I wouldn't say "Haha he was too old anyways!". I wouldn't be bitching about it, but I wouldn't be crying about it.

You guys who aren't Packers fans are agruing like freaking six year olds. Grow up and act mature and like your age.

This coming from a 12 year old.

he hasnt been one of the best qbs the last few yrs...

He has been one of the main reasons why the Packers have been so good. He lad a freaking fanchise for g-d's sake, Not the best player in recent years? He won a goshdarn Superbowl.

Out-freakin-rageous.

Did he win a SB in the last few yrs? NO. Im not saying he wasnt good in 1996.

[lopernv]

Holy crap, you guys don't fluffing sympathize one of the best QB's in recent years, and even though I'm as far away as a Packers fan, I wouldn't say "Haha he was too old anyways!". I wouldn't be bitching about it, but I wouldn't be crying about it.

You guys who aren't Packers fans are agruing like freaking six year olds. Grow up and act mature and like your age.

This coming from a 12 year old.

he hasnt been one of the best qbs the last few yrs...

He has been one of the main reasons why the Packers have been so good. He lad a freaking fanchise for g-d's sake, Not the best player in recent years? He won a goshdarn Superbowl.

Out-freakin-rageous.

Did he win a SB in the last few yrs? NO. Im not saying he wasnt good in 1996.

Wow, 8 years. He is still one of the best QBs in the game right now.

[Joshawaggie]

i'm glad he's coming back, hopefully he will throw a butt load of INTs again against the Vikes, and other NFCN opponents.

jsut givin ya Packer fans a hard time, its gotta be done sometime before the season startrs, its a long ways away.

[EagleFan344]

Holy crap, you guys don't fluffing sympathize one of the best QB's in recent years, and even though I'm as far away as a Packers fan, I wouldn't say "Haha he was too old anyways!". I wouldn't be bitching about it, but I wouldn't be crying about it.

You guys who aren't Packers fans are agruing like freaking six year olds. Grow up and act mature and like your age.

This coming from a 12 year old.

he hasnt been one of the best qbs the last few yrs...

He has been one of the main reasons why the Packers have been so good. He lad a freaking fanchise for g-d's sake, Not the best player in recent years? He won a goshdarn Superbowl.

Out-freakin-rageous.

Did he win a SB in the last few yrs? NO. Im not saying he wasnt good in 1996.

Wow, 8 years. He is still one of the best QBs in the game right now.

Hes not top 5 anymore though. Theres a handful of QBs I would take over him