[CBFF] CT - Favre's return touchy topic

[Jerry Madsen]

Favre's return touchy topic
QB makes it clear: If he wasn't with Pack, he wouldn't be back
Don Pierson
On Pro Football

June 28, 2006

Brett Favre sneaked into and out of Chicago on Tuesday without getting
booed. He was promoting a toothpaste in a campaign to find a "Mr.
Sensitivity" to appear in a commercial.

"You know how sensitive I am," he said.

The unshaven face of the Green Bay Packers quarterback made him look more
like the label Men's Journal attached to him two years ago as "Toughest Man
in America."

"I don't know if I believe either one of them," Favre said.

It's also hard to believe Favre is the only NFL player on a recent top-10
list of most admired athletes because his decision to keep playing at 36
coming off his worst season has been second-guessed even by some Packers
faithful.

"I was 'holding the team hostage,' whatever that means. Isn't there other
news in the world other than what decision I make?" Favre said. "We're a
4-12 team. Whether I come back or not, what's the big deal? It's not like
anyone expects us to win the Super Bowl one way or the other."

Favre pointed out that the Packers always have been willing to pay him his
$10 million for 2006 without trying to renegotiate or push him out. His
agent, Bus Cook, also represents Steve McNair, who was forced out of
Tennessee and signed with Baltimore because of salary issues.

"I never said to Bus I want to leave too," Favre said. "If they would have
traded me to another team, I would have said I'm not going. I'd much rather
stay in Green Bay and suffer through another season than to go to another
team and have these expectations put on you, 'Now we have Brett. We're going
to go to a Super Bowl.'

"I just couldn't envision playing anywhere else and don't want to."

Favre's Chicago visit seemed like a ploy to soften up the citizenry before
the Packers open and close their season against the Bears.

"When I saw the schedule I said, 'Well, I know we have to play them
sometime.' They're good," Favre said.

Favre is 21-7 against the Bears, but was 0-2 last season for the first time.

"If you play 15-16 years, the tide is going to turn," he said. "I don't know
if anybody has had a better run against a team than we have up until last
year.

"I was impressed with their defense. They can run. They're young guys. Alex
Brown, Tommie Harris really stepped up. Nathan Vasher. Urlacher is Urlacher.
Mike Brown. They have some studs. They're going to be tough."

Favre paused the buttering up long enough to note the Packers' offense
gained more yards and recorded more first downs against the Bears' vaunted
defense than any other team last season.

"Aside from the turnovers (six interceptions), we had the most success
against them," he said. "Not points, but we moved the ball. What does that
mean? Not a whole lot."

Favre said learning new coach Mike McCarthy's playbook has made this
off-season different from all others. The offense is similar to Mike
Sherman's, but not the terminology.

"I'm not the only quarterback who has had to learn a new offense, but I'm
probably about the only guy who has had to brainwash 15 years," he said.

Unlike other seasons, Favre even attended 17 of the Packers' 20 organized
training activities, the supposedly "voluntary" practices every team
emphasizes.

"I didn't even know what OTAs meant," Favre said.

He said he still would love to have receiver Javon Walker, now in Denver,
but running back Ahman Green, returning from leg injuries, "looks the best
I've seen him physically."

"I think we have four good tight ends," Favre said. "I think on offense the
biggest question mark is the offensive line. We might start two rookies at
guard. What can you do? If they're the best guys, you play them, but they'll
make mistakes."

With free-agent cornerback Charles Woodson and top rookie A.J. Hawk, the
Packers upgraded a defense that ranked No. 7 last season.

"I was a little bit surprised [Hawk] wasn't as big as I thought he was (6
feet 1 inch, 247 pounds), but he's all about football," Favre said. "He's
all over the place. How good is he? They all look good in mini-camp.

"The early picks of the Packers since I've been around haven't done too
good. [Terrell] Buckley, Jamal Reynolds. But I like his attitude and
demeanor.

"Maybe we'll surprise some people. Going in I don't think a lot of people
expect a lot out of us, which is good. Only one way to go but up."

Favre said 10 people asked him whether Ozzie Guillen won the sensitivity
contest.

"Is he not sensitive or what?" Favre asked.

"I sat out there while [contestants] answered questions like, 'What would
Brett's preference be? Puppies or kittens?' Or, 'What kind of ice cream do I
like?'"

For $10 million, why would anybody want to retire from a job like this?

Not that he's eating much ice cream.

"I started working out about a month ago, as hard as it was," he said. "I
wish there was a magic pill you could take and all of a sudden you could
have a good hour-and-a-half workout in a steam room.

"I think they do have stuff like that, but it's illegal."

*dpierson at tribune.com

*

Copyright (c) 2006, The Chicago Tribune <http://www.chicagotribune.com/>


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