Packers really needed Favre to be present

By Mike Vandermause

Brett Favre despises minicamps.

He's been attending them for 17 years and finds them boring.

All that standing around gets tedious. The meetings seem endless. And when you finally hit the field, it's hard to get enthused about a bunch of players running around in shorts inside the Don Hutson Center with the regular-season opener nearly four months away.

But the Green Bay Packers' mandatory minicamp that opened Friday and continues through Sunday is different. In fact, no minicamp in Favre's long career has been as important as this one.

Favre's presence in Green Bay absolutely is critical to the success and direction of the team following a tumultuous week.

The veteran quarterback lashed out at the organization a week ago for failing to trade for receiver Randy Moss and said it was hard to be optimistic about the offense. Then, he announced he wasn't planning to attend this minicamp.

Favre would have sent a disastrous message to his teammates by not showing up. He would have come off looking self-centered and egotistical. Instead, he patched up his differences with the front office and did the right thing by coming to town and rallying around the team.

"Ultimately, it comes down to me wanting to play and help this team win," he said. "That's the one thing I can control. By being here, that's what I'm doing."

Favre had every right to question General Manager Ted Thompson's failure to address some pressing needs on offense. No one wants to win more than Favre, and he expressed his frustration.

But now he's moving forward, and it started with his presence in the locker room and on the practice field.

"He's here, so that shows a lot," said second-year receiver Greg Jennings. "He's not giving up on us. He's not quitting on us."

Jennings went so far as to call Favre a great leader.

"He wouldn't be here if he didn't want to win," Jennings said. "Brett's going to be Brett, and I love him the way he is. Regardless of the comments he made, I still want him to be my quarterback."

If any player took offense to Favre's biting comments last weekend, it wasn't evident. There was no need to mend fences or massage any bruised feelings. Packers coach Mike McCarthy called it a "non-issue."

If anything, Favre's words served notice that the time to win in Green Bay starts now. If any player can't accept that challenge, maybe he should find somewhere else to work.

"Brett's been here 17 years, what he says kind of goes," said second-year guard Daryn Colledge. "If he feels that's the way it is, then I think everybody in the locker room wants to pick it up and prove that they're the guys that can get the job done."

No one seemed happier than McCarthy about the conclusion to a rocky week. "It's important any time you have the leader, the quarterback of your football team here," he said. "I'm just glad the firestorm is over. (I'm) glad to put away the hose."

Favre maintained his overriding desire is to see the Packers succeed on the field.

"I don't think anyone can question my leadership and determination to win, and that hasn't changed," he said.

Those attributes seriously would have been questioned, however, had Favre been a no-show this weekend.


I thought Jennings' comments were interesting. Although he is fine with Brett now, I get the sense that Favre's comments about not getting Moss stung Jennings a little bit. If Favre had not shown up for minicamp, what a medie circus this would be. They'd still be dealing with rumors that Brett wants to be traded.