Fritz
08-06-2008, 07:37 AM
Holmgren was interviewed on satellite radio, and of course since he knows both sides he was very careful. But this jumped out at me:
"“I told (Brett) last year after we played them in the playoff game — and then we talked when he retired — physically, absolutely he can still play,” Holmgren said. “But I said that’s not enough. You have to really have the desire to do it inside because the game is too hard. I really thought this one [the retirement] was for real."
Okay, this speaks volumes to me. It says to me that Holmgren does not believe Favre's heart and soul are really in it any more - and he saw Favre struggling with that last year already, and it was taking its toll on Favre. Favre spoke of this quite a bit at his retirement press conference - the need to be completely, fully committed - that burning desire - and that consequent requirement that one translates this desire into that late-Thursday-night-film-room stuff - the comment MM made at his press conference.
My belief is that Favre really does not have that any more, and MM saw that, though he did not want to disrespect Favre and say that to the media. So he said he thought Favre was coming back for "emotional" reasons (not that revenge isn't emotional, but having that as your motivation is not, in the end, productive). And if you look at MM's words, he says that Brett tried to convince MM otherwise, and MM then said he respects Favre's opinion and so MM is willing to say he was wrong. "If I'm wrong, I'm wrong," were his words. To me, that means he's still not convinced. He didn't say "I was wrong." He said "If I'm wrong."
It is my belief that Brett Favre will not have a very good year. For the reason stated above, and when you add to that the fact he hasn't done the grueling offseason stuff he has said an older player needs to do to be successful, and the fact he's got one training camp to get familiar with the system and the players, I think you have a recipe for a poor year.
In fact, I would not be shocked if Favre went to Tampa Bay's training camp and after a few weeks walked away.
"“I told (Brett) last year after we played them in the playoff game — and then we talked when he retired — physically, absolutely he can still play,” Holmgren said. “But I said that’s not enough. You have to really have the desire to do it inside because the game is too hard. I really thought this one [the retirement] was for real."
Okay, this speaks volumes to me. It says to me that Holmgren does not believe Favre's heart and soul are really in it any more - and he saw Favre struggling with that last year already, and it was taking its toll on Favre. Favre spoke of this quite a bit at his retirement press conference - the need to be completely, fully committed - that burning desire - and that consequent requirement that one translates this desire into that late-Thursday-night-film-room stuff - the comment MM made at his press conference.
My belief is that Favre really does not have that any more, and MM saw that, though he did not want to disrespect Favre and say that to the media. So he said he thought Favre was coming back for "emotional" reasons (not that revenge isn't emotional, but having that as your motivation is not, in the end, productive). And if you look at MM's words, he says that Brett tried to convince MM otherwise, and MM then said he respects Favre's opinion and so MM is willing to say he was wrong. "If I'm wrong, I'm wrong," were his words. To me, that means he's still not convinced. He didn't say "I was wrong." He said "If I'm wrong."
It is my belief that Brett Favre will not have a very good year. For the reason stated above, and when you add to that the fact he hasn't done the grueling offseason stuff he has said an older player needs to do to be successful, and the fact he's got one training camp to get familiar with the system and the players, I think you have a recipe for a poor year.
In fact, I would not be shocked if Favre went to Tampa Bay's training camp and after a few weeks walked away.