OFFICIAL BRETT THE LIVING LEGEND THREAD

[RashanGary]

I stand by my point. Bus and Bert were trying to get a message out, one that buys empathy with the fan base. They set this whole thing up, this meeting with Men's Journal. It was to get some good pub, not to tear him down.

I still think they were trying to send the message that Bert can't help himself, he just has to shoot from the hip, be a real guy, even when it hurts him, even when it makes him look like a Diva.

Bus, "God damn, Brett, you look like a Diva, why do you do this shit?"

Bert, "You know, it's like playing football, you just go with it, I guess I just don't know when I'm going to retire, I'm just a good, honest guy, can't help myself, even when it hurts me, I'm just so darn honest, shucks. . . "


It's all set up perfectly. Bus annoyed that Bert is making himself look bad. . . Bert comes in, says he's just an honest, straight shooter. . .



They failed this time. People are so sick of hearing their BS, instead of seeing the obvious message they wanted to send, everyone just saw the Diva and they've already agree with it so their thinking just stopped at, "Bert's a Diva" and that's your story.

[gex]

Bert and Bus have always had an amazing way of manipulating the general public. In this case, they overestimated the publics ability to put all of the pieces together.


Bus tells this journalist this line, ripping Ed Werder like he's some sort of A-hole for being, "first", when really it's the ultimate compliment. Bus gives Ed everything. Anyone skilled in communication knows people are more likely to buy into something they come up with. Instead of telling people what he wants them to believe, he tells them something else with an easily encoded message inside, and then people think they put it all together themselves and are much more willing to accept it. This guy is a lawyer, right? How very lawyer of him. And we're not even into Bert yet. Bus gets done saying this, then Bert comes in and also talks to the Journalist. Oh, and didn't bus just get done saying, "why talk" and now he has this whole talk-fest set up? ? But anyway. . . Bert comes in and talks to this journalist. Bus already plants the seed about Brett's wishywashness. . . . Brett comes in and says he just shoots it straight, gives an analogy to playing football, how he just shoots from the hip. . .

Now, Bus set the stage and Bert hits it out of the park, like usual. Only problem, all people are seeing is the word Diva associated with Favre, coming from his agents mouth. He was trying to set the table for Bert, but he used a bad set of words.

At the end of this whole thing, Bus and Bert wanted to spin Bert off as a straight shooter who shoots from the hip, but doesn't know what he wants to do. Instead, Bert just looks like a bigger diva.

You can fool people for a long time, but eventually, no matter how clever you are, it's going to get tougher and tougher to keep fooling people. I'm sure a few more people are off the Bert band wagon in this. All that's remaining is the few die hards and the Viking fans who's hope lie in his intercpetion throwing hands.

you need a new tinfoil hat.

2nd

[Joemailman]

I kind of agree with Justin. That whole thing had an air of inauthenticity to it. Bus calling Favre a diva with a reporter in the room? Sounds like an act to me.

[RashanGary]

I kind of agree with Justin. That whole thing had an air of inauthenticity to it. Bus calling Favre a diva with a reporter in the room? Sounds like an act to me.

And then Brett showing up, like he just happened to walk in the door, the straight shooter he is. . .

The whole thing had a point to it. Bus has Brett trained to public perception. He knows that honesty is going to sell and non commitment to the team isn't going to go over very well. Through all of this, all of the criticism, Brett has never waivered, never considered, "maybe I should just be with the team like everyone else". Maybe this is great inner peace, knowing that he is doing what is right, but by the look of the grudges Favre carries with the Packers and the rifts he had with the Jets, I don't think Favre is a walking guru of inner peace and outward harmony. I'd say it's more likely that he's been in the media a long time, has an agent who knows how to work public opinion and knows what not to say and what to say. Bus knew when Brett showed up, he was going to just tell his side matter of factly, the way public opinion is most apt to accept it, they way they're trained to handle adversity in the public eye. He's not going to address the negative but rather just say matter of factly, "hey, I'm a straight shooter, I just don't know if I'm going to retire or not" and after Bus talks about how dumb Brett is for opening his mouth, it's all supposed to tie together as Brett just not knowing what to do and being too honest for his own good.

Bus Cook is no 21 year old good guy at this forum getting baited into saying something he wishes he didn't say. He's a old fox, skilled in the art of public warfare. He had a reason for saying what he said that had nothing to do with putting his client down.

[Scott Campbell]

He had a reason for saying what he said that had nothing to do with putting his client down.

I guess Bus calling him a drama queen was better than the alternative - calling him a narcissistic media whore with no regard for his teammates.

[ThunderDan]

Bert and Bus have always had an amazing way of manipulating the general public. In this case, they overestimated the publics ability to put all of the pieces together.


Bus tells this journalist this line, ripping Ed Werder like he's some sort of A-hole for being, "first", when really it's the ultimate compliment. Bus gives Ed everything. Anyone skilled in communication knows people are more likely to buy into something they come up with. Instead of telling people what he wants them to believe, he tells them something else with an easily encoded message inside, and then people think they put it all together themselves and are much more willing to accept it. This guy is a lawyer, right? How very lawyer of him. And we're not even into Bert yet. Bus gets done saying this, then Bert comes in and also talks to the Journalist. Oh, and didn't bus just get done saying, "why talk" and now he has this whole talk-fest set up? ? But anyway. . . Bert comes in and talks to this journalist. Bus already plants the seed about Brett's wishywashness. . . . Brett comes in and says he just shoots it straight, gives an analogy to playing football, how he just shoots from the hip. . .

Now, Bus set the stage and Bert hits it out of the park, like usual. Only problem, all people are seeing is the word Diva associated with Favre, coming from his agents mouth. He was trying to set the table for Bert, but he used a bad set of words.

At the end of this whole thing, Bus and Bert wanted to spin Bert off as a straight shooter who shoots from the hip, but doesn't know what he wants to do. Instead, Bert just looks like a bigger diva.

You can fool people for a long time, but eventually, no matter how clever you are, it's going to get tougher and tougher to keep fooling people. I'm sure a few more people are off the Bert band wagon in this. All that's remaining is the few die hards and the Viking fans who's hope lie in his intercpetion throwing hands.

you need a new tinfoil hat.

2nd

I disagree.

Bus does nothing without BF's approval. He is paid to be BF's agent. If Bus said this it was with BF's full grace.

[Fritz]

The choices seem to be these:

1. You think the whole thing was a set-up, or at least something both the player and agent are used to doing - it's part of their pattern and it works for them. That is to say, they are smart and attem,pting to manipulate the situation.

2. You think Bus really is tired of Favre's act and was calling him out - in front of a reporter, telling the reporter how stupid it was for Favre to talk to a reporter. You think that both guys are straight shooters and that's just how they operate. Cook is not the usual manipulative agent, and Favre is not the usual overly-trained-to-be-bland football player.

Take your pick. Or maybe there's a third view.

[ThunderDan]

The choices seem to be these:

1. You think the whole thing was a set-up, or at least something both the player and agent are used to doing - it's part of their pattern and it works for them. That is to say, they are smart and attem,pting to manipulate the situation.

2. You think Bus really is tired of Favre's act and was calling him out - in front of a reporter, telling the reporter how stupid it was for Favre to talk to a reporter. You think that both guys are straight shooters and that's just how they operate. Cook is not the usual manipulative agent, and Favre is not the usual overly-trained-to-be-bland football player.

Take your pick. Or maybe there's a third view.

I know you are giving choice 1 or 2 but you might want to talk to Denver about Bus Cook. Of course at the end of 2009 Denver was happy to have traded Cutler to Chicago and gotten 2 first round picks out of the deal.

[Pugger]

I kind of agree with Justin. That whole thing had an air of inauthenticity to it. Bus calling Favre a diva with a reporter in the room? Sounds like an act to me.

I don't know if it was orchestrated for the reporter but I suspect #4 and Cook know exactly what they are doing and why. I'd wager this is all an act to enable Favre to skip mundane practices and TC and keep his face on ESPN.

[Scott Campbell]

The choices seem to be these:

1. You think the whole thing was a set-up, or at least something both the player and agent are used to doing - it's part of their pattern and it works for them. That is to say, they are smart and attem,pting to manipulate the situation.

2. You think Bus really is tired of Favre's act and was calling him out - in front of a reporter, telling the reporter how stupid it was for Favre to talk to a reporter. You think that both guys are straight shooters and that's just how they operate. Cook is not the usual manipulative agent, and Favre is not the usual overly-trained-to-be-bland football player.

Take your pick. Or maybe there's a third view.

I know you are giving choice 1 or 2 but you might want to talk to Denver about Bus Cook. Of course at the end of 2009 Denver was happy to have traded Cutler to Chicago and gotten 2 first round picks out of the deal.

It was two first-round picks, Orton, and last year's third-round pick for Cutler. They also swapped 5th rounders.

Orton was thought by many to be a throw away, but Peter King writes that he was essential to the deal:



1. The key to the trade was Kyle Orton. Laugh if you want, but it's the absolute truth. McDaniels looked hard at tape of the available quarterbacks from teams that made serious offers, players like Orton, Washington's Jason Campbell and Tampa Bay's Luke McCown. Every one of those teams was in the ballpark with an offer of at least two first-round draft picks and a quarterback.

But as the deal went down, McDaniels, who watched every offensive snap of more than 10 Bears games with Orton playing, got more and more impressed with Orton's arm, his decision-making and his ability to extend plays when the pocket broke down. You can think and I can think it's crazy he didn't like Campbell -- who got Washington off to a 6-2 start last year -- more than he liked Orton, but it's the unvarnished truth. McDaniels thinks he can win with Orton.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...#ixzz0uKgVFgL4


I thought it was hilarious that Orton had a better season.

[packerbacker1234]

Orton is the sort of QB you can win games with if you have a team with a setup like the jets, ravens, and vikings. Great defense, great run game, all you have to do is make sound decisions for 25 passes.

Yes, the vikings did sort of slowly forgo that and made favre the focus, but it's already shown you don't need to be great to win with teh vikings, being great just makes them that much better.

The point is, Orton is "solid". Not great, and don't make him have to wint hat game for you in the 4th, but he is a servicable starter. Cutler has all the tools to be a super star, but his head is never in the right place. He is too much of a hot head, blaming the world for his fuck ups.

[pbmax]

Bus gets done saying this [why talk to reporters], then Bert comes in and also talks to the Journalist. Oh, and didn't bus just get done saying, "why talk" and now he has this whole talk-fest set up?

Exactly.

You could either be agreeing with me, or laughing at me because I said the same thing twice (once implied and the 2nd time directly).

The compliment was entirely honest. Brett and Bus have been playing this dog and pony show for the entire decade. It may have gone on before, but it was either far less effective or far more subtle.

They say one thing and continue to do another.

[pbmax]

Well it finally turned up.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/peter_king/news/2000/12/11/mmqb/

[Peter King Q:]15. You want to finish your career here?

Favre: "Definitely. If in two years, say, they want to trade me, I'd probably walk away. Retire."

Retirement talk for nine straight years.

[pbmax]

Same article. Painful reminder of what once was:

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Green Bay CB/KR/PR Allen Rossum. The Packers must play field-position football to win because offensive weapons and defensive impact players are lacking. Rossum, an August steal from Philadelphia by Pack GM Ron Wolf, handed Green Bay great field position by returning the opening kickoff 60 yards against the Lions; a field goal ensued. He returned the first punt of the game 16 yards; a field goal ensued. He returned his first kickoff of the second half 28 yards to the Pack 39, and though it didn't lead to a score, it led to a major field-position shift.

[Lurker64]

Well said Mr. Tucker: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...vre/index.html