Happy Anniversary - One Year Ago Today

[Fritz]

poor throw but why doesn't someone throw up the pic where the ball is just leaving Brett's hand and you would see Lee no where near where he is in that pic, and Jennings and Driver running side by side with a dback. It's a timing route, the better WR got open more and it was an underthrown ball to Driver in the bitter cold.. Play probably should have never been called in the first place but you are a complete idiot if you think you can freeze a play and start saying other people were open on timing routes.. It's called anticipation.

This entire play is all on Brett Favre. "probably should have never been called"....what the hell? 4 guys open. The entire play (thanks to Donald Driver for explaining on his show) was for Brett to look at his side safety, read his corner, and if now open, dump it to the RB in the flat. Driver said flat out, Brett didn't read his corner.

I have now seen the picture in which the ball is just coming out of Favre's hand, and even in that one the running back is wide open. How I wish Favre had just dumped it off!

Still, other players screwed up at earlier times in the game. it's not all on Favre.

It ust sucks that they lost, but they kinda deserved to lose, I thought. I thought the Gints outplayed 'em.

[Joemailman]

Meh, why keep bringing the play up? It's done and in the past and a whole season has gone by. I stopped thinking about that play about 2 weeks after it happened.

Well, that play and that game were a defining moment in Packer history. I really think that game as much as anything else convinced MM and TT that the Favre era was over.

The curious side of me wonders what they would have done if Favre had never retired. How would they have handled the season? Would Rodgers have been given a chance at all?

No Rodgers would not. That's what always frustrated me about Favre retiring. Even if TT wanted to get rid of Favre (I don't think MM did), he was in no position to do so after the season Favre had just had. All Favre had to do was say he was excited about the opportunity to lead this young team to a Super Bowl, and there wouldn't have been anything TT could have done about it.

[Patler]

The curious side of me wonders what they would have done if Favre had never retired. How would they have handled the season? Would Rodgers have been given a chance at all?

No Rodgers would not. That's what always frustrated me about Favre retiring. Even if TT wanted to get rid of Favre (I don't think MM did), he was in no position to do so after the season Favre had just had. All Favre had to do was say he was excited about the opportunity to lead this young team to a Super Bowl, and there wouldn't have been anything TT could have done about it.

If you are right, then I am very glad that he did retire. The change was due.
But I'm not sure you are right, and I think MM was as ready to make the change as TT was. He made a curious staement before Favre's retirement, or during it but before the "unretirement", when he said that after reviewing the season he believed Favre "probably" could play one more year effectively. The "probably" just leaped out at me at the time, and I figured then that he had lost confidence in Favre finishing a season the way it needs to be finished to do well in the playoffs.

I think Rodgers would have had opportunities if wins were safely in hand, or if Favre was not playing well. I think MM may have forced the issue to ensure that Favre would have retired before 2009.

[Joemailman]

Of course, what we don't know is what was said between Favre and McCarthy prior to Favre's retirement. If we knew, maybe we would have a better idea of why Favre retired. I do recall following Favre's retirement announcement McCarthy saying, in response to reporter's question "There isn't a bone in my body that wanted Brett Favre to retire". I don't recall the question. I do believe that McCarthy believed he could get another good year out of Favre if Favre was committed. I suspect Favre's retirement, which lasted a while, convinced McCarthy that Favre's heart was no longer in it to the extent it needed to be.