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GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - After losing two home games to start the season, Brett Favre can understand why people might think he would welcome a trade to a contender.
But Favre, who turns 37 next month, doesn't necessarily think that would be any better than sticking it out for the rest of the year - and perhaps beyond - in Green Bay.
"You know, it all, it sounds great," Favre said Wednesday. "But to learn a new system - to basically start over - the expectations would be so great. And people may say, 'Well, say your season's not going the way you would like it here, at least you could go somewhere else and take a chance at winning.' Well, I'm taking that chance now."
Favre figures a sudden trade to a contender would subject him to unrealistic pressure.
"I know how difficult that is," Favre said. "And the expectations: 'OK, we've got Brett. We're going to the Super Bowl.' Well, it's a lot harder than that. And in that situation, (if) you don't get to the Super Bowl, you don't play up to expectations, then it was a loss."
Nevertheless, with an Oct. 17 trade deadline - and given the fact Favre recently said he was "99.9 percent" sure he'd retire as a Packer but couldn't rule out ending his career with another team - it's possible a contending team might look to make a deal with Packers general manager Ted Thompson.
"Well, first of all, I don't ever foresee that happening," Favre said. "And would I go? I don't think so. I really don't."
Favre said his 14-plus years in Green Bay have been "everything and then some," and he wants to keep trying to make a winner out of this year's team.
"There's still some juice left in me here," Favre said. "And just because we're struggling right now, I'm not going to bail just like that. Whether or not this team gets back to playoff or Super Bowl contention any time soon, from my end, I've got to do what I can now. And maybe that carries over leadership-wise in the future."
Favre said when he looks at the Packers' younger players, he thinks of his first season in Green Bay.
The Packers lost their first two games in 1992 before Favre replaced injured Don Majkowski and led a comeback victory over Cincinnati. That team would go on a six-game winning streak near the end of the season and nearly make the playoffs.
Can the same thing happen this year?
"We've got to win a game first," Favre said. "The only thing I will say is, after these two games it would be easy to say no."
But after jumping out to an early lead on New Orleans on Sunday, only to fritter it away, Favre is telling himself that anything can happen.
"We didn't make enough plays, but we did make some plays and we had a chance to win that game, and I felt like we should have won it," Favre said. "And if we keep doing that and continue to get better week in and week out, we will win and maybe we will get on a little streak."
Favre hinted that he has been taken aback by the way some of his young teammates have reacted to the early losses, but wondered whether their attitude might be healthier than his own.
"It's hard for me to come in on Monday and act like everything's OK and we're going on to the next game, even though I know we have to do that," Favre said. "Guys are joking around and like, 'No big deal.' And I'm hoping that's a good thing, because I'm assuming that in '92 I was sort of the same way."
Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Favre has put in extra effort this season.
"Brett Favre has spent so much extra time here that people don't realize," McCarthy said. "Saturday night, I'm heading over to the chapel at 8:30 and he comes rolling out of the quarterback meeting room watching film. ... That's a common scene where he's here."
Favre said the Packers must improve their running game and pass protection. But the offense could get a boost this week, because recent roster addition Koren Robinson is expected to begin playing wide receiver after working only as a kick returner against the Saints.
Favre, who has acknowledged his own past battles with excessive drinking and painkiller abuse, supports Robinson, who was signed by the Packers last week after he was charged with drunken driving and cut by the Minnesota Vikings last month.
"The first night he got here, I think I was the only one in the locker room," Favre said. "He got in that evening, was kind of getting settled in in his locker and stuff, and I just told him, 'Great to have you.' There's no doubt he's a great talent. And I think most of us know what he brings, on and off the field.
"But I don't think anyone comes with 'no baggage.' And I'd be the first to say that. I had my share of troubles and addictions and I never thought I was a bad guy. I still don't. I feel much better now that I don't drink or have straightened my life out, but by no means am I perfect."
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But Favre, who turns 37 next month, doesn't necessarily think that would be any better than sticking it out for the rest of the year - and perhaps beyond - in Green Bay.
"You know, it all, it sounds great," Favre said Wednesday. "But to learn a new system - to basically start over - the expectations would be so great. And people may say, 'Well, say your season's not going the way you would like it here, at least you could go somewhere else and take a chance at winning.' Well, I'm taking that chance now."
Favre figures a sudden trade to a contender would subject him to unrealistic pressure.
"I know how difficult that is," Favre said. "And the expectations: 'OK, we've got Brett. We're going to the Super Bowl.' Well, it's a lot harder than that. And in that situation, (if) you don't get to the Super Bowl, you don't play up to expectations, then it was a loss."
Nevertheless, with an Oct. 17 trade deadline - and given the fact Favre recently said he was "99.9 percent" sure he'd retire as a Packer but couldn't rule out ending his career with another team - it's possible a contending team might look to make a deal with Packers general manager Ted Thompson.
"Well, first of all, I don't ever foresee that happening," Favre said. "And would I go? I don't think so. I really don't."
Favre said his 14-plus years in Green Bay have been "everything and then some," and he wants to keep trying to make a winner out of this year's team.
"There's still some juice left in me here," Favre said. "And just because we're struggling right now, I'm not going to bail just like that. Whether or not this team gets back to playoff or Super Bowl contention any time soon, from my end, I've got to do what I can now. And maybe that carries over leadership-wise in the future."
Favre said when he looks at the Packers' younger players, he thinks of his first season in Green Bay.
The Packers lost their first two games in 1992 before Favre replaced injured Don Majkowski and led a comeback victory over Cincinnati. That team would go on a six-game winning streak near the end of the season and nearly make the playoffs.
Can the same thing happen this year?
"We've got to win a game first," Favre said. "The only thing I will say is, after these two games it would be easy to say no."
But after jumping out to an early lead on New Orleans on Sunday, only to fritter it away, Favre is telling himself that anything can happen.
"We didn't make enough plays, but we did make some plays and we had a chance to win that game, and I felt like we should have won it," Favre said. "And if we keep doing that and continue to get better week in and week out, we will win and maybe we will get on a little streak."
Favre hinted that he has been taken aback by the way some of his young teammates have reacted to the early losses, but wondered whether their attitude might be healthier than his own.
"It's hard for me to come in on Monday and act like everything's OK and we're going on to the next game, even though I know we have to do that," Favre said. "Guys are joking around and like, 'No big deal.' And I'm hoping that's a good thing, because I'm assuming that in '92 I was sort of the same way."
Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Favre has put in extra effort this season.
"Brett Favre has spent so much extra time here that people don't realize," McCarthy said. "Saturday night, I'm heading over to the chapel at 8:30 and he comes rolling out of the quarterback meeting room watching film. ... That's a common scene where he's here."
Favre said the Packers must improve their running game and pass protection. But the offense could get a boost this week, because recent roster addition Koren Robinson is expected to begin playing wide receiver after working only as a kick returner against the Saints.
Favre, who has acknowledged his own past battles with excessive drinking and painkiller abuse, supports Robinson, who was signed by the Packers last week after he was charged with drunken driving and cut by the Minnesota Vikings last month.
"The first night he got here, I think I was the only one in the locker room," Favre said. "He got in that evening, was kind of getting settled in in his locker and stuff, and I just told him, 'Great to have you.' There's no doubt he's a great talent. And I think most of us know what he brings, on and off the field.
"But I don't think anyone comes with 'no baggage.' And I'd be the first to say that. I had my share of troubles and addictions and I never thought I was a bad guy. I still don't. I feel much better now that I don't drink or have straightened my life out, but by no means am I perfect."
Foxsports.com
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