Gregg Easterbrook’s annual NFC preview column includes his potted history of the previous two years of the adventures of Brett Favre:
Favre played well for Green Bay in 2007, then looked old and unhappy during the frigid NFC championship loss at Lambeau. In 2008, Favre played well for the Jets when the weather was clement, then looked old and unhappy once frost hit the pumpkin. Both 2007 and 2008 ended for Favre’s clubs with him throwing a killer interception on a cold day. Going to a dome team in Minnesota, Favre will mainly play indoors. This year the Vikes are likely to have only one cold-weather contest, at Chicago just after Christmas; in November, all their games are at home while their other outdoor December contests are at Arizona and at Carolina. It’s a schedule that could not be better if Favre drew it up himself.
There is obvious potential for fiasco in Minnesota’s bringing aboard Favre, and not just because his $12 million salary becomes guaranteed on opening day. Vikings players know Favre single-handedly dynamited the Jets’ organization last season — the starting quarterback was waived, the coaches fired — then walked out the instant it suited him. He demanded special favor after special favor from the Jets, then gave nothing back. Management and other players couldn’t wait for him to get out of Green Bay, so weary were both of Favre’s self-centeredness. Now he brings his “I love me” show to Minnesota. If the Vikings win, Favre will grab the credit; if they lose, Favre will once again say he was mistreated. No Vikings player other than Favre will get any media attention in 2008; if Adrian Peterson runs for 3,000 yards, Favre will claim the credit. Plus Childress waffled so much in his pursuit of Favre that now he seems weak, as if he were a factotum awaiting Favre’s instructions. Late in July, Childress told the Vikings’ locker room there was “not a chance” Favre would join the team, and that he expected them to rally around quarterbacks Jackson and Rosenfels. Now it turns out Childress was continuing to talk to Favre the entire time he was telling his team otherwise. What credibility can Childress have when it appears that he looked his players in the eye and lied to them?
The only way Childress retains his credibility is if the team wins through and goes deep into the playoffs . . . if they stumble, he’ll have sacrificed his chances of being re-signed as head coach for nothing.
