12/21/24
October 20, 2008
Favre Accused of Helping Packers Opponent: Brett Favre phoned officials of the Detroit Lions prior to their game with the Green Bay Packers and gave an hour-long tutorial on the Packers offense, Fox Sports' Jay Glazer claimed today. If true, it didn't help -- the Pack won 45-28.
If that's true, what an ass. Move on, Brett. Doesn't he know that he will be wearing a Packers jersey in the HOF?
posted by bperk at 02:21 PM on October 20, 2008
As a life long packer fan and huge Favre fan this really disappoints me if it's true. The media seems to spread rumors like wildfire. So until i see some cold hard proof I choose to believe he would never do that. Call it denial if you want but that's my choice.
posted by amatzek at 03:07 PM on October 20, 2008
Easy for me to believe. After his performance yesterday, it's obvious he didn't spend an hour studying the Jets offense.
posted by MrFrisby at 03:44 PM on October 20, 2008
"After his performance yesterday, it's obvious he didn't spend an hour studying the Jets offense."
Nope. That's not on Brett. That's on the Jets offensive line that, even after another 50 million was spent is, is still truly OFFENSIVE.
posted by cjets at 04:19 PM on October 20, 2008
Hey MrFrisby and cjets. This supposedly happened before the second game of the season so it had nothing to do with yesterdays game. Pay attention
posted by amatzek at 04:45 PM on October 20, 2008
If this did happen, I'm wondering how often it has also happened elsewhere with other players and other teams.
Maybe this is just a once in a generation bad thing. Maybe it happens more than we think or know.
Jeez, why wouldn't Brett call the Bears or Vikings instead of the Lions if he wanted to deep 6 the Pack?
Maybe it was the Packers-Lions spread more than the win or loss that really mattered.
Maybe Favre just deep down respects and admires Matt Millen so much that he'd want to reach out and lend a hand any way he could.
Maybe he's been calling Packer opponents for years with this kind of help. If so, he probably called the linebacker and secondary coaches to tell them about the reads and routes.
That would help explain some of his legendary 3 and 4 pick performances.
posted by beaverboard at 04:49 PM on October 20, 2008
I'm sure lots of players that felt they were treated poorly by their former teams have given similar advice. Probably not a whole lot that Brett could have told them that they didn't know.
Given that it was the Lions, maybe Brett felt sorry for them.
Since it appears that this is all legal, this story will be gone by Wednesday.
posted by dviking at 05:21 PM on October 20, 2008
Am I missing something here? Surely when a player changes teams they'll spill all they know. Just like in F1 and the spy nonsense last year, when staff change teams they obviously take knowledge with them.
Obviously this is this weeks tempest in a teacup.
posted by Drood at 05:45 PM on October 20, 2008
Am I missing something here? Surely when a player changes teams they'll spill all they know.
Yes, but generally not to a team other than their own, and unsolicited at that. There would be no surprise that Favre would share such info with his current team...that sort of thing happens all the time. But calling up a completely different team to try to sabotage his old team is a new wrinkle.
But as noted, since it was the Lions we were talking about, it didn't help.
posted by TheQatarian at 06:03 PM on October 20, 2008
Fair enough. I mean yeah, it's a douchebag thing to do, but I just don't see it as that big of a deal.
posted by Drood at 06:09 PM on October 20, 2008
Pay attention
Thanks captain obvious, but I can't, I'm broke. But since you brought up week 2, Favre sucked that week too.
posted by MrFrisby at 08:18 PM on October 20, 2008
He's always been revered as this "class act" by fans and media alike, but some things he's done
- Let his retirement drag on, then when people were complaining said "what are they going to do? Cut me?" - Refused to help Rodgers his rookie year and said it wasn't his job to make sure he was ready to play - Had an addition to drugs - Forced to enter rehab for alcohol - Would sleep during meetings - publicly criticize the front office for their moves - publicly criticized teammate for holding out of camp - tried to tell the front office who to bring in as coach - Now (rumored) to be telling OTHER TEAMS his previous team's tendencies
I'm not saying all of those are atrocious, but seriously..if an Owens or a Moss did the above, we would be reading how "classless" they were, and how "selfish" they were. Instead, all we hear from the talking heads is how "he earned that right". Goes to show what a little media-love will do for your public image (ask Bonds).
posted by bdaddy at 09:45 AM on October 21, 2008
You can bring all the other things into it but leave the addiction out of it. By the way he was not forced to go into treatment he went voluntarily after he had a seizure at the hospital. NO ONE in the packers organazation forced him to go.
posted by amatzek at 10:18 AM on October 21, 2008
Brett Favre once made a handbag out of the skin from a thirty-year old grandmother's right buttock. He had a full uniform made of human skin and hired immigrant children to fashion pads out of ground bone and cartilage. He fills his grandma-ass bag with vikes and miniature XO brandy bottle (because Brett Favre's all class) and prowls schoolyards in your neighborhood, seeking to turn your child into an addict, a radio pundit, or both. I heard he's a member of the Discordian Society and that he has something to do with the LSD that's been circulating through the Green Bay water supply for decades.
Also he never wears shoes, even on the football field. He just paints his feet black and nails cleats to the soles, which is totally unamerican, because quarterbacks are heroes and should support the Vietnamese orphans who labor with chattering teeth and numb fingers to fashion high-quality Nikes for the betterment of Our Great Land.
Plus, I heard that he was so frostbitten during his third successful ascent of Mt. Everest that he has to shave with a mystical Persian throwing dagger once wielded by the great Kvaja Amar Ayyar. Though it dances in midair as if on strings, Brett Favre has forbidden the dagger to come within a quarter inch of his noble cheek; because of his adventurous spirit and secret societal affiliations (rumors point to a Discordian hideout in a cave near Everest's peak) he has sacrificed his face for a world of scruff and will never find welcome at the Jets' legendary postgame bacchanales, where nymphs and vixens frolic only with the clean-shaven.
For this we should pity Brett Favre, a man of great appetites and greater sacrifices. I hope he finds what he's looking for, because it just might save us all. I don't know about you people, but I could use some saving right about now.
And a shave.
posted by Hugh Janus at 11:00 AM on October 21, 2008
You know Favre has always been acclaimed for playing the game like a kid with a kids enthusiasm. Well maybe he plays the game like a kid because that is what he is, and overgrown kid. Everything I have read about him calls into question his level of maturity.
Yes as a quarterback he is well seasoned, has a great arm and is durable as anyone. As a human being he seems very immature. Who can blame him though, he has basically made millions and become famous playing a game as if he were a kid. We have seen the difficulties he has had trying to let it go and grow up. No wonder he can't make a decision, he has never had to. Even his on field performance at times suggests he doesn't make well thought out decisions.
posted by Atheist at 11:48 AM on October 21, 2008
So amaztek, about that whole addiction thing.
To quote this article: "The NFL doctors kept calling. Favre kept ignoring them. Finally, a league doctor called and said Favre had been classified as behavioral-referred instead of self-referred because the Packers' team doctors had contacted the NFL about his addiction to painkillers.
Now, Favre had no choice. He had to report to the Menninger Clinic or he would be fined four weeks' pay, or about $900,000."
Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I wouldn't really call that "voluntarily going into treatment". Your statement about "NO ONE in the packers organization forcing him to go" is true. They tried, it didn't work, so they called the NFL. Nice try there. Oh, and by the way, why should one not bring the addiction up? It's a part of his life and career just as much as every start, pass, touchdown, and interception he's ever had.
posted by boredom_08 at 02:23 PM on October 21, 2008
"[Favre]never wears shoes, even on the football field. He just paints his feet black and nails cleats to the soles"
My favourite line from a solid attempt to give Maddox some wildman competition around here.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 02:52 PM on October 21, 2008
I'm not saying all of those are atrocious, but seriously..if an Owens or a Moss did the above, we would be reading how "classless" they were, and how "selfish" they were. Instead, all we hear from the talking heads is how "he earned that right". Goes to show what a little media-love will do for your public image (ask Bonds).
You might also be hearing it if Favre was black.
posted by wfrazerjr at 08:25 PM on October 21, 2008
Thanks for posting this, rcade. I came here specifically to see if anyone had mentioned it.
Additional updates from the Journal Sentinel Packer blog (not necessarily an unbiased source, of course):
Reporter stands by Favre-Lions story "1000%"
NFL says no violation if Favre talked to Lions
posted by evixir at 09:16 PM on October 21, 2008
I still say this is a non-story.
No one in the league gives a crap one way or the other. That tells me that this happens fairly often. Players are cut each year, players have grudges against old coaches, so yea, they try to get a little payback.
posted by dviking at 09:31 PM on October 21, 2008
Also, there's a radio show in Milwaukee (The Big Show on WSSP 1250AM) that featured LeRoy Butler talking at length about the rumours. You can hear LeRoy's comments here. To lend some credence to his commentary, Butler played his entire career with the Packers (11 years, 10 of which were with Favre) and was beloved by Packers fans as a real all-around stand-up guy.
As a lifelong Packer fan myself, this whole story really disturbs me. I've lost a lot of respect for Favre over the retirement thing, and he lost my fandom as a result, but even with all that in mind, I reallllllly don't want this to be true.
posted by evixir at 09:49 PM on October 21, 2008
If Hugh Janus is correct, then Brett Favre must be Chuck Norris's evil twin. Lions have played the Packers twice a year for decades. You think they could've figured out a few things on their own.
posted by Newbie Walker at 05:01 AM on October 22, 2008
You can bring all the other things into it but leave the addiction out of it.
Why, though? Does the media leave the addiction side out of it when a Ricky Williams gets busted for Pot again? Or Pacman and his drinking issues? Or that Denver running back (name escapes me)?
All of those guys classify as having an "addiction", but that doesn't causes anybody to cut them any slack. They're considered "thugs".
posted by bdaddy at 09:15 AM on October 22, 2008
bdaddy, I, for one, view Favre and Pacman as slightly different cases. Farve had his run in with alcohol and vicodin, went into treatment, and has not repeatedly gotten into the same trouble. Pacman proves over and over that he will not change his behavior. If Favre had abused the pain killers year after year, including after spending time on the suspended list, I doubt the media, and public, would have treated him the same as they did. And Ricky also keeps getting caught with the dope, time after time. The media, and the fans, have always been willing to let athletes slide by once, maybe twice, it's the third, fourth, or fifth times that seem to get all the coverage.
All of Farve's issues were covered by the media, and his reputation did suffer. However, since he was able to avoid repeat violations, and went on to a Hall of Fame career, I'm not surprised he isn't viewed as a thug like Pacman is.
As to your point about Favre, trying to tell the front office who to bring in as a coach...why shouldn't the star QB have a say in that? It's fairly common for owners to talk with players prior to hiring new managers. I know Jerry Jones talked with Romo and others before hiring Phillips.
posted by dviking at 10:34 AM on October 22, 2008
"I know Jerry Jones talked with Romo and others before hiring Phillips."
Not the best illustration at this point viking.
posted by brainofdtrain at 02:19 AM on October 24, 2008
"it didn't help"
This is the Lions, after all.