11/04/24
October 05, 2011
Favre: What Took Rodgers So Long?: Asked in a radio interview if he was surprised that Aaron Rodgers led the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl victory, Brett Favre said, "I'm really kind of surprised it took him so long ... The biggest surprise to me would be that he didn't do it sooner. He's very bright and he got a chance to watch and see successful teams do it right. And so he just kind of fell into a good situation."
While there are a few lines that get the arrogance meter going, Favre did acknowledge that Rodgers was bright, has very good skils, and is a good QB. Did you really expect him to kiss Rodger's ass?
Rodgers did benefit from not being rushed into the starting role, impossible to know if his first four years in the league would have been as successful had he started right out of college. Favre says that Rodgers benefits from being able to watch how a successful team gets it done, hard to argue with that. He does not say that Rodgers benefited from being able to watch him get it done.
I really don't see this as any huge slam on Rodgers.
posted by dviking at 12:25 PM on October 05, 2011
Favre qualifies his praise for Rodgers in such a weird way that it's hard to accept as genuine praise. Of all people, he should realize that winning even a single Super Bowl is incredibly hard. Getting a ring requires a lot more than falling into a good situation.
posted by rcade at 12:39 PM on October 05, 2011
Favre qualifies his praise for Rodgers in such a weird way that it's hard to accept as genuine praise.
Yes, but why is this comment-worthy? Favre will always want to be the starting quarterback of the Packers, that's just how it is. Don't expect a dog not to bark.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 12:57 PM on October 05, 2011
Watching how Rodgers fits catchable balls splendidly into openings in the coverage with appropriate timing and pace, and how he not only takes what the defense will give him, but at times takes the maximum amount of what the defense will give him, without pushing his luck or making foolish decisions, I would say that his years spent watching how someone else got it done were well spent indeed.
posted by beaverboard at 01:30 PM on October 05, 2011
What H.O.F. caliber QB, that was replaced the way Favre was, has gone on record saying that his replacement was better than he was? I think he gives ample praise to Rodgers, enough to let the other comments slide.
I think he acknowledges that it takes more than just falling into a good situation. It's not like Favre calls Rodgers mediocre. Rodgers did take over a solid team with pretty much everything in place. I don't see how that is really debatable.
I guess if one didn't like Favre before, they aren't going to like him now. I just think too much is being made of his comments.
posted by dviking at 01:50 PM on October 05, 2011
I think if one loves Favre, they're still going to love him. I just think not enough is being made of his comments.
Kind of works.
posted by justgary at 01:55 PM on October 05, 2011
The Packers were a game over .500 while Rodgers was a backup. What "successful team" is Favre referring to?
Yes, he wasn't intentionally being a dick. Very few people ever are. But he could have answered that question so many ways (including "I don't think it's fair for me to comment on my successor, thanks") that wouldn't have looked dickish at all, and he managed to do it anyway. There would seem to be a reason for that.
posted by Etrigan at 01:59 PM on October 05, 2011
I expected to read this and have another reason to dislike Favre but I find this pretty tame. It's just a weird comment. Makes me think he respects Rodgers (or his game anyway) but is still a tad angry about how things went down. I think Favre would rather have had a Brian Griese take over when he retired.
posted by tron7 at 02:21 PM on October 05, 2011
Of all people, he should realize that winning even a single Super Bowl is incredibly hard. Getting a ring requires a lot more than falling into a good situation.
Favre: won his first (and only) Super Bowl in his fifth season since he took over as starting quarterback.
Rodgers: won his first Super Bowl in his third season as starting quarterback.
And without any mentoring help from Favre.....who repeatedly says that teaching him "wasn't his job." Sure, you could spin the year statistic one way or the other however you want, but that comment about Rodgers was so unwarranted in light of this, I'm surprised Favre's foot hasn't choked him out yet from being wedged in his mouth so deep.
posted by NerfballPro at 02:27 PM on October 05, 2011
I will be glad when Brett Favre stops making news.
posted by insomnyuk at 02:52 PM on October 05, 2011
Kind of works.
Only when viewed through the hater-filter. Seriously. I'm not a Favre fan, but isn't it time to get over it already?
posted by lil_brown_bat at 03:11 PM on October 05, 2011
I think the successful team Favre was referring to was the team as he left it, which made it to the NFC championship game and was a play away from the Superbowl. While some of his comments out of context seem like sour grapes, in the total context of what he said, he gave plenty of credit to Rodgers. I always liked Favre but it is time to stop talking to him and probably time to stop listening also. He has his opinions but frankly the record Rodgers will leave behind will speak for itself. I am pretty certain Rodgers will wind up with more rings than Favre if he keeps playing at this level.
Favre was a great player and his records speak for themselves, he doesn't really need to comment. There is obviously some bitterness about the way he was forced out in Green Bay at a time when the team had just got back to the talent level needed to be competitive. The difficult decisions made by Packers management to move on to the next generation QB, which were pressured by Rodgers' understandable desire to go somewhere where he could start, have been validated by the results. With the exception of the first two years Favre and Rodgers have proven Green Bay made the right decisions.
posted by Atheist at 03:23 PM on October 05, 2011
this just seems like someone is spinning Favres comments to sound critical. "I am surprised it took him so long" isn't really criticism - he was just saying he thinks Rodgers had the ability - and the team to have done it sooner.
posted by G_Web at 03:29 PM on October 05, 2011
I think the successful team Favre was referring to was the team as he left it, which made it to the NFC championship game and was a play away from the Superbowl.
That team had some pretty serious flaws, which were revealed and mostly patched over the next two years.
In retrospect, I'm glad that Favre left because if he hadn't forced the trade, the Packers would likely have been unable to draft Clay Matthews III.
posted by drezdn at 04:55 PM on October 05, 2011
"I am surprised it took him so long" isn't really criticism - he was just saying he thinks Rodgers had the ability - and the team to have done it sooner.
I read that the same way. I'm in the camp that wishes that Favre would just go away, but I think this is certainly much ado about not a goddamn thing.
posted by tahoemoj at 05:15 PM on October 05, 2011
Being in Election mode (just had one up here), I am proposing we make SpoFi a "Brett Favre Free Zone".
Do I have your vote?
posted by cixelsyd at 05:25 PM on October 05, 2011
Being in Election mode (just had one up here)
Where's here?
Election Day is tomorrow for Ontario (though I voted Monday in an Advance Poll, travelling for Thanksgiving weekend), I wouldn't mind a moratorium on Favre threads for a while.
posted by tommybiden at 05:32 PM on October 05, 2011
Only when viewed through the hater-filter. Seriously. I'm not a Favre fan, but isn't it time to get over it already?
Are you talking about us, or Favre himself? Because the latter is never going to happen.
posted by wfrazerjr at 05:39 PM on October 05, 2011
Lifelong Packer fan, former die-hard Favre fan, presently have absolutely no use for the guy or his words or his presence in any facet of the game whatsoever anymore ever again the end.
You've got my goddamned vote.
posted by evixir at 06:34 PM on October 05, 2011
I think the bad part is where Favre says Rodgers fell into a good situation. Sitting on the bench for 3 years while the starting QB dithers every year about retiring is not a good situation. Finally being rid of said QB is not just falling into a situation. Rodgers more than paid his dues.
posted by bperk at 08:37 PM on October 05, 2011
Are you talking about us, or Favre himself? Because the latter is never going to happen.
Us. As I said, Favre is always going to want to be quarterback of the Packers. He's not able to move on. That doesn't make what he said about Rodgers dickish; that's neither here nor there.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:33 PM on October 05, 2011
Oh, that Farva! Looks like he's enjoying retirement, he's as relaxed as his top-quality Wrangler jeans, tossing the pigskin around the park with the guys from the F-150 spot, and now this? I call...
..SHENANIGANS!
posted by Hugh Janus at 11:21 PM on October 05, 2011
He's not able to move on.
I think that does make what he said dickish, and by extension it makes him dickish. Well, that and pretty much everything else about him.
posted by wfrazerjr at 11:22 PM on October 05, 2011
wfrazerjr: I guess my perception is that most people are stuck in their lives, in one way or another, and that it's very easy to look at another person and point out the ways that they're stuck, but not so easy to see it or admit to it in ourselves. To the extent that Favre is messed up, he's messed up in a very commonplace way, and if that makes him dickish, a lot of people should be wearing the same label.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:36 AM on October 06, 2011
To the extent that Favre is messed up, he's messed up in a very commonplace way
How so? The number of players that haven't been able to move on, and therefore, behave in ridiculously dickish ways seem to include mainly Michael Jordan and Brett Favre. I think that's really about it. The failure to have any perspective whatsoever doesn't seem that common among adults to me.
posted by bperk at 10:24 AM on October 06, 2011
I guess you just have to read it in context, bperk, and not take part of one sentence and infer all kinds of silliness from it.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 02:49 PM on October 06, 2011
People are reading the Favre quotes in the context of how he's conducted himself the past five years. Given the emotional immaturity he displayed by sexting his junk to an uninterested woman, I don't think it's much of a stretch to believe he's complimenting Rodgers through gritted teeth.
posted by rcade at 02:56 PM on October 06, 2011
Agreed. I appreciate your point lbb, but it feels like Devil's Advocacy. Even if not, it's fairly pointless here: we're gonna have our 15 minutes of hate whenever this rube does anything. He's earned it.
posted by yerfatma at 05:31 PM on October 06, 2011
Even if not, it's fairly pointless here: we're gonna have our 15 minutes of hate whenever this rube does anything.
Wait, I thought this thread was about Favre not letting go.
I just think not enough is being made of his comments.
Kind of works.
Really, you want to make even more out of it?
The guy gave exactly the answer any of us would expect out of him. And, again, what H.O.F. level player, that was forced out, has gleefully embraced their replacement?
posted by dviking at 01:18 AM on October 07, 2011
People are reading the Favre quotes in the context of how he's conducted himself the past five years.
And you think that's reasonable? Whenever you say something, do you expect people around you to be dredging up everything you've said and done over the past five years?
On reflection, what yerfatma said. Trying to reason with haters is pointless.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:13 AM on October 07, 2011
Just to be clear, I am one of them.
Wait, I thought this thread was about Favre not letting go.
Oh please.
posted by yerfatma at 09:38 AM on October 07, 2011
And, again, what H.O.F. level player, that was forced out, has gleefully embraced their replacement?
Charlie Sheen?
The Montana-Young saga was similar, but I don't recall Montana being as dickish as Favre. Of course, Montana was beloved, and Favre has done everything he could to make himself unlikable for quite some time.
posted by bperk at 10:18 AM on October 07, 2011
He's not a Hall of Famer, but Drew Bledsoe hasn't taken his turn of fortune against Tom Brady. He even joked, "I had a a horrible backup, that No. 12 guy. He didn't really understand the backup part." They both speak highly of each other.
The thing that gets me about Favre is that the Packers faithful would gladly embrace him again. All it would take is some unqualified praise for Rodgers and the current team, and he'd be back in their good graces. If he wants endorsement money and fan adulation, there's a seat waiting for him on the Packers bandwagon.
posted by rcade at 10:43 AM on October 07, 2011
He even joked, "I had a a horrible backup, that No. 12 guy. He didn't really understand the backup part."
That is pretty damn funny.
posted by NoMich at 10:59 AM on October 07, 2011
If you want to look and feel truly comfortable in Wrangler's Relaxed Fit jeans, you have to either have or be an extremely big dick.
Pick one.