Favre Makes it Official, Flips Ted the Bird

Is this really the end of Brett Favre?

There’s a lot of speculation out there that Brett Favre’s retirement from the New York Jets this week might not take. After all, we’ve seen the “retire”/unretire scenario play out before, less than a year ago with the Green Bay Packers.

This time, however, it’s official. Brett Favre has filed his retirement papers with the NFL.

Last March, when Favre retired from the Green Bay Packers, no such thing happened, and we all know how that played out.

As Rich Cimini at the New York Daily News notes:

For practical purposes, the primary reason for filing retirement papers is to receive a one-time severance pay. Some retired players wait years before finalizing the paperwork. Symbolically, this means Favre really thinks he’s done for good.

Meanwhile, back at Favre Ranch, Brett was busy telling reporters in a teleconference that Packers GM Ted Thompson can go fuck himself.

The Packers issued a statement yesterday asserting the desire to retire Favre’s number, which they were originally scheduled to do in the 2008 season opener against the Minnesota Vikings. Yesterday, Favre told reporters that he would be open to coming back to Green Bay at the “appropriate” time, i.e. when Ted Thompson is either gone or has sufficiently apologized and kissed his ass.

“It’s a shame what has unfolded throughout the whole thing,” Favre said. “But I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t have an answer for that right now. It may be five years, it may be the first game.”

And Favre hinted that the continued presence of the man who traded him, Packers general manager Ted Thompson, might play a role in when he’s ready to return to Green Bay.

“He had his reasonings, I had my reasonings,” Favre said of his past disagreements with Thompson. “Who’s to say who’s right and who’s wrong. He has a plan. I’m not mad at him for that. Other people may be, but I don’t know. It’s a touchy situation.”

Despite the remaining acrimony between Favre and Thompson, there’s hope that the healing process has begun. In addition to the offer to retire his jersey, Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy has gone on record as saying that the marketing deal Favre was offered by the Packers last offseason is still on the table.

I think we’d all like to forget the last year happened, and some of us will never forgive Brett for the way things played out, but we’ll all cherish the memories and the joy that redneck gave us on the field. And so, I’ll end with this quote from Brett’s teleconference.

“My stay in Green Bay was unbelievable, unbelievable,” Favre said. “And not one thing could take that away, not one person. And that organization has been outstanding to me throughout my career. It is what it is. It’s unfortunate. But at some point, it’ll be dealt with.”

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