Way to *******ize the story you ****wit.
Favre: Enough about retirement!
He says he won’t talk about it during the upcoming season
By Rob Demovsky
PackersNews.com
Get ready for another year of speculation about Brett Favre’s retirement.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback, speaking to reporters on Saturday for the first time since he told the team on April 25 that he planned to play this season, was vague about his future beyond this year.
He seemed to recant — if only partially — his offseason claim that if he did play in 2006, there was “no doubt” it would be his final season.
“I know I said that, but I hope you guys will respect me,” Favre said during a 30-minute press conference between minicamp practices.
“I’m going to play this year and not talk about it.”
That would be a change for Favre, who when asked usually has talked openly about retirement since it became a regular topic in 2001.
Perhaps Favre, 36, doesn’t want to deal with the hoopla that would surround him during a farewell season.
Perhaps he’d rather fade into retirement.
Perhaps he’s open to the possibility of playing beyond this season if things go well under first-year coach Mike McCarthy.
Whatever the case, Favre insisted he has no plans to make his retirement a constant topic of conversation this year.
“I’m sure it will come up somewhere else at some point,” Favre said. “But it’s been a distraction, not only for me, but (for) the guys that I’ve played with here in the past, and I’m just not going to talk about it this year. Believe me, I want to have fun this year. I’d love to go to the Super Bowl, but if not, I want to have fun and feel like I contributed one way or the other and make that decision later on.”
General Manager Ted Thompson wouldn’t say whether Favre has told him if this will be his final season.
“I think Brett discussed that today,” Thompson said, “and we’re not going to address it any further.”
It took Favre almost four months after last season’s 4-12 debacle to decide to play this year. The first question asked of Favre on Saturday: Why did he decide to come back?
“Ultimately, I still wanted to play,” he said. “I still felt like I could help this team win, and I wondered what it would be like at home on Sundays and saying, ‘I could be doing that. I could be helping this team.’
“Obviously, it was a long decision, a difficult decision, but that’s basically what it came down to. I still think I could be doing that and still believe I want to do that, and for the Green Bay Packers, not another team. I know there was a lot of talk about wanting to play for another team. I’ve told you guys that over and over again, that I didn’t want to play for another team. That’s the truth. I never once mentioned a trade. This is where I wanted to be the whole time.”
Favre suggested his comments about wanting to see how Thompson was going to upgrade the roster during free agency were more a ploy to buy time.
“To be totally honest with you, and it didn’t come down to this, but we had a vote within the family,” Favre said. “They all put their answers in the hat and every one of them came back ‘Play.’ Not that I said, OK, I’ll do what you guys want me to do, but it just kind of reaffirmed what I was thinking.”
Favre has taken part in all three minicamp practices so far but hasn’t taken more than a handful of repetitions in each team period. That’s because Favre hasn’t thrown a football since the season ended.
Although he’s been working outside on his property in Mississippi and running in a local gym, Favre hasn’t been doing any serious workouts. McCarthy said Favre will begin a training program after the minicamp concludes today.
“I don’t think it’s real smart for him to push it to the limit, physically,” McCarthy said.
Oh, for the love of God
Linear Mode
