Why hate Favre unless you're a Packer fan? posted by Jake Hefelfinger

You've seen it almost everyday for the past few years, Brett Favre this and Brett Favre that. Love him or hate him but it seems like everyone pays attention to his every move. Up until now I never understood why so many people say they hate Favre, I mean if he still believes he can play at a high level then why not give it a go? How many times have you been hard pressed on a big decision in your life? Don't hate Favre for that, if anything blame the media for over-saturation. Day after day after day they headline where he ate dinner, who he talked to, what kind of jeans he is wearing (Id put my money on Wrangler) because they know that we will watch closely and talk about it as of we know the guy. So I never had a gripe with him (I actually am a fan of the guy) until now. I'm a big fan of loyalty and common sense and right now Favre show no signs of any of that. If I was a Packer fan I would be boiling with anger towards Favre with all this Vikings talk. If he signs with Minnesota then he will be signing a death wish in Wisconsin, they will crucify him and all the great moments with the Packers will no doubt be replaced with hatred. Do you really want to take it there Brett? Sign with ANY other team except the hated rival of the Green Bay Packers. Does he not realize what he is doing? Yeah I understand you have a grudge with the owner and feel the need to prove a point but is it worth losing your loyal fans who have cheered for you through the good times and the bad? To me its just not worth it. The NFL is driven by the FANS just remember that Mr. Favre.Continue reading "Why hate Favre unless you're a Packer fan?"

Brett, Go Far, Favre Away.... posted by Daniel Doyle

I am not sure it is possible, but Brett Favre needs to find the most desolate place in Mississippi and hide. Although I believe he is already past this stage, he needs to read Damage Control for Dummies. It will be an awful long time before I can say the name Brett Favre without a sour taste being left behind.

 

Favre played the game with such a youthful exuberance, that many people were completely sold on this fun-loving quarterback. His toothy smile appeared pasted on his face, in the middle of his 5 o’clock shadow. When things were going good for Favre, he was a happy go lucky guy. However, when you see a guy go through a little adversity, his true colors are exposed. Let’s face it, Favre has many more dull colors in what we all thought was a bright personality.

 

It is actually quite difficult to blame Favre. He is no different than a majority of other athletes that have had great success. Perhaps Favre duped us though. His “good-guy” appeal set everyone up for a great disappointment. He has simply followed a pattern that guys such as Terrell Owens, Roger Clemens, and Manny Ramirez had already set. Owens found a way to incorporate his not getting enough balls thrown his way into every loss in his career, dragging three quarterbacks down with him. Clemens would not sign with Houston unless they agreed to allow him to skip road trips in which he was not scheduled to pitch to stay home with his family. Manny’s list is too long to go through, but his general lack of hustle when he was upset stands out the most. Not to be forgotten was Manny’s shoving of a Red Sox employee when he was refused to be given an exorbitant amount of tickets for a game. Favre’s immaturity and selfishness stands out from any of the three aforementioned players.

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Brett Favre -- Green Bay & America's Favorite Washed-Up Lovable Loser posted by Dustin

Today wasn’t anything particularly special.  I woke up at 8:00a.m., a full hour after my alarm went off, not awesome.  Turned on the TV to see more Brett Favre.  His face, his grizzle and red jersey.  It seems that all the footage of Brett playing in Packer colors has been wiped off the face of the earth.  

ESPN only shows his New York Jets attire.  Which is accurate of Brett Favre but, I don’t like or respect Favre because of his last outing in the NFL.  I respect him because of his years in Green Bay.  The city of Green Bay that without Football, would be valued at about 25 cents.  Brett Favre though makes that city something of an icon.  An icon for what America could turn into if we follow tired and old tactics.  

Brett didn’t lead the Packers to one Superbowl in his last decade with the team.  He hardly had them competing for a few years.  Once and awhile yes, his team would be amazing, spectacular and regarded as an elite team.  Then people would start asking, do you think the Packers can make it this year?  Brett’s still got some left, don’t cha think?

No, here is the truth: Brett Favre isn’t going to win a Superbowl again, ever.  He isn’t equipped mentally or physically.  The game has changed around Brett.  He forced the game to change.  Defenses had to be faster, smarter and more aggressive.  If he was the best player for years and years it seemed the analysts knew why.  He was erratic never playing the same type of game.  

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Minnesota Vikings Want Brett Favre To Coach Tavaris and Win a Superbowl posted by Dustin

Brett Favre where do we begin.  This is an open letter to you and all of your concerns.  Stop you incessant pursuit to dominate your old team.  It isn’t likable, pretty or even expected that a man of caliber would stoop to such depths.  No playing campaign with the Minnesota Vikings will validate your 16 year career with the Green Bay Packers.  Unless you join the Vikings and go undefeated for the next two seasons, the Packers are never going to believe they made the wrong decision.

No one wants you on their team except the Minnesota Vikings.  As an organization, we want you only because it would fulfill a team goal of demoralizing the Packers.  Vikings fans do not even have expectations yet about the outcome of the game.  October 5th, 2009 will be important to both teams regardless of the starting Quarterback.  I hope with baited breath that Favre decides to attend the game, in the stands.  The first time I will have a true man-respect for Brett Favre again.  

Signing with the New York Jets didn’t give you any credibility. I would have rather seen Brett Favre retire and wait a year then join the Vikings.  Then he would have a full year to rest his late-thirties body.  We don’t think about it but twenty-somethings bounce back the next day with bumps and bruises.  Brett Favre takes the bruises from the first practice till Christmas.  Till Christmas because his teams will not make it to the playoffs anytime soon.  

Brett, the Vikings do not want you on the players roster.  We need a Quarterback, not the ‘Prince’ of Quarterbacks, the man formerly known as a Quarterback.  In the deepest sympathies, I understand, it isn’t easy to finish something you’ve sunk so much of your life into but, it is time.  The painter can’t paint with the same fever s/he did as one point in their life.  You need to realize that the fire inside doesn’t translate into the same snap of a wrist.  Now that fire would be best served on the coaching staff of the Minnesota Vikings.  

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Brett Favre "Mr. Self-Destructive" Leaving His Teams Floundering From His Fear posted by Dustin

Does anyone believe the Minnesota Vikings wouldn't be better with Brett Favre?  Of course some do but I don't, his pre-madonna motivation to reign the Vikings to a Superbowl simply to spite his former GM is going to carry him far enough.  That type of attitude isn't for the Vikings.  We need a team made of selfless leaders and selfish role players.  Our Quarterback Tavaris Jackson needs to simply develop himself as a passer, stop trying to be a runner, and become a leader.  Our wide receivers need to stop being scared and get hungry.  The fear of being hit isn't enough for them to run fast, the motivation should be the touchdown.  The end zone dance should be their highlight.  

No questions should be asked of Adrian Peterson, he's the quintessential Vikings player if we are focused on winning a championship.  He will ignite our team by his humble legs and polite footwork.  He won't crush opponents unless you are trying to crush him and he'll dodge, deke, and discomfort by making you looking stupid, when possible.  We don't ask for a team of winners all the time but when the game is on the line we expect there to be a decision made that keeps the team churning.  

Brett Favre doesn't do that, he loses his cool, the nerve of Johnny B Good doesn't hold up when the wind is whipping and the linebackers are grunting.  He is afraid of the hit, the stress, even his own mind will fail him.  His arm hasn't given up but his mind is self-destructive.  Look at his attempt to retire, he doesn't know what to do so he spends more time in limbo.  The limbo prevents him from being the great player he used to be, he is choked up with fear of being great again.  He is made to be the mid-level winner.  

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The New England Patriots and Thier Failure At History posted by Patrick Sbordone

    When the Patriots picked up Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and Donte Stallworth in the off-season I predicted 19-0. After the spy gate incident I felt even more confident about an undefeated season. What happened then? The Patriots steam rolled teams around the league on their way to smashing records including the first ever 16-0 regular season. 

    I may have been a little cocky in thinking this team could go undefeated after just signing a couple players in the off season, but I just had this feeling. This was a team who was controlling the NFL this decade and who came so close to a Super Bowl game last season. All they needed was weapons for Brady and that's what they got.

    When the playoffs finally arrived they were able to close out a tough win against a very hot Jaguars team. Then even in the AFC Championship against the Chargers when Tom Brady easily had his worst game of the year, the rest of the team still found a way to rally and beat a team in the Chargers. A team that in my mind should not have been in the AFC Championship game in the first place.        I myself as well as others I know here in Boston thought the Pats would face off against the Cowboys in the Super bowl, but we all hoped it was the Green Bay Packers who the Pats would play in Super Bowl XLII to gain revenge from the year that Bret Favre and the Pack got the best of The Bill Parcells lead Patriots in the Super Bowl. When I found out it was the Giants Continue reading "The New England Patriots and Thier ..."

To Miss Pro Bowl: 2007-08 All-Pro Team posted by Nicholas O'Malley

    I understand that football's a rough game, I played it. But damn, can anyone that's good at it stay healthy? Take a look at the players missing this year's pro bowl, it looks like the 2015-2020 Hall of Fame inductions.

Jamal Williams-DT, San Diego Chargers
Randy Moss- WR, New England Patriots
Antonio Gates- TE, San Diego Chargers
Tom Brady- QB, New England Patriots
Brett Favre- QB, Green Bay Packers
Jonathan Ogden-OT, Baltimore Ravens
Walter Jones- OT, Seattle Seahawks
Patrick Kerney-DE, Seattle Seahawks
Lance Briggs-OLB, Chicago Bears
Tommie Harris-DT, Chicago Bears
Willie Parker-RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Ladainian Tomlinson-RB, San Diego Chargers
Jason Peters-OT, Buffalo Bills
Jason Taylor-OLB, Miami Dolphins
Troy Polamalu-S, Pittsburgh Steelers
Bob Sanders-S, Indianapolis Colts
Sean Taylor-S, Washington Redskins

Of course, there are legitimate reasons to miss the pro bowl (See: Sean Taylor, who's questionable with a mortal bullet wound), but then there's the case of Randy Moss who wasn't even listed on the Super Bowl injury report and got outplayed by 2'5" 15 pound Wes Welker.

This list of players is basically the same thing as a team in Madden 08 with fair trades turned off. You got:

- The 2 New England Patriots that broke touchdown records in their respective categories

- The league's leading rusher and 4th leading rusher (and in all honesty, he would have gotten it if not for a leg fracture)

-Two future hall of fame tackles

Continue reading "To Miss Pro Bowl: 2007-08 All-Pro Team"

Always Look on the Bright Side (of the most disappointing season in Patriots history) posted by Mike Dussault

Yes I'll admit it, the 2007 New England Patriots season has to qualify as the most disappointing in team history. Back when the Pats stunk you couldn't really be disappointed, you had to expect them to end the season with a loss. I don't think the loss to the Green Bay Packers in 1996 was more than a blip on my Boston Sports Misery Index. We were just happy to not get blown out like we did against the Chicago Bears ten years earlier. But after three Super Bowls your expectations change. Especially when you're playing a team that you've already beaten in the regular season. So yes, this 2007 season goes down as a disappointment in terms of the ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl. But what positives can we take as we start to pick up the pieces and refocus on 2008?

Well first of all it's safe to say that the debate about who's better - Brady or Peyton - can be put to rest ,for now. (Perhaps we should now debate who the better Manning is, but I digress). Brady rewrote the record books this season putting up astronomical stats, something that he was never known to do. I have to say that this season makes the Patriots past Super Bowl wins look a little bit more impressive when you consider the offenses that we did it with. Of course the Pats defense was better back then. Younger, faster, hungrier and not over-confident... I'm looking at you Richard Seymour. That was the difference between two more Super Bowls most likely.

When we look back at the Patriots dynasty they've already been to 4 Super Bowls and 5 AFC Championship games in 7 seasons. As fans we've gotten to watch more huge football games than anyone else and for that we are lucky. We didn't always come out on top but we made it there and the dominance of the Patriots organization this decade is undeniable.

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Das boot and the two week media hype that is the NFL posted by Ken Murray

So we are more than a week away from the best day of the year, Super Bowl Sunday, and I'm already tired of the hype. I normally try to avoid much sports news in the two weeks from the AFC and NFC Championship games till Super Sunday, but with the writers' strike taking away any normal scripted tv shows all that is left is horrid reality tv shows/game shows and repeated sports news stories over and over again.

The big news right now is the boot on the golden boy's foot. Tom Brady has been seen this week in an aircast for his high ankle sprain and did not participate in practice on Thursday for the New England Patriots. What does this all mean? The only thing it might mean is that you don't take the Patriots giving the points for the big game. Any Pats fan knows already they haven't covered a line in weeks and haven't covered a Super Bowl line since they were getting points from the St. Louis Rams and beat his holiness Kurt Warner straight up anyways.

So why the hype? Because there's no other story out there. They keep pushing the headline that the New York Giants have won 10 straight road games. Well last time I checked, New England was undefeated this year which means guess what, they've won 8 straight road games this year. They've won 18 straight games, who cares about the Giants road wins, the Patriots aren't losing either.

Tom Brady is in a boot, didn't practice this week and the pictures of him in his boot are all over the web and tv because of TMZ. Big deal. Tom Brady will be behind the center come Super Bowl Sunday. Why? Because he's not 3 plays Ladainian Tomlinson. Tom Brady knows what it takes to win and to make history.

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Patriots Get It Done Against the Chargers posted by Mike Dussault

It wasn't pretty. It wasn't a blowout. But in the end the New England Patriots got key contributions from some of their biggest question marks this season and defeated the San Diego Chargers to advance to the Super Bowl. Let's start with the Defense. All year the pundits said the Patriots were vulnerable on D and for much of the season they ranked near the bottom of the league in red zone defense. However yesterday the Pats D, led by an ageless Junior Seau, held the Chargers to just four field goals on the day, stopping them three times inside the 20-yard line. Yet again they held the oppositions running game in check which should finally put to rest any argument that the Pats can be run on. The last time they let someone rush for 100-yards was against the Steelers on December 9th. Yet again the Defense has stepped it up late in the season and is playing championship football. They are by no means the weak link on this team.
The most surprising aspect of yesterday's game was Tom Brady's lackluster performance. If you had told me he would throw three interceptions before the game I would've conceded there would be a strong chance the Chargers would pull off the upset. But the Patriots are a team that can play any kind of football. Brady's having an off day? Randy Moss only has one catch? Laurence Maroney and Kevin Faulk stepped up. Again, there were questions all year if the Pats were all pass, no run but the AFC Championship Game was another solid example that Maroney was well worth the first round pick New England spent on him and Kevin Faulk continues to be one of the most underrated players in the NFL. To be able to run the clock out after getting it with over 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter is amazing and the kind of dominance you need in the playoffs. The Defense held the Offense up all day until the end when the Pats running backs iced the game without putting the Defense in the position to have to make another stop. 
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Packers lock in star WR Jennings with $27M deal

The Green Bay Packers have accomplished perhaps their most important goal of the offseason: signing wide receiver Greg Jennings to a contract extension.The Packers announced Wednesday that they had struck a new deal with Jennings, a second-round draft pick in 2006 who has blossomed into one of the league's most dangerous receivers.Terms were not disclosed, but the new deal was expected to put Jennings among the NFL's highest-paid receivers. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for NFL

Packers lock in star WR Jennings with new deal

The Green Bay Packers have accomplished perhaps their most important goal of the offseason: signing wide receiver Greg Jennings to a contract extension.The Packers announced Wednesday that they had struck a new deal with Jennings, a second-round draft pick in 2006 who has blossomed into one of the league's most dangerous receivers.Terms were not disclosed, but the new deal was expected to put Jennings among the NFL's highest-paid receivers. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for NFL

Packers sign WR Jennings to new contract (AP)

The Green Bay Packers have accomplished perhaps their most important goal of the offseason: signing wide receiver Greg Jennings to a contract extension. The Packers announced Wednesday that they had struck a new deal with Jennings, a second-round draft pick in 2006 who has blossomed into one of the league's most dangerous receivers. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Packers' officials wary of economy (AP)

The Green Bay Packers haven't been sacked by the recession despite a rough season on the field and significant financial challenges off it, but officials remain wary of the future. The NFL's only publicly owned franchise turned a $20.1 million operating profit last year, according to team officials. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Carolina hold off Green Bay rally

Brett Favre shines but cannot prevent the Green Bay Packers suffering their worst NFL start in 17 years. [read full article]

From BBC Sport