Packers to Favre: No Release

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- The last thing Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy want to do is engage in a public shouting match with Brett Favre, even after the three-time MVP put the team in a tough spot by changing his mind on retirement and demanding a release from his contract just weeks before training camp.

But by detailing Favre's dizzying decision-making process this offseason, Thompson and McCarthy hope Packers fans will understand why the team isn't necessarily tossing aside all its plans just because Favre recently decided he wants to play again.

Making their first public comments since Favre demanded his release this week, Thompson and McCarthy told The Associated Press on Saturday that the team had no plans to release Favre. They says Favre is welcome to rejoin the team, but he would be doing so without a defined role.

My thoughts:

First, neither this nor any other development in this story will ever in any way interfere with my hero worship of Brett Favre.

Second, I didn't want him to retire in the first place, so I'd be perfectly happy to see him playing in Green Bay again, although this would make the annual "will he or won't he retire" soap opera even more difficult.

Third, while Favre has broken most of the NFL records a quarterback can break, there are several up-and-coming guys currently playing who could threaten those records in four or five years. A stat-padding season or two would go down real good.

Fourth, this latest maneuver by the Packers makes it more likely that Favre will either play for them or that they will be able to make a trade.

Addendum to point #4: while the thought of Favre playing for the Vikings, Bears, or Cowboys causes my digestive system to seize up in ways I only thought possible after insulting the chef at an offshore Thai restaraunt, I also wonder whether any of those teams would make a deal in the Herschel Walker/Ricky Williams vein. Because that would be worth it.

On the other hand, Favre's return as the Green Bay Packers' starting QB (if, in fact, that's what happens) will nullify this fantastic column I wrote about his retirement. So that right there ought to put the brakes on all this.