Favre: 'I may not play anywhere'
By Jason Wilde, Capital Newspapers
GREEN BAY — The public relations battle between retired-for-now quarterback Brett Favre and his potentially soon-to-be-former team, the Green Bay Packers, escalated July 14.
During an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, Favre accused the Packers of fabricating their version of events and telling only part of the truth about his waffling on retirement.
"Don't make up a lot of stuff or give half of the truth," Favre said. "I mean, it's ridiculous. It really is."
In his first interview since news of his desire to come back broke, Favre also said that the team pressured him into his premature decision to retire in early March and told him that coming back to the Packers wasn't an option after his flirtation with a comeback at the end of March.
"The bottom line, (on) March (6), when I got in front of the podium, did I want to play? Yes. One hundred percent? No," Favre said in a 12-minute segment of an interview that was taped in the morning on July 14 in agent James "Bus" Cook's office and aired during Van Susteren's nightly show, "On The Record."
"I won't play if I'm not 100 percent committed, " Favre added. "I could've easily said, You know what? I'll take the money, I'll come back, and hopefully I'll get committed somewhere either before training camp, during training camp or during the season. No one will know.' But that's not me."
Van Susteren promised that the second half of the interview would run July 15. Toward the end of the portion that ran July 14, Favre confessed that he is "guilty of retiring early," and acknowledged that he may end up staying retired after all this.
"The bottom line is," Favre said. "I may not play anywhere."
While claiming he wasn't mad at t he team for moving on, Favre implied that general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy were being disingenuous when they said the team was trying to protect the legacy of the legendary quarterback, who is the NFL's only three-time MVP and holds virtually every significant career quarterbacking record.
"(The Packers said), We're trying to protect your legacy. 'Well, thank you, I appreciate that," Favre said. "But apparently now, they're trying to protect my legacy by bringing me back and having me be a backup. Boy, that is really good."
When Van Susteren observed that Favre "liked being a Packer, "Favre said: "I can't envision being with anyone else, or haven't envisioned being with anyone else.
"It was destiny. A kid from south Mississippi ... who would've ever thought I would go to Green Bay and have the career I had? And it's unfortunate that it has come to this.
"I'm sure there's a lot of fans out there thinking from what they've heard, that, Brett is a traitor, he wants to play elsewhere.' That's not true. I was told that playing in Green Bay was not an option. Regardless of what you hear from up there. I'm not making it up. I was told that playing in Green Bay was not an option.
"Then, I was told, We can't envision you playing with another team,' as well. What does that tell me? That, 'We don't want you playing, period.'"
As for fan reaction to his indecision, Favre said, "I understand how the public is like, you know, make up your mind already.' But there's no way I can expect them to understand what I'm going through."
The interview was arranged by Van Susteren after Favre's wife, Deanna, e-mailed her on July 12, saying that Favre wanted to tell his side of the story after Thompson spoke to several state media outlets.
In those interviews, Thompson said Favre would be accepted back on the roster if he petitioned NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for reinstatement from the reserve retired list, but that Aaron Rodgers is now the team's starting quarterback.
"We currently have nothing to add on this matter," Packers PR director Jeff Blumb said in a statement e-mailed to reporters before Van Susteren's show aired.
Van Susteren might seem to be a curious choice to receive Favre's first interview, but the Appleton native is an unabashed Favre fan as well as a Packers shareholder. She also avoided any difficult questions in her previous interviews with Favre — in September 2006 and again last September.
Favre said when he told McCarthy on June 20 that he was seriously considering a comeback, McCarthy told him the team had "moved on."
"And I said, Moved on?' (And McCarthy said), Yeah, we've moved on. I had to tell the team something, you know what I mean? You told me you were not 100 percent committed,'" Favre recounted.
Favre briefly acknowledged that he talked to the team about a comeback in late March, but did not elaborate on his change of heart then. Favre also said that he told McCarthy, "Had I been able to wait until training camp, that would have been great. (McCarthy) said, Well, why didn 't you tell me that? We would have let you do it.'"
When Fox News promoted the interview, — giving it top billing over a sit-down with John McCain — the network said Favre would address, among other things, how he won't return to Green Bay as a backup, that he wants to be released and that he doesn't want to be traded because then the Packers would control his "destiny."