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Posted 08/18/2010 at 02:07 PM
No, not me. Not this time! Not even for a milli-second.
Two summers ago, I bit hook, line and sinker. Brett Favre retired in the spring, wavered in the summer and then the Green Bay soap opera played out before our eyes. Favre lost that battle with the Packers and got shipped off to the Jets.
Nevertheless, he had the J-E-T-S sitting pretty with an 8-3 record after a blowout win in Nashville over the previously unbeaten Titans. But then his arm failed, the Jets sank and the critics sang. Favre was done, finished.
I agreed, thinking he was retired (again), but not for a second did I think he still wasn't a top-10 QB in the NFL (and maybe even still top five). And why would anybody? Beats me, but seemingly everyone did -- at least everyone you heard on television and sports radio.
When the to-the-Vikings rumor developed last summer, I said, "Shame on me." Shame on me for not seeing it coming. Shame on me for drinking the Favre-is-retired Kool-Aid (again).
But I knew it was going to work. I knew the Vikings were going to be nasty. And they were, coming up one play short of the Super Bowl.
Of course, the Favre haters will put that 'one play' on him. They'll assume the long field goal was a given and forget the five-yard penalty the play before that I put on Minnesota head coach Brad Childress.
Whatever the case, Favre is back and in my mind (at least this time), there was never a doubt. Anybody with a brain knew the erroneous reporting regarding his 'retirement' a few weeks ago was irrelevant. And his return, now official with him on the practice field this minute, makes the Vikings legit Super Bowl contenders.
Once again, the haters will be out in force, claiming he can't duplicate his 2009 heroics. They'll point to the beating he took against the Saints last year, while forgetting to mention that Favre has NEVER missed a start in a streak that's lasted 309 games (285 regular season, 309 including the playoffs).
How does it turn out this time? It's the NFL, so nobody knows. Adrian Peterson and/or Percy Harvin could get injured and alter the entire picture. Whatever happens, it's sure as hell going to be fun watching.
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