Tulsa World: Favre, Packers fans set for reunion

TULSA WORLD HOMEPAGE | Wednesday, February 10, 2010 | WIRELESS

OU | OSU | TU | ORU | HIGH SCHOOLS | COLLEGE FOOTBALL | COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NFL | FANTASY | OUTDOORS | GOLF | PROS | ALL

HOMEPAGES

SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS

		Sports Editor Mike Strain
		Sports Columnist Dave Sittler
		The Picker Entertaining & Infuriating

LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

Search the World's archives

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US

BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

Buy a published photo by clicking the "Order this Picture" link on the photo. For a full-color page reprint, call 732-8198 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday or order online.

TULSA WORLD

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA

Learn more about the site.

Newspaper View Print this story

Bookmark

Favre, Packers fans set for reunion

Crowds of mock mourners line up to take photos of an effigy of Vikings quarterback Brett Favre lying in a casket at a restaurant in Green Bay, Wis., on Friday. Jim Matthews/Associated Press

By CHRIS JENKINS Associated Press
Published: 11/1/2009 2:31 AM
Last Modified: 11/1/2009 8:10 AM

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Brett Favre will run out of the Lambeau Field tunnel wearing purple, and nobody really knows how Green Bay Packers fans will react.

But if the angry buzz generated by the mere appearance of in-stadium video highlights of Favre and the Vikings during the first few Packers home games is any indication, the once-beloved face of the franchise will be booed. Loudly.

The tempest of emotion leading to Sunday's Vikings-Packers game could make for one of the most awkward homecomings in sports history. Favre, perhaps the league's most emotion-driven player, will try to tune it all out.

"The people that have jumped ship or whatever completely, what can I do?" Favre said.

That makes one of us.

Everybody else is ready for some great sports theater.

Joe Montana faced the 49ers as a Chief. Michael Jordan faced the Bulls as a Wizard. Heck, Favre already faced the Packers — and beat them — at his new home, the Metrodome.

But as Favre returns to the scene of his surreal standoff with the Packers' front office last summer, it's hard to imagine a more intense setting.

Favre has been booed before at Lambeau, something that's bound to happen when you're the NFL's career interceptions leader — even in mild-mannered Green Bay.

Bring it on, Vikings defensive end Jared Allen says.

"They might still like Brett, but they're Packer fans," Allen said. "They're going to boo the Minnesota Vikings. They're not going to make me cry. As a matter of fact, I expect good harsh ripping-on. I want to hear some funny stuff out there."

And while it's only Week 8, the stakes couldn't be much higher for both teams.

With a victory, the Vikings take a huge step toward putting the NFC North out of reach. A Packers win makes the division race tight.

Then there's the snap-judgment factor: If Favre wins, he'll complete a season sweep over his former team and stick it to the man who traded him, Packers general manager Ted Thompson.

But if Favre melts down in a flurry of interceptions and the Packers win behind another strong performance by Aaron Rodgers, it will be seen as a sign Thompson and Packers coach Mike McCarthy knew what they were doing all along.

Neither Favre nor McCarthy spent this week revisiting last year's dispute, which began when Favre suddenly told the team he wanted to come out of retirement last summer — after asking for, then abruptly turning down, a chance to come back to the team.

Increasing public tension between Favre and the Packers' front office during training camp in 2008 eventually led to a sit-down meeting between Favre and McCarthy, and McCarthy determined Favre wasn't in the right "mindset" to return.

McCarthy never fully explained what he meant, but did say earlier this year that Favre expressed a desire to play for the Vikings at the time.

Favre instead was traded to the New York Jets, retired again after last season, then unretired again to sign with the Vikings. By CHRIS JENKINS Associated Press

Newspaper View Print this story

Bookmark

COMMENTS

Add your comment

Show: Most Recent Comment First

0 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!

Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

Add Your Comment
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.