Thompson not getting Moss the reason Favre is in Purple Today
By Andy Weise
How did this all come about? Brett Favre is a Minnesota Viking? Let’s be real here for a second, Favre has wanted to play for the Vikings since he came to a realization that he was no longer the guy the Green Bay Packers wanted under the center. His reasons for wanting to play for the Vikings could be revenge, the knowledge of a similar offense or even Super Bowl prospects/motivation. One thing is for certain today, No. 4 is signed, sealed and delivered to the Purple.
So again, how did this really come about? It wasn’t like Favre was willing to play for any team that needed a quarterback. San Francisco and Denver are already emerging as teams with QB situations that look worse than the sans Favre Vikings so why the Vikings? To me this is has been in the making for two years. Ted Thompson, Green Bay’s general manager, has plenty of blame in why Favre is wearing purple today. Remember when Randy Moss was on the verge of joining the Packers? The sound of that still makes me sick to this day, so I can only imagine what the Packers faithful are going through today.
Randy Moss was available before the 2007 season and it seemed imminent that he was heading to Green Bay to catch passes from Favre himself. Favre loved to throw balls up in the air and Moss loved to go catch ones as if he were playing the backyard football game 500. So what went wrong with Favre and Moss playing together in Green Bay? Thompson would only offer a fifth round pick, Oakland wanted a fourth which New England ended up offering. Thompson not only wouldn’t match the fourth round pick but he also reached out to Moss and basically turned him off. Favre was the guy who wanted Moss more than anyone else, how could that not create dysfunction with Favre and the Packers?
Look at these comments from 2008 that Moss made about the Green Bay situation in 2007.
“The Packers were really talking about the wrong things, and not the right things. When they started talking more about the wrong things, I just hung up the phone and didn’t want to talk to them anymore. I thought at first it was something that could have worked, for the fact that Brett Favre was there, but I think as the conversations occurred throughout the day and the next day, I didn’t really want to go to Green Bay.”
In the interview, they might have asked Moss for more specific comments and he didn’t shy away.
“They were just talking about their team concept and the wide receivers and Donald Driver,” he said. “It was like they were telling me that they were going to somewhat take a chance on me but, ‘if you do come here, these are the things you have to watch out, and be on your best behavior, and Donald Driver is the top receiver here, so don’t come in and try to step on his toes,’ and things like that.
“I didn’t think that was right because my whole career I have been taken out of context sometimes, but at the end of the day all I wanted to do was win games. …I didn’t really feel they wanted me. I felt that Brett Favre wanted me, but I didn’t really feel the Packers wanted me.”
So not only did the Packers not get Moss in 2007, he was a free agent in 2008 and Favre reportedly wanted the Packers again to go after him. The day after Moss resigned with the Patriots, Favre retired. Now believe who you want but there was clearly friction between Favre and Thompson and typical Favre could never decide if he wanted to play so when he unretired a year ago, it was no surprise that Thompson and the rest of the Packers organization decided to move on. Favre had high demands, he wanted to immediately be the starter upon returning but with Aaron Rodgers preparing all offseason, it would have been a slap in the face to Rodgers to put him right back to the bench even though the Packers were 13-3 the year before.
The wheels have been in motion and Favre is now wearing purple. It’s hard to say what will happen for the Vikings this year but anything less than a deep playoff run will be a disappointment. Favre joins a very talented team with the NFL’s best run defense for the past three years, the best running back in the game along with plenty of other weapons on offense. The excitement as a Vikings fan is there but any NFL fan should be excited for what will unfold this year. The Green Bay – Minnesota games should flirt with TV ratings records and the Vikings should not have to worry about any blackouts.
All the Vikings need now is Moss to demand a trade back to the team that took a chance on him in 1998. Wait, in 1998 the Vikings were 15-1 and were a field goal away from going to the Super Bowl in Miami. Where is the 2009 Super Bowl? Miami. Time to head back to iTunes and listen to Will Smith – Miami.