[Optimus Prime]

The guy wants to play. Did he make his decision too early this year to retire? Yes. Can he not change his mind? Yes. Does he have the right to continue playing? Yes.

Pretty simple actually, though I admit the story has been annoying from all sides.

[paladin]

he set himself up for this. if he didnt want to retire he should have said so. its not good for a franchise to hang on the words of one man for 5 years. they cant move on, they cant adapt to the new game they're going to need sooner or later, and they cant invest that money in a good young receiver.

they also cant release him because hes their all time franchise hof qb and it makes them look bad

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

From what the article said, if he formally asks for reinstatement, they are obligated to either return him to the active roster or release him. That's kind of a dickish move though, I hope they just release him without that happening.

This is going to end up with Favre or the Packers looking bad, or both. Neither option makes me very happy.

[Slum]

The thing is...if they just go ahead and release him, the teams most likely to go for him are Chicago and Minnesota. And no Packers fan wants that. If they trade him out of their division/conference, they're not going to get much in the way of compensation.

[Optimus Prime]

Baltimore would love to have him. That would be a scary combination.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I would hate it if he plays for another NFC north team. It looks like he doesn't want to be traded, just released. This will end badly.

[Slum]

But what would they (Ravens) give for him? It would be cool of Favre to reject offers from teams in the Packers division out of respect for his longtime fans.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I don't he wants to play for anyone not in Superbowl contention. The Bears and Vikings are not in Superbowl contention.

[HoosierDaddy]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;349861 said:

I don't he wants to play for anyone not in Superbowl contention. The Bears and Vikings are not in Superbowl contention.

According to a lot of analyists the Vikings are in contention. I might not necessarily agree with them, but it's there.

They have to keep him. They won't release him. That's suicidal. Baltimore will suck this year (6 -8 wins) with or w/out Favre. I don't see why T.B. would want him. Their quaterback was pretty good last year (can't remember his name damn it!) I mean, if you look at it rationally, they keep him, and if he keeps demanding a release, you just sit him.

In my opinion, Favre is the one who is looking worse right now. He's lost the public opinion to the Pack.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Official Statement from the Packers on the Packers' website

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

This is something I didn't know. Makes the Packers look more reasonable, Favre less so.

FoxSports.com's Jay Glazer and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel both report that the Packers would "never" release Brett Favre, as he requested Friday. They would rather trade him or make him Aaron Rodgers' backup.
Favre won't back up anyone, but the Packers won't just give away Favre for free. Glazer writes that Favre was set to un-retire in late March, with both GM Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy's approval. The Packers even chartered a jet for Favre to announce his return, but Favre changed his mind yet again two days before the scheduled announcement. The Packers then smartly decided to move on. This helps explain the team's motivations and why they will continue to play hardball. Jul. 11 - 5:37 pm et
Source: FoxSports.com

[HoosierDaddy]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;349912 said:

This is something I didn't know. Makes the Packers look more reasonable, Favre less so.

FoxSports.com's Jay Glazer and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel both report that the Packers would "never" release Brett Favre, as he requested Friday. They would rather trade him or make him Aaron Rodgers' backup.
Favre won't back up anyone, but the Packers won't just give away Favre for free. Glazer writes that Favre was set to un-retire in late March, with both GM Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy's approval. The Packers even chartered a jet for Favre to announce his return, but Favre changed his mind yet again two days before the scheduled announcement. The Packers then smartly decided to move on. This helps explain the team's motivations and why they will continue to play hardball. Jul. 11 - 5:37 pm et
Source: FoxSports.com

That kind of behavior is awful. He is jerking an organization around with his own bi-polar wishes. Like I said, keep him and if he's happy play him. If not, sit him. Athletes are too pampered, and while I like Favre, the more and more he acts like this the more he is going to ruin all the goodwill he has in Green Bay. He is not bigger than the franchise.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Yeah, the more I hear the more I'm siding with the Pack on this one. Sorry Brett.

[Sparkimus]

I gotta say I'm loving all the Favre hate in this thread. I get shat on whenever I bad mouth Favre around my town (who knew there were so many Packers fans in Tampa Bay?). If he had retired 5 years ago I would lump him in with the greats, but his obsession with the game and the refusal to let his team move on and develop without him angers me to no end.

I understand he's had things tough, but ignoring his problems by playing football every Sunday won't make them go away. He wants to come out of retirement because he realizes that he has to deal with life now that he isn't playing the game anymore...just sad if you ask me. (and don't even tell me I'm wrong...YOU ARE!)

[Slum]

That's why I called him a douche at the beginning of this thread. Everything he does, the decisions he makes, it's all about Bret Favre. He's had his team over the barrel for years now, waffling for an entire off-season before committing, acting like the franchise owes more than the loyalty its already shown him, and now, once again, compromising the the Packers future to satisfy his own obviously fickle mindset.

He's a great player who's career is now spiraling into soap opera/farcical territory.

Sorry if that pisses you off. It's just how I see it as an unbiased observer.

[Sparkimus]

It won't let me rep you again Slum, methinks I'll spread some around to the other anti-Farvers in this thread.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

I don't know that he's acting like the team owes him anything. He said he wanted to come back, they said no, so he asked to be released. Sounds reasonable enough.

And yes, I realize I'm arguing both sides of the issue. So I'm conflicted, bite me.

[Slum]

Their releasing him puts them in a compromising situation. That's his team...he shouldn't be creating this huge public spectacle, disrupting their off-season. They stuck by him, he should realize that what he's asking is, in the current atmosphere, undermining their future.

[Sparkimus]

It's much easier to just call him a douche RLY...join the dark side...and GO BUCS

[HoosierDaddy]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;349945 said:

I don't know that he's acting like the team owes him anything. He said he wanted to come back, they said no, so he asked to be released. Sounds reasonable enough.

And yes, I realize I'm arguing both sides of the issue. So I'm conflicted, bite me.

FLIP-FLOPPER!!!!

The fact that he's asked for a release would turn me against him if I were a Pack fan. At that point, he's basically said F-You to the organization he cared so much about and has made him legendary.