Photo by: AP Photo/Rogelio V. Soli
Brett Favre is obviously a great topic for debate. Everyone has feelings on him one way or another, and it’s fascinating to hear what everyone has to say about it. The discussion quickly turns to Packers’ general manager Ted Thompson and his role in the Favre fiasco.
I will agree with anyone that says that Thompson is partially to blame. He is indeed, and there’s no getting around that. However, many people think he is solely to blame, Favre’s camp included. For those that think Favre is blameless in the past few years, you are dead wrong. All you need to do is look at the facts of his career in Green Bay for the truth.
Favre supporters like to think he is the one that resurrected the Green Bay Packers as a franchise. That simply isn’t true. Don’t get me wrong, Favre was an amazing player, and one of the best quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL. Blind loyalists to Favre give him too much credit for things he shouldn’t be getting credit for.
No one will ever forget when the Packers made it to Super Bowl 31. I was a senior in high school and it was one of the most special times in my life. Going into every game, you knew the Packers were going to win, there was little doubt about it, and to finally see the Packers crowned champions of the NFL is a memory I will take with me to my grave.
Supporters of Favre will say that he is the reason the Packers came back to prominence and without him, it never would have happened. While I will agree that he was a very important piece to the puzzle, don’t for one minute think he was the piece that brought it together.
At best, Favre barely makes the top five as most important people in bringing the Lombardi trophy back to Green Bay. Bob Harlan deserves the most credit for hiring Ron Wolf. Harlan knew he needed new life breathed into the organization. He found that breath with Wolf, who would come in second.
Wolf had the most involvement with everyone in restoring the glory to Titletown. He named Mike Holmgren as coach to replace Lindy Infante, traded a first round pick for Favre when he was rotting away on Atlanta’s bench, and signed Reggie White, the biggest free agency signing in the history of the league.
Holmgren gets credit for reigning Favre in, and harnessing him into an effective West Coast offense quarterback. While Favre still had the riverboat gambler quality that everyone fell in love with, Holmgren was able to use Favre’s arm and guts in an efficient manner that translated into unparalleled success in the 1990’s.
Once Favre lost Holmgren, he became a completely different quarterback. I’ll get into that in part two.
Reggie White was literally a God-send for the Green Bay Packers. His arrival in Green Bay gave the Packers instant credibility as a viable threat to win a Super Bowl. Reggie White would become the leader of the defense while Favre would lead the offense.
Without White coming to Green Bay, the Packers would have never experienced their resurgence. White became the leader of the whole team while Favre received all the credit as the hot, young star.
White was the dominant force in bringing several key members of the Super Bowl team to Green Bay. Keith Jackson, Eugene Robinson, Sean Jones, Santana Dotson, and Andre Rison have all credited White with erasing myths about the city of Green Bay and African-American players. Green Bay became the place for any player to go and the city will be forever in debt to White for that.
Even in the Packers’ run to the Super Bowl in 1996, Favre was more of a supporting actor and not the headline act. Desmond Howard was the MVP in the Super Bowl and may have been the MVP of the entire playoffs that year. His punt and kickoff returns constantly put the offense in positions to succeed.
Favre was also surrounded with a plethora of talent. Robert Brooks, Andre Rison, Antonio Freeman, Dorsey Levens, Edgar Bennett, Keith Jackson, and Mark Chmura provided Favre with enough weapons that any quarterback could have had success with.
There’s no doubt that Favre has a great deal of talent, but his talent alone wasn’t the key to his success. He had a buffer group that got little credit for the success that was bestowed upon him.
In part two, I’ll take a look at Favre’s career since White, Holmgren, and Wolf all left Green Bay. Favre lost all his surrounding cast and pressure began to mount. Chinks in Favre’s armor began to show, but he rose above it and became a living legend.
Comments
jesse, your a genius, you know everything, and everything about the great brett favre, why does brett have all the toys, and the pocket change that you will never make in 50 life times?, got no idea do you!
Reggie White came to the Green Bay Packers in good part because of Brett Favre.
No one ever mentions FB William Henderson, but in my book he was crucial to Favre's success as well. Run-blocker, pass-blocker, occasional ball carrier, EXCELLENT out-of-the-backfield receiver with great YAC. Long live 33!
I agree with Chris because what he is saying is fact, and is well noted! White saw that the franchise as a whole starting to make some noise and HE gave the credit to Brett Favre. Once White made the decision to come to Green Bay, the rest followed. Furthermore, the majority of the "supporting cast" that you mentioned have done nothing else INCLUDING Desmond Howard. Lets stop the non-sense and be grateful to a man (and a GREAT coaching staff) for making our Sundays (and Mondays) a lot more tolerable for 16 years!
I love all you disciples of Lord Favre chastising this article. Favre WAS a great QB, but he is not the reason that Eugene Robinson, Sean Jones, etc. came to Green Bay. It was the Minister of Defense. Also, while Holmgren and Favre both saw success after Holmgren ran for Seattle, neither was the same without each other. Favre's bad decision making was seen by the inept coaching of Rhodes and Sherman.
Thank God Lord Favre is retiring again (hopefully). Now maybe I can watch SportsCenter in peace.
What a dunce. All those names mentioned, and the only Hall of Fame player besides Favre is Reggie White. Credit Wolf for putting together a nice team, but Favre, White and Holmgren made them elevate their play to a level higher than any of them would have achieved alone. Without Favre, there is no SB 31 win. Just another nice team with a decent QB who just couldn't quite get the job done or stay healthy. Favre a "supporting actor?" Ridiculous. Though young, he was a leader, and he made the team his own. Since you were a child, you had no reference with which to compare the effect he had on the team. Those of us who wondered just exactly who was going to be the QB after Starr to take the Pack to a championship knew he was special from the beginning. Dickey wasn't that guy. Neither was Majik. So go write that if Wolf and Holmgren had stayed that the sky would have been the limit. We've known that for ten years. So stop bashing your hero for not living up to your juvenile expectations.
Jesse, get a job that you can do. This is the second article that I have read and you are not impressing. The suprerbowl team, like any, was a team that worked and played well together and y ou are just awful to read. I am glad Favre retired, but he was a great player on a great team and you just keep bashing him. Whether you like him or not for what he did recently, anyone is a fan, if you couldn't see his passion for the game, well then don't watch it. If you like him or not, he had what 75 percent of players lack. Like greats before him, Starr, etc. he loved the game. Don't take that from him. You are just not a very good writer anyways.
in fact Jesse, go to the offical Brett Favre web page, officialbrettfavre.com, take a look at the comment accross the bottom written by coachs, and football ledgends of the game. He is so much bigger than football. He was graced with the ability to play and the heart to use his name in a way that every player shoudl. See beyond the game, this man is human and did a lot of wondeful things. And to think you watched the superbowl your senior year when they won. Just check out the web page, and maybe your next article will be about the untammed spirit that we had the opportuinty to watch. Can't wait to see him in the NFL Hall of Fame. Hopefully you won't be able to go, as I don't think you could appreciate the essense of the talent and gift this man graced the NFL with. Heart and Spirit.
Interesting piece. Don't that the Packers had Marc Brunnell, Matt Hasselback, and Aaron Brooks as backups. They all had pro bowl years. They're nowhere near Favre I know but then you have a lot more salary cap room. I also think that Wolf is a genius and eventually he would of acquired a good QB somehow. Favre did blow a lot of Playoff games.
Favre was just a supporting actor? Wasn't that one of the years he was the league MVP? Reggie White stated he came to Green Bay because he like what he saw in Favre.
Brett was to blame for retiring before he was ready. Thompson wanted to force out Favre from the beginning. Remember, he used a #1 draft pick for a QB to sit on the bench for three years. He didn't resign two probowl O-Lineman who protected Brett; released Darrin Sharper.
Anyways, since you were just in high school in 1997, you couldn't appreciate the 21 years the Packers failed to make the playoffs.
For one so bitter, maybe you should quit trying to write Brett Favre articles.
It's been 37 years since the Packers made the playoffs without a guy named 'Favre.' Chew on that fact.
You posted a link to this on the sportsbubbler article?!?!?! You are sending people to another site? Bad form, dude. Really really bad form. I hope they terminate you from the Bubbler.
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