Reports are circulating that Kurt Warner will hold a press conference on Friday January 29 to announce his decision to either remain with the Arizona Cardinals for another year or to retire from the NFL.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Warner is assembling his family to be in attendance which makes it seem likely that he will no longer play football. He'll be on the clock for a vote into the Hall of Fame. It didn't take long after the pounding he took in his team's playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints for him to make a decision.
Let's contrast that with the agony and ecstasy of another off season spent tracking Brett Favre's decision making process. Of course a lot of that angst is a result of media making "Favre Watch" a regular segment in every sports radio or television broadcast. We can control that if we want.
What did any of us gain from the screen crawl on Monday and Tuesday that announced Favre believed his return was "highly unlikely"? Did we learn anything new? Of course not. His musings are just manifestations of yearly mood swings by a guy who is physically beaten up and mentally spent.
I understand that Brett Favre's process is much longer and less definitive than Kurt Warner's. Attribute that to any number of factors which include Warner's many and varied outside interests and a larger and younger family than Favre.
I've often said that if Favre had a strong interest in something other than football which could point him in a direction for his post-retirement life, he might just hang it up. It's not that I am pushing him off the stage. I don't want him to leave the scene if he can play like he did this season for the Vikings. Who wouldn't want another 16+ plus games like that?
But It's all the back and forth and indecisiveness that causes the aggravation for his organization as the date for the NFL draft approaches. I got a kick out of hearing Mike Holmgren speak to Dan Patrick on his radio program this morning.
He said he'd give Favre wide berth on his decision. But he indicated that by the time of the draft it would make sense for Favre to signal his wishes to the team. Does Holmgren forget that Green Bay tried that three years ago?
Not only didn't it work but it led to the drama of two years ago when he thought he could leave the Packers on the hook again. That turned into his team telling him to get off the fence and the divorce from Green Bay began in earnest.
A tale of two quarterbacks and decision making processes. One at peace and another not sure. Absolutely fascinating.
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Comments
The Minnesota Vikings are not the Green Bay Packers. The Minnesota Vikings have demonstrrated they want to at least make an effort to win the superbowl each year, by aggressively pursuing free agents, and also improving O line. The Packer have not done that in recent memory, hence Favre's repeated indecision whether he should one-up again in each of his last few years there.
Good point Dave
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