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Favre tests his arm for the Vikings, and perhaps the patience of their fans a little
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Last week Darrell Bevell, Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator and former coach of Brett Favre, travelled to Hattiesburg, 
Miss., to see his prospective new quarterback throw the football. Things went well, as Favre threw upwards of 100 balls, but he did experience a little pain afterward. So, Favre, who has begged off all the Vikings entreaties to announce his signing and get into camp "warned the Vikings representatives that he might be forced to delay a decision on whether to play until just before the team opens training camp on July 29 in Mankato, Minn.," according to ESPN.
Favre apparently needs another couple weeks to make sure that his arm is completely good to go and that he can play above the level he played at during the end of last season for the New York Jets, when his injured arm caused him to throw more interceptions than touchdown passes, and the team missed the playoffs. Favre has said from the beginning and reiterated again ” that he wants to play in Minnesota during the upcoming season but remains unable to commit because he wants to be totally confident that he can provide the team with 16-plus healthy starts before doing so."
This news can be taken a couple ways: first off at face value. Favre has maintained that the health of his arm would dictate whether or not he plays this season. He has had the surgery on his tendon and now needs to determine if the arm is good to go or would be setting him up for failure as the quarterback of the Vikings. Every Vikings fan should be heartened by that. If the former Green Bay Packer quarterback's arm is not up to the task, the job should given to one of the other healthy QBs on the roster and this whole circus be put to rest. (Of course, it would have been nice to know that information sooner, and it really doesn't help the Vikings cause to learn it days, or even hours before training camp starts.)
The other way of reading it, perhaps a more cynical way, is that this latest bit of reticence by Favre to announce his intentions for the season are his way of putting off coming into Vikings camp any sooner than he feels is needed. Put aside for the moment that a 39-year-old quarterback coming off an injury and surgery who is learning a new system (albeit a familiar one) and playing with a whole new team could use as much time as possible in camp working out, this news doesn't exactly say "Favre is pumped for the new football season."
It has been said of Favre, and plenty of other NFL veterans, that they know how to get in shape, and don't need or want, to come in for the grind that is training camp any sooner than they have to. But as the prospective leader of your team coming aboard from the outside, wouldn't it be a great first step to be out there ahead of the rest of the team by demonstrating the importance of everyone getting on the same page so they can hit the ground running at training camp?
That would seem like a good idea for the prospective new QB.
But if Favre is just trying to avoid more offseason work than he deems necessary, it says that he is calling the shots in this thing, the deal will eventually get done and all the Vikings fans just need to relax for a couple more weeks.
Personally, I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt. He knows the physical level he needs in his arm to play; he knows what kind of shape he needs to be in to play and what kind of shape he is in; and he knows how much time it will take to get up to speed with the offense--if he hasn't started looking at it already.
What it must come down to for the coaching staff, ultimately, is how much you want Favre and how long can you wait. So far, the Vikings have shown plenty of patience. And I say show a little more. There seems a real potential upside to the whole Favre in Purple scenario, and if it doesn't happen, you just go back to where you already are at this point--with three quarterbacks already on the roster.
But for the sake of head coach Brad Childress, who seems to have the most on the line with this decision, and for the sake of some Vikings fans, who might implode if this doesn't happen, please make a determination soon, Brett. Then the media circus can take place and the work of preparing for the season can really begin.
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Brett Favre ·
New York Jets ·
Green Bay Packers ·
Brad Childress
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