Black and Blue all over: Favre edition

July, 29, 2009
Jul 29
7:12
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By Kevin Seifert
Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

Yes, you read that headline correctly. Let's keep the highlights of Brett Favre coverage separate from that of the rest of the NFC North as we inch closer to the start of training camp. Look for our traditional "Black and Blue all over" in a few minutes.

  • Minnesota coach Brad Childress told Sports Illustrated's Peter King that he had no regrets about pursuing Favre and doesn't believe he's undermined his current quarterbacks. Childress: "I'm not let down. Not at all. Brett was open with me all the way through this process, and so I can't be mad at him. He was honest with me."
  • Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe is glad the circus is over, according to Judd Zulgad and Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune. Shiancoe: "We have to throw this out the window. At least the circus is [over]. We can have peace of mind. We've been put through the wringer. But it is what it is. We're going to move on and be a Super Bowl team regardless."
  • Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune believes the Vikings are left with a big mess: "Vikings coach Brad Childress, who kept his players in the dark while winking at Favre, now must pretend that he was a luxury instead of a necessity, that his current quarterbacks are good enough to win a playoff game, that this 12-car pileup of a courtship was nothing more than a fender bender. Nothing to see here, folks; please move along."
  • Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press: "The Vikings now appear poised to enter the season with an otherwise championship-caliber team marred by substandard options at quarterback. It's a shame, because the organization nearly addressed its Achilles' heel in fantastic fashion. Instead, it still has two serious flaws -- the other being a second-rate head coach. But that situation might be dealt with as a matter of course if Jackson or Rosenfels fails to deliver."
  • Vikings linebacker Ben Leber acknowledged the "tricky situation" of players recruiting Favre while maintaining support for Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels. Here's the quote, as reported by Rick Alonzo of the Pioneer Press: "It was a tricky situation because it wasn't as if we really didn't want those guys to be our quarterback. It was just the prospect of adding a hall of fame guy who ran this offense for 17-plus years and just knowing the comfort level that could be gained at that position."
  • This has been coming for a while, writes Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "The only thing that didn't change where Favre was concerned these last 16 months was the notion that he didn't want to be a full-time football player anymore."
  • Mike Vandermause of the Green Bay Press-Gazette torches the Vikings for their handling of the situation: "Childress did everything in his power to accommodate Favre, a bad precedent for a coach who is supposed to put the team above any individual. The Vikings knew all about Favre's mighty struggle every year on the retirement issue. Yet instead of imposing a hard-and-fast deadline, Childress served as Favre's enabler by allowing him to take as much time as he wanted to make a decision about his future. It left the Vikings organization shrouded in uncertainty and spoke volumes about the slip-shod nature of their operation. It also reaffirmed that the Packers made the correct decision a year ago in moving on without Favre. No team should allow itself to be held hostage by one player."
  • Jackson didn't speak with the media Tuesday from what I could tell. But Rosenfels made clear he has no animosity to the Vikings for pursuing Favre, according to Sean Jensen of the Pioneer Press.
  • Jeffri Chadiha of ESPN.com thinks Favre is to blame for leaving the Vikings in a "sticky situation."

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