Green Bay - - When Brett Favre told us in that room on the 4th floor of the Lambeau Field Atrium that he was mentally spent, that he’d become obsessed studying game tape on a laptop to the point of being ready to snap, I believed him. 

When he and his wife Deanna told us they were tired, and simply needed some time away, so there would be no personal appearance for the next year, I believed him. As a matter of fact, I was glad he pledged to step away from the public eye for a year. He was resigning from his job with the Packers, which included weekly press conferences that often ended up being dissected word by word by local stations, networks, everyone in the media.

Name any pop culture icon. Sinatra. Elvis. The Beatles. Madonna. Sports figures? DiMaggio, Mantle, Unitas, Montanna. They have all taken breaks for a year or more away from the headlines, to recharge, re-invent themselves.  

Favre has been under the microscope for 16 years. He needs the break. We need the break.  So what has he been up to since he said farewell March 6th? 

Hunting wild boar, according to Frank Winters speaking at the Packers Fan Fest, two days after his farewell. Then he shot two commercials for Wrangler jeans and Remington guns. He sat down with local Mississippi reporter Al Jones to write a forward for his biography, and Al posted his comments about coming back if Aaron Rodgers got hurt. He’s been to Disneyworld with the kids. He agreed to come to New York and appear in before the media with children for the unveiling of his cover shot on Madden ’09. Then he did “Late Show with David Letterman” for the first time since he won Super Bowl XXXI. A chat with “Mooch” on the NFL Network. And he sat down to blab some more about whether he has made the right decision to retire to ESPN who will play that tape all weekend during their NFL Draft coverage. He canceled his annual charity appearances, but six weeks into retirement he’s picked up some pretty nice checks.

Sorry Brett. That’s not laying low. 

Favre is still on the clock. The Packers still have to watch what he’s saying, what he’s doing, and figure out how to respond.  The greatest asset in franchise history is also still their greatest pain the ass.

On Friday, the Packers cut the cord. They placed Favre on the NFL’s reserve/retired list. Along with three other players. Tony Palmer had promise as a run blocker. Popular in the locker room. But his neck was jammed blocking in the wedge against the Giants in New York last September, and he has not recovered fully. Two other offensive lineman, Chris Patrick and Cliff Washburn, were also released from the practice squad. This opened four more roster spots for the dozen or so players the team may pick up in the draft, or soon add by signing free agents.  
In a news release e-mail Friday afternoon, the team said  “…Favre announced his retirement from football at a March 6 press conference.  However, since that date he had continued to count against the league’s 80-player roster limit.

“Today’s moves are procedural in nature,” said GM Ted Thompson.  “Both (head coach) Mike McCarthy and I have spoken to Brett over the past several days.  Brett knew this change in his roster status was coming, and he fully understood our need to make the move in advance of the NFL Draft. “The NFL does not require a letter for a player to be placed in a reserve/retired status.  Brett has announced his retirement publicly and this is simply a personnel transaction made to develop a roster opportunity for the Packers.”

What were those calls like the past few weeks? “Brett, we just want to let you know that we’re going to need your roster spot before the draft. So…well,… we just wanted you to know.”  This is your last chance pal. If you want back in, you’ve got to let us know before the draft.

Amazing.I had a lot of respect for Favre making the decision to retire. It was rough. Tough giving up his identity as a player because the hours of preparation for three hours on Sunday were taking a toll on his personal life. Favre even admits in his ESPN interview that his mother is upset with him. He says she pointed out that saying he’d come back during the season if Rodgers was hurt makes him “ a marked man.”   And this notion of Favre coming back in, say, October, is just nonsense.  Sure, Vinny Testaverde did it last season at 44. But he was working out waiting for the phone to ring. Is this what Favre calls retirement? What a mess.

Except for the season opener ceremony when the #4 jersey is retired, I wish Favre could resist the temptation to talk to anyone in the media for the next calendar year. And that he would just be decisive and say he is done.  For a guy that tried to be there for his team, he doesn’t seem to care or understand how much of a distraction he can be for the next year.

GONE HUNTING

David Letterman hit Favre pretty hard about “Did you ever go hunting before a game, and get back late?”  Without going into details, Favre said he did go out before a Bears game, that he wasn’t late for the kickoff, but they lost the game.

I think he was talking about last year’s game against the Bears on Sunday Night Football. The weather was beautiful that day, and I believe the players had some family time Sunday mid-day, even though they had to stay in the team hotel the night before. I can see Favre making a bow hunting run, and getting back in time for the 7pm kickoff. I do know Favre went hunting the day before a game in 2006. He went out bow hunting on Saturday morning.

The next day the Packers hosted the Patriots and got shelled. Favre looked horrible throwing the ball in the first quarter, then left the game after having his elbow banged by Tedy Bruschi’s cast for a broken wrist. That’s the game Aaron Rodgers played the second half with a broken foot.

How do I know about this hunting trip? Favre told the announcers he’d just come from hunting during his meeting with the network play-by-play crew Saturday afternoon, before heading to the team hotel for curfew. The announcers talked about it as the game began, before Favre had one of the worst performances of his career, prior to being injured.

And so those are my thoughts as we approach the NFL Draft weekend, 2008. Not much on who Ted Thompson will select with the 30th pick overall. Last year, with the 16th pick, he chose Justin Harrell, a player all but one mock draft had going at the end of the round, probably to the Colts. Off by 15 picks.  No, instead I’m still babbling about the franchise with or without Favre.

And so is everyone else.

- Mike Clemens