Green Bay Packers are Finally Vindicated

Giving the mainstream media (RE: ESPN, NFL Network, FOX) their comeuppance on their fawning Favre coverage in 2008-2010 is very satisfying.

Of course, there will be apologists. But the reality is what we the entire nation saw today. Brett Favre threw 2 costly INTs and partly to blame for 1 lost fumble when in scoring range 3 times in a game that was won in OT. He lost. And he failed in his stated goal (to win another Super Bowl). That is what happened. Anything else being said (oh, but did you see how he got up even after being hit; look how well he played this season with the Vikes; he is 40 years old but plays like a kid; etc.) is just a sideshow. Why they will continue to do so (e.g. to protect themselves so that they still get "special access" when he decides to announce his retirement/unretirement; so they can hire him to be an in-game or in-studio commentator for their channel, etc.) is beyond me.

The story that should be written is how prescient the Green Bay Packers organization was to cut ties with Favre when they did. Whether the "we have left the station" moment with Favre in late June 2008 was form over substance is irrelevant. What is relevant is that the Packer organization was confident that Favre did not have the capacity to lead their team (at the time, a youthful, deeply flawed team, with holes in the Oline, Dline, and LB corp) to the Super Bowl and that Aaron Rodgers was the real deal who could fit within their rebuilding plan. They were also prescient to know that 2008 was the year they had to give him the reins.

Flash-forward to 2009. Favre lands with the Vikings - his preferred location. It is a team, that entering 2009 without Favre, was probably a better overall team than the one Favre played with the Packers in 2007. It came equipped with the solid Oline, elite running attack, highly effective Defense, and an offense he famously claimed, "to know better than the coaching staff". He has a highly successful season. We get to the playoffs, he clicks and has a great divisional round playoff game. He then gets to a highly winnable NFC Championship game in his hometown stadium (a dome, for that matter). And yet even when the highly proficient Saints offense was shutdown, he could not do enough to win the game for the Vikings.

(From JSOnline)

So, where do we find ourselves now, Packers fan? Our warm memories of Favre still in tact and untarnished. And a very promising future with Rodgers on the near horizon. I consider that vindication.