With seemingly every pass Packers quarterback Brett Favre throws, talk supporting or dismissing his retirement swells anew.

Brett Favre
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Sunday, November 19, 2006 - 12:00 AM
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LOUIS DELUCA / MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens has garnered more than his share of attention with his on- and off-the-field antics.

ALAN DIAZ / AP
With seemingly every pass Packers quarterback Brett Favre throws, talk supporting or dismissing his retirement swells anew.

Danny O'Neil
They're back: NFL tales that won't die

By Danny O'Neil
Seattle Times NFL reporter
The Packers have won three of their past four games, Brett Favre debuted his Lambeau Leap a few weeks back, and after nine games his touchdown passes actually outnumber his interceptions.
All the signs are there for a resurrection.

Oh, not of Favre. He's never gone anywhere. But the ruminations about his future will soon be repeated with a regularity and redundancy usually reserved for dead horses.
I'd rather do long division than read anything about Favre's potential retirement that does not include some sort of definitive statement from Favre. I'd rather dig a ditch than wade into the question of what it would take for him to return.

He is one of the great quarterbacks of this generation, and his arrival coincided with the revival of a historic franchise. The Packers had made the playoffs twice in the 20 years before he came in 1992; since then, they've made the postseason in 10 of the past 13 seasons. When Favre retires it will be a big deal for Green Bay and for the rest of the NFL. Until then, discussing his future is neither new, nor is it news. But that won't stop the question from being regurgitated across the country.

The good thing about the NFL's 16-game schedule is that it's so short that almost every game matters. The bad thing is the six days between games last long enough for the same themes to be recycled, repeated and reused into a mind-numbing rhythm. I need a T.O. Wait. That's a poorly chosen acronym since the last thing I need to hear about is that unrepentant egotist who's playing for the unmitigated control freak coaching Dallas.
It's a situation that has become scrutinized to the point that every pass Terrell Owens drops is followed by a breathless sideline report and a camera shot capturing Bill Parcells' pained mug. Well, after nine games, Owens is tied for the league lead in touchdown receptions with seven and the Cowboys are No. 6 in offensive yards despite switching quarterbacks. So much for all the apocalyptic predictions.
If there's an eruption in Dallas, let me know. Until then, there is no need to chronicle every single volcanic burp.
It's also not really necessary to explore Brian Urlacher's place in the Bears' lineage of linebackers. We get it. He plays the same position Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary did. But if he is the heir to that legacy, why have his peers ranked him one of the league's most overrated players the past couple years in Sports Illustrated's annual poll?
A final request is that rumors of the Patriots' demise stop being exaggerated, because the only thing that rivals the consistency of New England's recent success is the knee-jerk reaction to its every loss.
The veteran-cutting Patriots are getting their comeuppance. They've cut back too much. They've underestimated the delicate nature of clubhouse chemistry. They hate their coach. He looks like a rail-yard hobo.
Well, that last part is true, but that may just be part of Bill Belichick's plan to further humiliate the rest of the league. Not only will he beat you while using a 35-year-old wide receiver in his secondary, but he'll do it while wearing a headband straight out of a Jazzercise class and a sweatshirt with sleeves he apparently gnawed off with his teeth.
The Patriots enter today's game having lost two in a row for the first time since December 2002, and the question is whether the franchise that has been the gold standard for sustained success under the salary cap has finally eroded.
Hey, didn't we just do this a little more than a month ago? Yeah. It was Week 4 after New England lost in Denver and Tom Brady's body language was being read as if he were a third-base coach. Then the Patriots went to Cincinnati and body-slammed the previously undefeated Bengals.
The Patriots are still 6-3 and have won seven postseason games over the past three seasons. That's two more than the league's winningest active coach, Marty Schottenheimer, has won in 20 years.
So before talking about the Patriots' demise, I'll need to see the cold, dead body.
Until then, include it on the list of subjects in this league that I'd just as soon skip.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company



the most innovative football ... see http://www.allprosportsfootball.com ... , basketball and automobile racing series ever produced for home entertainment featuring: eleven of the greatest NFL football players and the most successful coach in NFL history; five of the greatest NBA basketball players and one of the most successful coaches in NBA history; and six internationally recognized automobile racing champions ... . sharing their life stories and demonstrating their skills in a very entertaining setting of upbeat music, three dimensional digital graphics and action footage