Favre, McCarthy huddle deep into the night

Favre, McCarthy huddle deep into the night

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August 4, 2008

Favre, McCarthy huddle deep into the night

By Pete Dougherty
pdougher@greenbaypressgazette.com
Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy wondered aloud Sunday night whether Brett Favre was fully committed to playing football this year, and perhaps Brett Favre was wondering Monday night whether the coach is committed to him as well.
The two began a crucial meeting to determine Favre’s future with the Packers at 6 p.m. Monday, and at 8:40 p.m., they still were talking. So, the Packers canceled a press conference scheduled for 8:15 p.m. to announce whether they were going to open the starting quarterback job to a competition between Favre and Aaron Rodgers.

It’s unclear how long the meeting lasted, but the two undoubtedly had much to discuss after a tumultuous month in which animosity between the quarterback and franchise escalated day by day.

“They’re still talking, and I don’t know how much longer it’s going to go,” Jeff Blumb, the Packers’ director of public relations, told a large crowd of local and national reporters at the Packers’ media auditorium.

“What does it mean? It just means that they’re still talking. Rather than keeping everyone here until we don’t know how long, as a courtesy to you guys, we’ve decided we’re just going to try again tomorrow.”

It appeared the meeting went well into the night. Favre’s SUV remained parked at Lambeau Field until at least 10:30 p.m., though there were indications the meeting might have ended about 10:15 p.m. Favre and McCarthy left Lambeau Field in separate vehicles at 11:22 p.m.

Blumb said the rescheduled press conference likely would be before the Packers’ 2 p.m. practice on Tuesday.

Favre and McCarthy could have been discussing any number of issues in their protracted meeting, most notably their commitments to each other after Favre was reinstated to the Packers’ roster from the reserve/retired list on Monday.

They also are likely to have addressed their grievances after a drawn-out confrontation that began when McCarthy and General Manager Ted Thompson told Favre in June he could not compete for his old job if he returned to the club and Favre asked for his release. There were recriminations and negotiations before Favre decided to return to the team Sunday night.

Since McCarthy became the Packers’ coach in 2006, he's said several times that conflict and confrontation can be productive when running a football team, so it’s not hard to see him and Favre having a long and candid conversation about all that’s transpired this offseason.

One of McCarthy’s concerns was whether Favre was fully committed to playing football. Favre had struggled with whether or not to retire the past three years. He announced his retirement in March, but shortly thereafter began sending signals to the Packers that he was having second thoughts.

McCarthy and Thompson wanted Favre to remain retired and had been steadfast all offseason and through the weekend that Rodgers was their starter regardless of whether Favre ended his retirement.

But a source said that when Favre forced the team’s hand by chartering a flight to Green Bay to report to training camp on Sunday evening, the team at least was open to having Favre and Rodgers compete.

After the Packers’ Family Night scrimmage on Sunday, McCarthy had a slight edge to his comments when he talked about the need to speak to Favre face to face before deciding whether to open up the job to a competition.

Asked whether he thought Favre was fully committed to playing this year, McCarthy said: “That’s a great question. That will be one of the topics of our conversation (Monday). We just need to make sure — I think it’s important for people to sit down face to face and answer those types of questions. We’re going to do that (Monday).”

There’s a good chance Favre has similar concerns about McCarthy’s commitment to him if the Packers keep him on the roster rather than trade him. The Packers did all they could to convince Favre to remain retired, including offering him a personal-services contract worth as much as $25 million.

Favre could be seeking assurances that if he’s allowed to compete for the starting job, that McCarthy will give him an equal chance and not slant the competition to Rodgers, who has been working as the starting quarterback all offseason and through the first week of training camp.

If McCarthy and Favre are going to work together this year, the coach also probably wanted to address the growing enmity between the quarterback and upper management of the team — specifically, the animosity between Favre and Thompson — and any problems that might have arisen between coach and player over the past month or two.

For instance, sources close to Favre have said Favre was upset when the Packers leaked a story about his possible return in late March. The story, which was reported in July, said Favre told the Packers he wanted to play this season, and McCarthy and Thompson were set to take a chartered flight to Mississippi to finalize Favre’s return, only to have Favre call and cancel the meeting.

The sources close to Favre have said that’s not what happened. They said the quarterback told offensive line coach James Campen only in March he was thinking about returning, and that the team didn’t arrange for a special flight to Mississippi. Instead, they say, the Packers chartered the plane to attend the spring NFL owners meetings in Florida, and that they were going to stop by Mississippi on the way home. Favre, though, told them he wasn’t committed to playing and not to waste their time with a meeting.

When that story came out in July, Favre was so upset he decided to do an interview with Greta Van Susteren of Fox News to tell his side of his desire to end his retirement. In so doing, he gave part of his version of that story.

In the same interview, he was sharply critical of Thompson. He in essence called Thompson a liar regarding several personnel matters they’d discussed and said he didn’t trust the GM.

It’s unclear how much, if any, tension has built up between Favre and McCarthy over the past month or so. McCarthy might have wanted to address all those issues to determine whether the sides could move past them and avoid a poisonous working atmosphere.

There are other issues they also might have been discussing — a possible trade, or perhaps Favre reconsidering signing a $25 million personal-services contract — so it’s all speculation. But considering McCarthy’s willingness to confront problems, the possibility that they were having a forthright conversation about all that’s happened the past month is as likely as any.

“Guess they’re airing it out,” speculated a source close to Favre.