Goodell Wants Favre Situation Finished

by | Aug 3, 2008 | Business of Football, Contract Squabbles, NFL ... something

Favre Fiasco. Favre Fatigue. Favre F-k Up (of Off).  Whatever you want to call it, Roger Goodell wants the Favre situation done.  By Monday.

But why is it any of his business to make such a declaration?  And why hasn’t he approved a players request for re-instatement for almost a full week?

We were all impressed when Goodell stepped in as commissioner, and started to try to crack down on possibly the only blemish that Paul Tagliabue left him with–the “degradation of the NFL society” we could call it, as several bad boy incidents started to paint the NFL in a bad light.

And I’ve been impressed by his willingness to come out against the ridiculous NFL Rookie pay scale that exists.

But I think by not acting on a players request to be reinstated within a reasonable time frame, and now declaring that he wants the situation resolved by Monday, he’s heading down a slippery path.  If the delay wasn’t in the Packers favor (any delay to the situation hurts whoever ends up with Favre), I would suggest that they file tamporing charges against him.  Of course, since he is the judge, jury and executioner, that wouldn’t get very far.

As to the Favre fiasco, rumors are that the $20-million, 10 year “marketing agreement” offer to Favre may be pushed to an even higher amount through negotiations this weekend. 

Frankly, I still can’t believe that the NFL will allow this type of a deal to happen, without some sort of salary cap implications.  I realize he’s a “retired” player, but as commenter Sir Whoopass pointed out last week, what’s to prevent Jerry Jones from starting to pay players from other teams to not play if the Packers are allowed to pay their own player not to?

Like the Poison Pill negotiating tactic (which to my knowledge wasn’t ever officially banned, but hasn’t been used since the Vikings nabbed Steve Hutchinson, and the Seahawks “retaliated” by signing Nate Burleson), this needs to be nipped in the bud early.

Too bad the NFL doesn’t have a commissioner who is willing to step in on situations like these…

Bevell and Childress and Favre … oh my

by | Jul 22, 2008 | NFL ... something, NFL Rumors

In October 2000, the NBA discovered that the Minnesota Timberwolves had entered into secret contracts that allowed them to circumvent salary cap rules. While teams in all sports stretch the rules, the Wolves and Smith exacerbated this particular situation by putting their agreements down on paper.

NBA Commissioner David Stern at the time handed out one of the most severe spankings a professional sports franchise has ever received. He voided Smith’s contract with the Wolves, fined the team $3.5 million and took away their first-round picks for the next five seasons – a move the organization from which the organization is still recovering.

One must wonder after reading ESPN’s snippet of a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Packers Insider story if the Minnesota Vikings might soon be in for the NFL’s version of the Wolves’ punishment. The paper reports that the tampering charges the Green Bay Packers filed against the Vikings are based on phone records showing that Brett Favre had numerous conversations with both his friend, Darrell Bevell, the team’s offensive coordinator, but also head coach Brad Childress.

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Citizens of Green Bay want Favre back

by | Jul 14, 2008 | NFL ... something

Seventy-four percent of Green Bay residents responding to perhaps the most pointless telephone survey in the history of mankind want the Packers to retain Brett Favre and not trade him, though only 33 percent said he should start.

Just under 20 percent said they want him to return as a backup while another 15 percent support making him a player/coach, a position not seen in the NFL since cavemen were still seeking spouses while grunting and wielding clubs. The Packers have said Favre is welcome to rejoin the team, though it appears as though the Packers plan to stick with Aaron Rodgers as their starter, at least heading into camp. That has prompted Favre to ask the team to release him – a move the Packers are declining to make.

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Sikahema kicks Canseco’s a$$

by | Jul 13, 2008 | NFL ... something

Jose Canseco might be the most self-serving douchebag in sports. But apparently he can’t box for squat.

The 6-foot-4 former steroid pumping major league power hitter took to the ring last night against Vai Sikahema, the 5-9 former punt returner for Philadelphia and Arizona in Atlantic City. And the former football player buried Canseco, knocking him down twice in the first round before the referee mercifully stopped the fight.

“He’s a very impressive-looking figure,” Sikahema told … some news outlet after the fight (can’t tell if the Post Chronicle writer of the attached clip did the interview or if he was crediting the quote to the Press of Atlantic City, so I’ll mention both to make sure proper credit is given somewhere). “But the guy is a walking corpse because he’s rotted inside out. He’s a pathetic figure.”

I always admired Sikahema, now a sports director and anchor for NBC 10 in greater Philadelphia, for making a solid career in the NFL despite a small stature. I think I like him even more now, not only because he knocked the crap out of one of my least favorite athletes ever but because he was classy enough to give a portion of his $25,000 payday to the family of a fallen police sergeant, Stephen Liczbinski.

And the Favre hysteria gets more bizarre

by | Jul 11, 2008 | NFL ... something

A thank you to Sir Whoopass for passing this on – not sure it’s more amazing that she was able to come up with enough words to sing the entire song or that she was able to sing most of them without slurring…

Impressive nonetheless.