Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Packers' press conference postponed after lengthy Favre-McCarthy meeting
GREEN BAY — The other 79 members of the Green Bay Packers don't yet know what coach Mike McCarthy plans to do with newly reinstated quarterback Brett Favre, and consequently, neither does anyone else.
That may be because Favre still isn't quite sure what he wants to do himself.
With McCarthy and Favre's heart-to-heart — or whatever their Monday night conversation was — getting a later start than planned and taking longer than anticipated, the scheduled 7:30 p.m. team meeting was held without McCarthy and the quarterback situation was not discussed, according to a source.
McCarthy and Favre left Lambeau Field in their respective Cadillac Escalades at 11:21 p.m., with Favre speeding out of the stadium lot and heading south on Oneida Street and McCarthy honking his horn and waving at a pair of reporters at the exit while talking on his cell phone during his departure.
According to the source, Favre's meeting with McCarthy began at 6 p.m., although Favre also met with general manager Ted Thompson at one point. It was unclear which way Favre was leaning after the meetings, but he appears to have several options: play for the Packers, beginning with today's 2 p.m. practice; push for a trade to the Minnesota Vikings, which according to several league sources has been his preferred destination during much of his comeback; accept a trade to another team such as the New York Jets or Tampa Bay Buccaneers; or remain retired.
McCarthy had been slated to conduct a news conference at 8:15 p.m. to inform Packer Nation of just how the organization plans to handle its new/old signal-caller, but that was postponed.
Packers public relations director Jeff Blumb stepped to the podium around 8:40 and told the roomful of reporters — including several broadcast outlets that were to carry McCarthy's news conference live — there was no indication when the Favre-McCarthy summit might end. Blumb said the news conference could be rescheduled for today, possibly between 9 a.m. and noon.
"They're still talking, and I don't know how much longer it's going to go," Blumb said in what appeared to be a prepared statement. "What does it mean? It just means they're still talking. Rather than keeping everyone here until we don't know how long, as a courtesy to you (reporters), we've decided that we're going to just try again tomorrow."
A gaggle of reporters and television crews staked out Favre's burgundy Cadillac Escalade — the same one that was waiting for him when he touched down at Austin Straubel airport Sunday evening — in the loading dock area of Lambeau Field. One of McCarthy's staffers then brought his black Escalade to the loading dock around 10:30.
Thus was added yet another unexpected twist to the ongoing Favre saga, which inched along Monday when the day began with Favre officially being reinstated to the active roster at noon by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. The Packers, in turn, somewhat uncomfortably embraced Favre's return, even though sources said the organization was hoping Favre would stay retired and accept the multiyear, multimillion-dollar marketing and licensing agreement the team had offered him.
The club didn't announce Favre's addition to the roster until 3:58 p.m., when it issued a news release that said simply, "Brett Favre has been placed on the Green Bay Packers' roster following his reinstatement by the National Football League earlier today, and cornerback Condrew Allen has been placed on injured reserve with a knee injury," making Allen the answer to a trivia question one day.
Unlike his arrival Sunday, when TV crews and about 200 fans greeted him at the airport and one TV station followed his drive to his Ashwaubenon home with its news helicopter, Favre managed on Monday to enter Lambeau Field undetected by fans and reporters who were hoping to witness his arrival.
Favre was scheduled to undergo a physical examination and take part in the conditioning test administered to all players upon their arrival at camp. Blumb could not confirm whether Favre passed those two requirements and said Favre would not have had to pass both to be added to the 80-man roster, only to be cleared to practice.
McCarthy had given the impression following Sunday night's annual intrasquad scrimmage that his conversation with Favre would follow the running test. McCarthy then planned to meet with all the quarterbacks — Favre, new starter Aaron Rodgers and rookie backups Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn — and then with the entire team.
While it was unclear what Favre and McCarthy were discussing, McCarthy did say Sunday the issue of whether Favre is 100 percent committed to playing football and to the team would need to be addressed.
"That's a great question," McCarthy said Sunday night. "That will be one of our topics of conversation. I think it's important for people to sit down face to face and answer all those types of questions. I'm looking forward to talking to him.
"There have been no promises. Once again, there has been indecision throughout Brett's path back here to Green Bay. It's important for us to sit down, communicate. There are some things that we need to go through."
A look back at Favre's comments during his tearful March 6 farewell news conference painted a clear picture of a man who by his own admission had found that "Brett Favre got hard to live up to," and publicly doubted his commitment to the game.
"I'm not up to the challenge anymore. I can play, but I'm not up to the challenge," Favre said then. "You can't just show up and play for three hours on Sunday. If you could, there'd be a lot more people doing it and they'd be doing it for a lot longer. I have way too much pride. I expect a lot out of myself, and if I cannot do those things 100 percent, then I can't play."
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