The Return of Favre

Well it is that time of year, a time when preseason is already under way, and training camp is about to breakup and when the Vikings go from pretenders to contenders overnight. For me the return of Brett Favre is a happy time, because while the news coverage rivals the O.J. Simpson chase, at least it will bring an end to players, pundits and fans trying to float the notion of him not returning. Unless Favre was physically unable to play the position (in which case it shouldn’t have been all the negative hoopla), he was going to return and he was going to return now when training camp is breaking up.

Favre is too much of a competitor to have his career end so close to the Super Bowl, especially considering since most people wrongly try to blame Favre for the loss. That interception was ill timed, but wouldn’t have mattered if the Vikings hadn’t fumbled the ball so many times (fumbles that either cost them points or gave the Saints excellent field position). Not to mention the officiating at the end of that game was horrible and gifted the Saints that winning field goal attempt. Favre was not going to come that close to the Super Bowl, and walk away. It’s not in his blood and it is not in the way he has played the game for 20 years now.

While it might be unlikely for Favre to duplicate his numbers from last season (which were unreal for a 40 year old), Favre can still throw the ball a little bit. He returns pretty much the same offense, though I really like rookie backup running back Toby Gerhart. I would not be shocked to see Gerhart have a big impact with this team, and give Adrian Peterson some relief. I’m sure Favre would have liked to see the Vikings improve along the offensive line, since he almost got killed back there last season. Other than that question mark Favre has the pieces to turn this offense into a championship caliber team. That along with the Vikings killer defense, and Minnesota has a legitimate shot at winning the Super Bowl in (likely) Favre’s final season.