Purple #4

It looks more and more likely that Brett Favre will end up in a Vikings uniform. I welcome it, assuming we don't give up too much for him. My days of having loyalty towards any players is long gone. Guys move around too much. Yeah, in a perfect, fairy tale world, Favre should stay a Packer. But those days are gone; they may not have ever existed. Lots and lots of players have finished their careers somewhere else. There's no way I'd oppose an addition to the Vikings that would make the team better, no matter what team he played for. If luring Bart Starr out of retirement would help the Vikings, I'd be in favor of that, too.

I don't have any idea how much Favre has left in the tank. Hopefully the Vikings do. I don't know what Favre's off-season routine has looked like this year. Did it consist of eating chips on his porch down in Mississippi? Hopefully the Vikings know. I'm trusting that they'll make a good decision on the football stuff. (Yes, I know that's a big assumption.)

Here's my take on the pros and cons of Favre joining the purple.

Pro

-Favre's played in more pro bowls than Tavaris Jackson had TD passes last year. He's a 3-time MVP. He's won a Super Bowl. Even at this stage of his career, it is impossible to imagine him as anything but an upgrade over TJack. Sure he's thrown a lot of interceptions in his career, but in part that's because he has played for a LONG time. Most guys don't get the chance to stick around to throw that many picks. Sure he's thrown games away with an ill-advised pass in a crucial momemt (or a whole mess of them all afternoon). He's still a significant upgrade because he's also shown he can win a big game with his arm, something Jackson has never done.

-Favre would have the chance to play with the best running game in the NFL. This means he hopefully won't have to win games with his arm. He can play more of a 'take what the defense gives me' approach. He was pretty successful with that last year. Plus his presence will take pressure off the running backs.

-Favre in purple coming out of the vistor's tunnel at Lambeau Field will be like a dagger through the heart of Packer Nation. Every time they see him on Sports Center, it will be like a finger in their eye. That's priceless.

-If we only trade away a second round pick to get him, there's a pretty good chance we would have squandered that pick on some useless player anyway. This seems like a better risk.

Con

-Every week we'll have to listen to the Favre worship instead of just twice a year. We'll have to hear about how he has so much fun out there and how every mistake he makes is really someone else's fault. It'll probably be 10,000 times worse due to the circumstances. I really hope Childress outlaws the fake jump pass after the handoff move that Favre seems to be in love with.

-I'm not sure how coachable Favre is at this point in his career. Will he be on board with Childress's conservative style? Or will Childress open up the throttle when has a real quarterback at the helm?

-Football karma may come back to bite Favre. He's played something like 16 seasons without missing a start due to injury. Moving to Minnesota may upset the cosmic balance and something horrible could happen to him. Of course, if this does happen, we are back to where we started with Jackson, so it isn't a total disaster.

-Favre could be washed up and over the hill. He may play poorly, but no one will have the guts to bench him. This whole thing could backfire and ruin the season.

If Favre is available at the right price and is deemed ready to play football, than I am in favor of bringing him in. I think he gives us the best chance of winning now.

And if it backfires, this post will disappear and I'll be the first to say I told you so!