Favre wanting to play GM

There's so many bits and pieces coming out on the whole Brett Favre story that's it's almost hard to keep track of.

To me, it feels like just a big chess match. Except that all anyone is doing is experimenting with their pawns. No one's brought out their big pieces yet.

In the whole Greta Van Susteren interview, one thing (or a couple of things depending on how you look at it) caught my eye.

Favre is quoted as saying, "And, you know, Ted and I, I thought, have always had a good relationship. We don't talk a whole lot, we don't go out and eat and shoot the bull. But on three different occasions -- I don't want to say lied, I think that's kind of a harsh word, but I think untruth or whatever is better."

Those three occasions Favre spoke about have been discussed ad nauseum. The first was the Packers failure to trade for Randy Moss after Favre supposedly offered to restructure his contract to help get Moss to Green Bay. The second was the failure to re-sign offensive linemen Mike Whale and Marco Rivera. And the third was asking Thompson to interview Steve Mariucci for the then vacant coaching position.

As far as Moss and the offensive linemen, I'm not really sure what Favre is referring to as "untruths." He never really goes onto explain what Thompson told him regarding those situations. Did Thompson tell Favre the Packers were going to do one thing regarding those players and then do another? It's not really clear.

But more troubling is, since when did Favre want to become general manager of the Green Bay Packers? I'm sure he has an opinion, but shouldn't he worry about quarterbacking the Packers and not worry about personnel moves?

Personally, the only thing I fault Thompson for is not re-signing guard Mike Whale. And there are people who likely disagree with me considering Whale's injury history. It's my own personal opinion that Whale was at the height of his career and was one of the most dominating offensive linemen in the NFL when he left the Packers even if Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors didn't indicate it (On a side note, I believe things like Pro Bowl nods come years after players deserve them as if it is a thank you for years of service. Certainly not all cases are like that, but many are, especially offensive linemen). The offense line in Green Bay certainly regressed once he left, and I think almost anyone can agree with that.

I'm glad that Thompson didn't resign Rivera who's career and health only went downhill since leaving the Packers. And I'm even more glad he didn't trade for Randy Moss. Sure Moss went on to have a dominating year in New England. But with the depth the Packers have at receiver, who needs Randy Moss? They got to the Final Four of NFL teams without him, and who's to say the Packers wouldn't have beaten the Patriots in the Super Bowl had they made it? And once again, there's plenty of people who disagree with that viewpoint, but those are my feelings on the situation.

As far as Steve Mariucci goes, the following are Favre's comments as he told Greta Van Susteren:

"So, the next year Mike Sherman is let go, and - I said, 'Ted, will you do me a favor and -- Steve Mariucci had been released probably four weeks previous with a few games left in the season. A close friend of mine, everyone knows that. And he and I talked occasionally and I said, 'Hey, how is it?' He said, 'I have to admit, I get time to spend with my kids, I've got four kids, and I miss it, but' - a lot of small talk.

"And so when our season is over and we don't have a coach, I said, 'Ted, will you do me a favor, would you interview Steve Mariucci?' Not would you sign him, or I'm not coming back, or anything else. I said, 'Would you interview him? And his exact words to me were, 'Well, from what I understand he doesn't want to coach again right now.' And I said, 'That's true, but I talked to him two days ago, a day ago, whatever.' And I said, 'Would you be interested in coaching Green Bay?' He's from Iron Mountain, Michigan, hour and a half north. And he said, 'That's always been a dream, sure I would.'

"So I tell Ted that. And he says, 'OK.' So I go home and I'm down here and the next thing I know Mike McCarthy is hired as head coach, which - so what? He may do a fine job. Whatever, no problem. I thought, that's a little odd. So I called Steve. I said, 'How did the interview go?' 'What interview?' He said there was no interview. I said, 'Did Ted talk to you? He said, 'Yes.' He said a couple of days after McCarthy was hired he called me and just wanted to know if everything was OK, how are you doing, and all that stuff. And I thought, OK.'"

And once again, it's hard to blame Thompson for doing anything wrong. As far as Favre knows, maybe Thompson had already entered negotiations with McCarthy to join the Green Bay Packers, but didn't have anything finalized. And it's also hard to argue with the results. Coming off the worst season in Packers history since 1991, McCarthy led the Packers to an 8-8 and within an opponent loss of the playoffs in '06 and to the NFC Championship game in '07. I love Steve Mariucci too (on a side note, I personally know Mariucci's uncle very well, but that's irrelevant). You just can't argue with Thompson's decision on coaching personnel given the results.

I'm still torn on the issue. It's hard to not want Favre quarterbacking the Packers given his performance last season. I really think what it's going to come down to is Favre is going to have to force the Packers' hand by reporting to camp. Only then will the wheels start turning. Maybe the the Packers will trade Favre, maybe they'll even trade Rodgers, but nothing's going to happen until Favre reports. I can't forsee the Packers releasing Favre. And either Favre's or Rodger's trade value is going to be at its highest once Favre commits to playing.