It feels like forever ago that I was scouring the internet for Brett Favre rumors involving his return, I was working for Vikings Gab at the time and disliked Favre plenty, but I do remember clearly that “this isn’t ordinary” feeling when news broke that Zygi Wilf enlisted Jared Allen, Ryan Longwell, Steve Hutchinson, and his private jet to convince Favre to give it one more shot.
We now know that Favre did indeed return for a 2010 season that should easily be in the running for one of the most embarrassing of all time. Favre’s consecutive games streak ended, a roof caved in, Randy Moss returned and then was booted, a caterer and a Jets sideline reporter publicly exposed two Vikings greats as very questionable humans, and… well, they weren’t a very good football team and their coach was fired.
Recently, Jared Allen was a guest on A.J. Hawk’s podcast (oh, by the way, A.J. Hawk has a podcast) and he opened up a bit about the events that unfolded resulting in Favre’s return to Minnesota. His recollections have gathered headlines mostly because his statements weren’t exactly what you would expect them to be.
“I was the one guy who told him, ‘Stay retired,'” Allen told Hawk in Episode 69 (of course) of the pod.
“Hutch and Longwell put the pressure on him,” Allen continues on in the interview you can listen to above. “I was like, ‘Listen, dude. It looks like you got it pretty good down here.’ His place is amazing. I’m like, ‘I’m going to be real honest with ya. If I’m you, I stay retired.’ But I’m like, ‘Don’t come back thinking you gotta prove something. If you want to come back and have fun with us and try to win some football games, do it. If not, I might retire and move down here.'”
Previously, the players involved in that flight have said they were not necessarily sent to Favre’s home to do any convincing and that they were instead sent to just get an official answer out of him. Earlier this year, guard Steve Hutchinson alluded to the fact that Favre initially did not want to return to football.
It’s true, he did not want to come back at first,” remembered Hutchinson. “And when he did, typical Brett fashion. ‘Ah, all right. Let’s go.’ Like you just talked a kid into, like, throwing rocks off a bridge or something.”
Hutchinson also said in that same 1500 ESPN interview that the plan was initially for him and coach Brad Childress to go talk to Favre. He told Childress that it was a better idea to send Allen and Longwell.
“It was pretty funny, we were laughing the whole time,” Hutchinson said of the covert nature of the flight and the media circus that ensued. “We got him back. But we basically kidnapped him.”
While the end result was dismal, the story is surely going to go down as one of the most notable in franchise history, as well as in local sports media history. It is also sort of surreal to have been so wrapped up myself in chasing any little bit of information that I could at that time, but now the truth and the details about that period are coming out in such a casual manner.
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Brett Favre was one fumble away from taking the Vikings to the Big Dance.
Can you imagine what might have been had the Wilf's reversed Childress's stupid firing of Randy Moss and fired Childo instead? I would love to hear from Favre his thoughts on Childress. It would go something like this; "Truthfully, I've never met a bigger dufus in all my life. I'm not talking just a football-coaching Dufus, I'm talking maybe the biggest dufus who has ever been born! Definitely the worst coach who has ever coached an NFL team. I loathed that guy."
I'm pretty certain that is exactly what Favre would say about "Coach" Childress.
I loathed that guy.
Dear God, have you already forgotten Les Steckel?!?
To be honest, though, the first name that popped into my mind was Rich Kotite.
My favorite memory of Brad Childress.
Describing Tavaris Jackson's demeanor. "I like the way he breathes in a huddle".
Maybe T-Jack can call on Childo as a Character Witness for his wife beating case
And lets not forget the time he let his hair down and became a Stewardess; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/30/brad-childress-female-fli_n_340596.html
And of course, one of the weirdest; “He's like a piece of gristle. He's got a great squirt in the hole."
No, really? He said that? I really want to steal that, but even I can't imagine a scenario in which I'd use it.
It's easy to say now that he should have just hung it up and retired. But hind shight is 20/20. Everyone knew if it wasn't for the biggest cheepshot poor refereed game I've ever seen that we would have won it all. And there was no reason to think that we wernt a super bowl favorite (with farve) the next year. So in hindsight should have stayed retired yes. But he was our only shot to go all the way and he wanted to ride off into the sunset and there wasn't a purple fan out there who wanted him to hang it up. So if he wouldn't of came back all we would talk about is what if
I know one purple fan that didn't want him back, or want him in the first place.
I didn't want him in the first place either. But after seeing him almost get us to the Superbowl and would have, had New Orleans not cheated, I wanted him back. Of course, had no idea he didn't have much left in the tank.
Yep felt the same way, Fran. That season...2009, was ours.
Do Faustian deals that make with devils ever end well?
brett favre
Twice convicted Brown County Wi. for DUI. Sets up a fake charity in order to get one of the convictions "forgiven"
Beat his wife so often, she filed for divorce from him in three different decades, Never followed through
Falls down to give Strahan the all time sack record for a season. That record should belong to Jared Allen
Sends out dong shots to Jenn Sterger (and numerous NYC waitresses). He is punished by a $50k fine. A veritable slap on the wrist. No suspension, thus artificially extending his continuous games played streak. Remember, he denied texting her dong shots. He copped to leaving "voice mails". This dope favre isn't smart enough to realize that text messages and photos can actually be saved. Let's not forget, the fact that favre sending out photos of himself masturbating ruined Jenn Sterger's television career once the New York media made a spectacle of the story.
This article would have been spectacular if it revealed that Jared Allen flew down there and beat favre's ass
.....
Didn't know or remember most of this. Thanks for the information and reminder that some great players are far worse human beings (Hello, Ben R!).