Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Buried within the Green Bay Packers' news conference Thursday was this: A relatively complete explanation for why the team allowed its deteriorating relationship with Brett Favre to fester through the first week of training camp -- rather than address it before camp began.
First, general manager Ted Thompson said: "It was always this underlying thing about how to get past the impasse. He wanted a release. That was something we weren't comfortable with. And there weren't any other options that were comfortable to him at that time."
Later, team president/CEO Mark Murphy said: "I think we [had] been at an impasse for quite a while. I think we didn't think he would show up to camp, and they didn't think we wanted him to come to camp. So in any negotiation, there has to come a pressure point. And I think the pressure point was him being reinstated and coming up here."
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| | AP Photo/Mike Roemer |
| | Packers GM Ted Thompson (right) and coach Mike McCarthy shared their thoughts on the trade Thursday afternoon. |
The Packers have addressed parts of the timing issue at different points in this process. But taken together, the two answers paint this picture:
- Favre, upon learning in June that Aaron Rodgers was the Packers' starting quarterback even if he came out of retirement, asked for his release.
- The Packers refused that request.
- Favre declined all other options, including a trade to a team outside of the NFC North. He threatened to seek reinstatement and report to the Packers' training camp but did not immediately follow through.
- The Packers believed that Favre, given the choice between -- at best -- competing for the starting job and remaining retired, would stay retired. They never thought he would show up for training camp.
- Believing Favre would ultimately decide against playing, the Packers did not think the worst-case scenario was a reasonable possibility and thus were not compelled to take action to prevent it from happening.
All three of the Packers' key decision makers -- Murphy, Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy -- have mentioned communication breakdowns as a primary cause of this mess. The Packers made assumptions about Favre's state of mind -- and his commitment to playing -- without talking it through with him first. Favre, meanwhile, assumed the Packers didn't want him on their team when they told him Rodgers was the starter.
The Packers, according to McCarthy, were prepared to take him back if they felt Favre could put aside the acrimony caused by the situation. Based on McCarthy's judgment, Favre could not.
It wasn't until Favre and McCarthy met face-to-face Monday night that the Packers realized he was serious about playing. And only after that meeting did Favre understand that the Packers had truly moved on. Based on Thompson's statement, only then did Favre agree to consider a trade to a non-NFC North team.
You don't have to agree with the Packers' approach. But if you want to know why they didn't settle this issue long before training camp, you, at least, have their explanation.
It's safe to assume that Favre has his own version of how things went down. Be sure to check ESPN.com's AFC East and AFC North blogs later Thursday as they cover Favre's arrival in Cleveland to join the New York Jets.
