Friday, August 21, 2009

It's the Intent, Stupid

Since Brett Favre signed with the Minnesota Vikings, I've many a sports report and blogger chide Packer fans who are upset by this. There logic is that he is free to play as long as he wants, and to be as indecisive as he wants.

They miss a big point.

Brett Favre's intent since sometimes last summer has been to exact his revenge upon Ted Thompson. He has as much as said that he wanted to play for the Vikings for exactly that reason. He has since backed off of that tact, but if you buy his latest drivel about not wanting revenge, then I have some nice beach front property to sell you in Augusta, Wisconsin.

The fact is that Brett Favre wants to stick it to Ted Thompson. The only way he can do that is by sticking it to the Packers. The fact that he thinks he is bigger than the Packers organization is obvious in the fact that he thinks "true Packers fans" will have no problem with this and will continue to have his back. Unfortunately, he's wrong. "Brett Favre Packer fans" may, but true, Packers-first fans do. They do because Favre's intent is to stick his thumb in the eye of the organization that he rode into the Hall of Fame. And when someone wants to stick their thumb in the eye of a sports organization, fans naturally feel like they are having that thumb poked into theirs as well. This is especially true when their dollars have enriched that person for years.

Make no mistake. This is not about Favre wanting to play for the love of the game. This is about Brett wanting to play for the hate of a man. Brett intends to exact his revenge, otherwise he wouldn't have retired, he wouldn't have asked for his release, and he'd still be playing for the New York Jets. The fans recognize this and they are rightfully repulsed by it.

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