Favre sounds like he'll be back in 2008

I guarantee that's not a norm among big-league players, especially those of his stature -- or at least a those almost close to it. At one of my jobs, an athlete boycotted our rag after his first year in the NFL. Once the big-time paper took an interest, he stopped answering or returning calls.

 

It was actually 2001 when Favre first told Peter King he was considering retiring.

Mortenson erroneously reported that Favre was retiring after the playoff loss to the Falcons in January 2003 and it's been a constant, neverending back and forth ever since.

It is very interesting that all pertinent Favre news breaks in the Mississippi papers. I've heard he pretty much hates all of the local beat writers, who haven't broken news on him in about five years.

 

Can't wait for more explotation pre-game pieces on Monday Night Football.

 

: :

 

It's never failed to amuse/bemuse me how so many athletes--big- and small-time--view the local paper with derision. Back home, we had a guy who was drafted out of college by the Yankees. For some inexplicable reason, even though the entire town wanted him to make it to the big leagues--and even though we all conveniently overlooked the fact he was a Grade-A weirdo--he had a love-hate relationship with the paper. You never knew what kind of reaction you were going to get when you called him following some news (promotion, demotion, injury, etc).

The last time I tried talking to him was when he got released after an injury-plagued season. I dialed the number.

"Hello?"
"Hi could I speak to local baseball product?"
"Sorry he's not here right now can I take a message?"
"Sure. This is BYH from the Bumfuck Gazette. I was..."
*click*

Funny stuff. He never made it.

 

When Favre called us last summer to tell us he was coming back, he was in a deer stand or some such. He told our reporter, then told him he was turning off his cell phone.

As a former NFL beat writer, I was amazed at how generous he was on the mid-week phone conferences with the opponent beat writers. Most guys, you can't figure out how to get 10 minutes of answers out of him. With Favre, he'd talk 45 minutes and you'd practically have to hang up on him.