National Football League

Favre has no room to rip Rodgers

Published Oct. 5, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Hey, Brett Favre: Shut the hell up.

On Tuesday, talking on Atlanta radio station 790 The Zone, Favre told hosts Mike Morgan and Hans Heiser that Aaron Rodgers “fell into a good situation” and that “the biggest surprise to me would be that he didn’t (win a Super Bowl) sooner.”

I’ll say it again, Brett. Be quiet. Go away. Stay away. Never come back.

No one needs a history lesson on Favre’s incessant and destructive need for attention and adulation, but here’s a quick recap. The guy retired, unretired, made Rodgers’ transition in Green Bay a hard slog to say the least, went to the Jets, retired again, unretired again, went to Minnesota . . . on and on it goes, a list that adds up to one self-absorbed blowhard.

But now, with his body mercifully forcing his presence out of the league, he goes and dumps on the pride of Green Bay? Are you kidding me?

Forget that Favre’s first "what should I do?" melodrama put Rodgers in an awful spot and put the team in a situation ripe for discord and difficulty, or that Favre during that stretch acted like the petulant rookie while the unproven young guy acted with a level of class and calm befitting an All-Pro veteran.

There are also these facts, Brett: Twice, you threw interceptions late in NFC championship games that your teams otherwise might have won.

I kind of thought, you know, that you pushed your team into kind of a bad situation there. I mean, it really was a big surprise to me that you couldn’t win more Super Bowls.

In the Super Bowl you did win, it was Desmond Howard — and not you — awarded the game-day MVP award. It took you some time to get your first ring, too.

Only, Brett, you’re all done and Rodgers is in the thick of things right now. And I wouldn’t bet against him getting another one before it’s said and done. He has the best QB rating in the league right now (124.6) and has thrown for 1,325 yards while leading his team to a 4-0 start.

So, scoreboard, buddy: You have a ring; Rodgers has a ring. You have no Super Bowl MVP, and Rodgers has one. You took the storied Green Bay Packers to greatness even as you set up a side career as a raging egoist so inflicted with your own self-importance you became insufferable even to all those once-loving cheeseheads.

And Rodgers? He’s such a good dude, so far, that even I like him and root for him (lifelong Bears fan here). He’s a class act. He’s still going strong, so trying to measure his career or talk about too soon or not too soon in terms of his Super Bowl wins — he has one already! — is dumb beyond belief.

In fact, Rodgers even had the good sense to take the high road and deflect this most recent Favre folly.

"I think that the only response I have," Rodgers said Wednesday when asked about Favre's comments, "is I'm very proud of what our team accomplished last season and this is a new season. And that's about all I have to say."

Rodgers has also accomplished something almost as difficult as a championship: managing Hurricane Brett with grace and ease.

Right now, Rodgers is as fun a competitor to watch and cheer for as you can find in sports.

Right now, and I would imagine indefinitely, Favre is the crazy old guy standing on his front yard screaming at kids who aren’t even there.

Just listen to him.

“The biggest surprise to me would be that he didn’t do it sooner,” Favre said on the show. “Even though the last couple years it’s seemed like he’s almost a rookie, he’s been around awhile. And I’d like to think that he watched, he learned, and then when he got a chance to play, he brought in his ability, which is obviously very good or they wouldn’t have drafted him in the first round.

“He’s got tremendous talent, he’s very bright and he got a chance to sit and watch and see successful teams do it right. And so he just kind of fell into a good situation.

“On top of that, he’s a good player. I don’t think anyone would question now the talent around him is even better than when I was there. So I’m really kind of surprised it took him so long. Really, the early part of last year’s season, it hadn’t quite clicked yet and I didn’t know if it would. I just kind of figured when they hit their stride, they’re going to be hard to beat. And that’s what happened.”

I could spend some time interpreting that quote and pointing out the insecurities and stupidity that makes my need for Favre to never speak publicly again almost a pathological craving, but what’s the point?

Aaron Rodgers matters. Brett Favre, seems like every other month, makes sure he does less and less.

So go, Aaron Rodgers, and do what you do. And go, Brett — just go away.

You can follow Bill Reiter on Twitter or email him at foxsportsreiter@gmail.com.