National Football League

On the Mark: Favre's just another scheming celeb

Published Jun. 18, 2009 8:25 a.m. ET

foxsports

About 10 minutes into Joe Buck's interview with Brett Favre, the quarterback began to speculate on his prospects with the Minnesota Vikings.

He loves the offense, as it's the same one he ran for 16 seasons in Green Bay.

He'd have a running back, Adrian Peterson, who looks like a future Hall of Famer.

And the defense doesn't suck, either. That went without saying.

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"We should be pretty good," he said.

We. Hold up. We? Who's we?

In that moment, Favre gave himself up. For all his down-home, "aw-shucks" charm, the once-beloved quarterback came across as something of a schemer. Now that he's talked, it's even more difficult to believe this arrangement with Minnesota hasn't been in the works for a while. Favre didn't come off as fickle, so much as sneaky. What's more, you can understand why the Packers filed tampering charges against the Vikings almost a year ago.

The theme of HBO's inaugural "Joe Buck Live" was sports and celebrity. It's an interesting topic, though not a new one. And while ballplayers tend to be treated more graciously and adoringly than other American celebs, I'll concede that their lives have been complicated in this intrusive, mean-spirited and occasionally hilarious age of blogging and cell-phone photography.

But I refuse to be offended by the reporter doing his stand-up in front of Favre's house in Mississippi. God bless him. He's earning a semi-honest living. Nor am I concerned that this guy's editors are having him Twitter when Favre gets on the plane. So what?

Brett Favre isn't an innocent bystander. He brought this on himself. As regards his whereabouts and intentions, he's been running one misdirection play after another. With this interview now in evidence, it seems that most of what he's been denying and no-commenting is true.

Yes, he wants to play for the Vikings.