I think the world of Brett Favre. He's the football player's football player. He loves the game. He's incredibly talented. He's unafraid. Players love to play for him. Players love to play against him.
But what he did on the Fox show "On the Record" was totally out of line. He told the world that he had three beefs with his General Manager, Ted Thompson. He spelled out each of these beefs. It all sounded believable. You could even understand his concerns.
Except for one really big problem. He should've taken these up directly with the GM. The way Brett communicated this, it definitely did NOT sound like he took these up with Ted Thompson directly.
First things first: Ted Thompson is the GM of the Packers. That makes him Brett's boss. In the world outside of football (or professional sports in general), one does NOT go on national television and communicate problems they are having with their boss. You sit down with your boss and you say, "hey, I'm not happy with a few things here and I'd like to get these aired." Ideally, you don't let perceived mistakes accumulate. You make it a point to sit down with the boss and sort it out. You don't do this on national television.
So, in my humble opinion, Brett traded on his iconic status to broadcast to the world his beefs with his boss. For me, that tarnishes Brett's iconic status.
Secondly, I saw an interview yesterday with Peter King, from Sports Illustrated. Peter was asked about this point that Brett felt pressured by the Packers to retire back in March. Peter said he had very specific communication from Brett back in March telling Peter he was NOT pressured by the Packers, that Peter shouldn't buy into those rumors at all, that Brett simply felt he couldn't do it anymore and it was solely his decision to retire.
So, something doesn't quite add up there.
Ted Thompson did NOT go on Fox national televsion to tell the world problems HE was having with Brett's situation. Brett did. Does Ted respond in kind? Maybe he doesn't prefer to handle employee relations in this way. Yes, I said "employee relations." Brett's an employee of the Packers and he chose to make his boss look pretty bad on national TV when he could've handled it VERY differently. He chose not to.
Does Brett get a pass because he's a superstar, a future hall-of-famer? Well, many will give him a pass. Many will just consider Ted Thompson an insensitive, unethical person because, well, because Brett said so. Will Ted Thompson ever really be able to clear up what Brett accused him of? Most likely not for those who see Brett as the victim here.
Well, somehow Brett's decision to retire or not retire for the past 2-3 years has been a media circus. How much of that comes from a media that thrives on this kind of thing and how much of that is Brett being a willing participant in that circus? Each of us will have to decide.
For now, I'd prefer not to see superstars telling the world how their bosses are not decent people. Sometimes the accuser has his own kettle of fish that we never find out about. And frankly, I don't care to find out. Just handle your business professionally and do so without trading on your stardom.
