As mentioned in the previous post, Brad Childress was unsuccessful in benching Brett Favre in the third quarter when the Vikings had a one point lead against the Panthers.

Favre was rather upset during his post-game presser.

“Yeah, there was a heated discussion, I guess you would call it,” Favre said. “We were up 7-6 at the time. No secret, I was getting hit a little bit. I felt the pressure on a lot of plays. We had seven points. So I think everyone in the building was like, ‘They’re not moving the ball, they’re not getting points.’ Brad wanted to go in a different direction and I wanted to stay in the game.

 ”We were up 7-6. Yeah, it’s not 70-6, but we’re up 7-6. So I said, ‘I’m staying in the game, I’m playing.’ I don’t know if it was exactly to protect me, or we had seven points, I’m not sure. That’s his call. But we talked it out. We didn’t have time, I didn’t have time to sit there and say why or what. My response was, we’ve got to win this ballgame and I want to stay in and do whatever I can. Now, unfortunately, I didn’t do that, but that was my intention.”

It is clear that Favre questioned Childress’ attempt to bench him at the time, and he was still miffed after the game.

Now, just to be clear, I have made no secret of the fact that I dislike Brett Favre.  So, some you might say “a bit biased there, Adam?” and I would not be able to deny it.

What I can say, however, is that I have also made no secret of the fact that I dislike Brad Childress.  So while I may be biased in my dislike of Favre, I am equally biased in my dislike of Childress.

So, the point is, I think what Favre did is utterly unacceptable.  There are three reasons for this:

  1. Brad Childress calls the shots.  That’s the way it has to be.  I disliked Brad’s game plan this week about as much as I ever have, but he is the boss and has his reasons (no matter how misguided they can be sometimes) to do the things he does.  It was obvious that the offensive line was not going to protect Favre, and thus putting a more mobile quarterback like Tarvaris Jackson may have been the change up that was needed to turn the tide while the game was still in hand.  I think it is safe to say that the Panthers did not game plan for a mobile quarterback.
  2. Again, it is obvious that Childress had no faith in his team’s ability to protect the passer.  Thus, by keeping Favre in the game he was exposing Favre to a scenario in which he is even more likely to be injured than he normally is.  If Julius Peppers decided to make a Favre-sandwich and Favre goes down for the season, then this team would be riding the T-Jack train into the playoffs.  I don’t know about you, but I would rather have T-Jack finish of this game rather than have him finish off the post-season run in the same fashion that he did last year, no?  Favre was selfish for putting himself at risk and thus putting the team’s playoff chances at risk when the guys who was supposed to be in charge told him to get his ass out of the game.
  3. Despite how dim our head coach might be, he is still the head coach.  Undermining the coach just two weeks before the playoffs start is a prima donna move of epically selfish proportions.  Now the question exists… who runs this team?  Brett Favre or Brad Childress?  For Favre to raise those questions at this point is unacceptable and unfair to Childress.

So, while I think Brad Childress would have a head coaching rating (if such thing existed) of 0.001 after Sunday’s game, I think Favre’s selfish ways are now a serious concern that should not be taken lightly.

Then again, Favre knows all too well that the fans and the media will take his side of this whole mess and he’ll come out smelling like roses… and Childress will look like even more of dumbass than he already does.

“My response was, we’ve got to win this ballgame and I want to stay in and do whatever I can. Now, unfortunately, I didn’t do that, but that was my intention.”

If Tarvaris Jackson enters that game, what is the worst that could happen?  They lose? 

The words “I want” are not a good enough excuse, Brett.  Next time, do as you are told, sit your ass down, and let Brad take the heat for the outcome.