Dog Days

We appear to have officially entered the dog days of the off-season – a dead time between the draft and the beginning of minicamp where there’s really nothing substantive to talk about.  Oh, but ha ha – we’ve had the Brett Favre saga going on for the last couple of weeks; but now that appears to have dried up too, which only makes the dogginess seem doggier.  That’s okay – I was getting bored with the whole thing.  Not with the traffic – that’s been great – but the waiting around for tidbits of news to make something out of.  That gets to be like origami after awhile.  Can I make this boring piece of paper into a beautiful swan?  Or at least something vaguely swan-like?

I realize now that, with all the rehashing and regurgitating and speculating we’ve been doing, I haven’t really given my position on whether I favor Favre being brought to the team.  Well, the truth is I’m torn about it.  On the one hand I think it would be a kick to have him here – it would certainly make Packer fans crazy, and we like it when that happens – but on the other hand, I fear the experiment would ultimately blow up in our faces.  Favre usually gets into trouble when he tries too hard, and if he comes to the Vikings meaning to stick it to the Packers, I think that’s exactly what he would do.  He would get caught up in trying to prove a point and wouldn’t stay within the game.  There was a time, of course, when Favre out to prove something was a good thing – but at his age and with a bad arm?  I just don’t know if Favre is capable of dialing it back the way he would need to, to compensate for not being able to zip it in with the old velocity.  And I think if he went out there slinging it, well, it would be entertaining, but we would finally be disappointed by the results.

And consider also what a year of Favre would mean to the other quarterbacks on the roster.  Do we really want to give up on Tarvaris Jackson this way?  After investing so much time in him?  And what about Sage Rosenfels?  Doesn’t he deserve a chance to show what he can do?  I personally don’t think that Tarvaris is the answer:  but the end of his Vikings career shouldn’t come because he gets buried on the bench behind an old broken-down former champion who’s playing out the string.  Let Tarvaris go out there and lose the job fair-and-square.  Who knows?  Maybe that potential Brad Childress sees will finally manifest itself. Or maybe – just maybe – Sage Rosenfels is the answer.  Let’s at least find out, one way or the other, if he can get it done.

If either Tarvaris or Sage wins the job, then we could have a solid QB for the next five years.  If Favre comes on board and is anointed the starter on past reputation?  One year is the best we can hope for.  And where’s the guarantee that he will win you a Super Bowl?  Yes, I get the argument:  take your shot now.  I’d agree if it seemed a legitimate shot – but I’m beginning to wonder if Favre has it in the arm and in the head to make the gamble worth taking.

Then again, like I said before, it would be entertaining.  Head says bad risk, heart says let’s just go for it and the hell with the consequences.  Stomach says I could sure use a cheeseburger.