Brett Favre on Saints’ Bounty Program: “I Really Don’t Care”
Brett Favre, the target of the largest of the (known) Saints’ bounties, has again denounced the relevance of any bounty program.
In an interview with Deion Sanders of NFL Network Friday, Favre reiterated his position.
"“My feeling, and I mean this wholeheartedly, is I really don’t care,” said Favre. “What bothers me is we didn’t win the game.”"
Favre is an old-school, tough-as-nails quarterback who loves to embrace that reputation, so it’s no surprise he is saying that bounties don’t bother him.
But it’s a little hard to believe “wholeheartedly” that Favre has no ill feelings about the bounty. After all, it was one of the last games he played and one of the biggest of his career. The loss ended one of the best, if not the best, statistical seasons in Favre’s career.
And Favre never truly returned to form after that game against the Saints.
It’s easy for Favre to say he has no problems with the Saints’ actions, especially after he retired for the 67th time.
But actions speak louder than words, and Favre’s actions have said something entirely different. In the Vikings’ home opener against the Saints the year after that NFC Championship game and the year before the inevitable NFL lockout, many of the players walked onto the field before the game began and raised up one finger as a sign of union solidarity against the bigger, richer meanies, Roger Goodell and the NFL owners.
Guess who didn’t walk onto the field or raise a finger? Favre.
Now, there could be plenty of explanations for that. Maybe he was unaware of the plan and had no idea why everyone was pointing up. Maybe Favre didn’t care about union solidarity and thought he was above all the “rich vs. richer” nonsense.
Maybe he was still angry over the loss the year before and was pouting. Even more likely, he was busy cramming the gameplan into his head–after all, he showed up in Minnesota just days before the home opener against the Saints.
But he seemed well aware of what was going on, and to my knowledge (if I can call it that), he wasn’t hunched over a playbook with Professor Bevell lecturing over his shoulder.
File this under “conspiracy theory, crazy;” but my guess is Favre was silently protesting any act that involved solidarity with the players who tried to maim him the year before.
Quite frankly, no matter what Favre feels, he can’t say anything bad about the Saints. He’s a tough guy, and his reputation won’t allow him anything different.
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