I say “apparently” because, as we recall, Favre filed the papers in 2009 after “retiring” from the Jets and was still able to change his mind and join the Vikings a few months later.

As we learned after the 2009 Favre-flop, the retirement filing is really just a bureaucratic formality, one every player must go through to be eligible for a pension and other post-playing benefits, and is not an ironclad promise of retirement.  So the door is still open for Favre to change his mind if he wishes.

I’m guessing Favre didn’t feel any great urgency about getting some of that pension money he doesn’t need, so that leaves us with the question of why he decided to move so quickly on filing the paperwork.  My hunch is that Favre did it to send a message, mostly to ESPN and other media outlet, that he really is done this time and there’s no reason for them to post a reporter on his lawn come July.

And will this move stop ESPN from posting a reporter on Favre’s front lawn come July?  Probably not.

The cynic will also point out the interesting coincidence of this announcement being made the Monday after both the Packers and Jets put themselves into their respective conference title games.  Far be it from me to accuse Favre of trying to steal a little spotlight from his ex-teams, but…well, this is Brett Favre.  He does like the spotlight.  And he does not like the Packers and Jets.

All timing-related ulterior motives and message-sending intentions aside, I think this time the retirement really will stick.  Favre took a beating in 2010 the likes of which he never took in his entire career, ending the year with a scary concussion.  Favre knows it’s time to segue into a new phase of his life, a phase that doesn’t involve getting destroyed by huge defensive linemen and blitzing linebackers week-after-week.

So I think we can all rest assured that this time there will be no actual unretirement drama come summer.  Of course the media will still try to whip up an unretirement drama, because that’s what they do.  Hopefully Favre will quickly be able to defuse any such nonsense, if necessary by chasing Ed Werder away with a shotgun.

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To call this a ray of hope might actually be overly optimistic.  To hear Leslie Frazier tell it, there is still only a slim chance Favre will start Sunday afternoon against the Lions.  The quarterback will be required to take another concussion test Sunday morning, and only if he passes that exam will he be cleared to return to the field.

Frazier has already indicated that if Favre is healthy he will start Sunday.  But that remains a very big “if.”  The likelihood is that Joe Webb will get his second career start tomorrow.  I am now required by law to point out that, with Brett Favre, nothing is ever certain, so don’t be shocked if he pulls off one final miraculous recovery.

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It took a few questions for anyone to follow the comment up, but when the remark was finally addressed, Favre tried to laugh the whole thing off, saying he wouldn’t have made the remark if he knew it would lead to more questions.  Whether that constitutes a genuine back-pedal is hard to say.  It would not be surprising if, after another frustrating loss, Favre took a long hard look at his immediate future.  But, knowing Favre, it would also not be surprising to see him continue on regardless of how fast the losses pile up.

Overall, Favre’s press conference had a bit of a light tone.  Not light as in “this whole season is a joke now,” but as in “what can you do but laugh?”

At one point Favre was asked about his apparent confrontation with Darrell Bevell after he threw a pick to Tramon Williams to kill a potential scoring drive (the pick was really the turning-point of the whole game).  Favre indicated that all was fine between him and the offensive coordinator, and said it was actually a good sign that they got into it, because it shows they both still care.

Favre was not asked about reports earlier in the day from Ed Werder indicating he was still irritated with Brad Childress for throwing him under the bus after the first loss to the Packers.  When asked about some of his bad passes today, Favre admitted he “missed a few.”

And so it goes…

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