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.”

Jan 24, 2010; New Orleans, LA, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre (4) is hit by New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Remi Ayodele (92) and defensive end Bobby McCray (93) during the second half of the 2010 NFC Championship game at the Louisiana Superdome. Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

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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The Vikings really did very little that was good in the first half. The offense was weak when Bill Musgrave was making smart play calls and terrible when he was making dumb ones. I think it’s safe to say the Saints have those screens to Percy Harvin sniffed out Bill. And the Joe Webb calls? I love Joe Webb as much as the next guy but trying to force him into the game like that doesn’t serve anyone’s interests. Christian Ponder looked like a scared quarterback for much of the half and wasn’t helped by Musgrave’s insistence on running Webb into the game at key moments. The defense was pretty much gashed but, like I said, the Saints made just enough mistakes to keep the blow out from materializing. We’ll see how the second half unfolds but my money is on the Saints shoring things up.

TVA: How legit are the Saints as Super Bowl contenders? Can they take down the Packers in the playoffs? Please say yes.

WDD: Well, to answer your question I would have to say yes — they can beat the Packers — and are a legitimate Superbowl contender. Let’s face it, the Saints have a better all-around offense than the Packers. Defensively you would also have to give the nod to the Saints as I feel that they would be able to apply more pressure and stop the pass more effectively down the road. Now last time these two teams met it came down to the very last play in regulation, and if not for two blown plays by New Orleans and an early fumbnle (Cobb’s kick return touchdown and receiving touchdown, Colston coughing it up) then the Saints would be sitting at 11-2 as the number one seed in the NFC not the Packers. (more…)