Bold guesses on Favre’s durability

Recently, quite a few NFL players announced retirement, and most of them are around 30 years old and none is older than 40. That’s normal in NFL, but it made me more curious about the durability of Minnesota Vikings quarterback, 41-year-old Brett Favre.

I have to guess hard why Favre could still play so well when he was 40 years old, two years after he first announced retirement. He never retired for real sense and returned to a different team every time after he announced the end of his NFL career. People got fed up with his uncertainties, but were still amazed by his excellent performance. By so far this season, Favre has not made any announcement on retirement or return, but he is highly expected to wear back his Brett Favre jersey because his performance in 2009 season has convinced people of his capability and durability. But why is he so durable while most other players end career shortly after 30th birthday or just have decreasing value even if they stay to age 40?

I have to doubt that whether the quarterback we saw on field was really the Brett Favre we talked about? Is there another man like Favre and playing as well so he and Favre can play in turn? If so, both men could have enough rest before playing his next game. I also guessed that Favre may use some kind of steroids to make his body stronger. He is 41 years old and a grandfather now, I can hardly believe he can do even better than he did while younger, and I even doubt he has a twin brother or clone to play for him when he is not in good condition. Oh, Vikings fans forgive me, I’ve just read too many conspiracy novels.

Vikings said Favre’s surgery was expectable

While a lot of people were excited about Brett Favre’s surgery on his left ankle, the responses from the Minnesota Vikings were not with much surprise. Calling it promising news, most of the Vikings said the move was just expected long before it really happened.

Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe’s words may represent quite a lot of his fellow teammates. Shiancoe said that Favre had to change some part of his body if he had even the slightest intention to play his 20th NFL season, and leading the Vikings so close to Super Bowl XLIV could just make the quarterback want more success in a new season. None of the Vikings, either player or coaching staff or even officials, has got any information from Favre on his playing status in 2010 season, but they all take the latest surgery as a strong suggestion of his plan to wear back the purple and gold Brett Favre jersey. If their wish comes true, Favre would be the first grandpa winning Super Bowl in the league.

The Vikings are still carrying on their offseason plans without a confirmed starting quarterback. They are confident that Favre will return to take the job back. Favre himself also used to say that playing with his former rivals gave him good feelings and the 2009 season could the best one he has had during his 19-year NFL career.

Brett Favre wants to return with Packers

While most of us are expecting the legendary quarterback Brett Favre to wear back his No.4 Minnesota Vikings jersey, few people seem like to see him back with his old team, the Green Bay Packers, even though the quarterback himself actually wants to be with the green and gold instead of the purple and gold.

Some rumors spread recently to say that Packers told one of his close friends that he was actually attempting to play with the Packers again before retiring. It’s a reasonable guess, if it is, as Favre spent most seasons, 16, of his NFL career with the Packers before announcing his first retirement in 2008 offseason. We know that he later chose to sign with the New York Jets and retired again in 2009 offseason before signing with the Vikings. Favre had his best season in 2009 but did not make it to Super Bowl and finished the season with a lingering ankle injury that may require a surgery. It seems that Favre plans to play for one more season before a real retirement, and he wants to spend the last one with the team he loves most, the Packers, who acquired him from the Atlanta Falcons in 1992 offseason and gave him trust and starting job.

Without the chance given by the Packers, Favre could have developed into one of the best quarterbacks in the league. However, even if he wants to wear back Packers style of Brett Favre jersey, Packers fans would unlikely forgive him for what he did in 2009, when the Vikings led by Favre beat the Packers twice.

Stanford RB Gerhart joined Vikings as 51st pick

After drafting Virginia cornerback Chris Cook with the second pick in the second round, the Minnesota Vikings used another second-round pick to draft a running back from Stanford. Being the 51st overall being picked in 2010 NFL draft, Toby Gerhart could be feeling luck that he had the chance to put on Vikings jersey and work with Adrian Peterson, one of the best running backs in the league.

At the beginning of Friday night, the Vikings already showed strong intention to pick the former winner of the Doak Walker Award. At the cost of a second-round pick at No. 62 and a third-round pick at No. 93, the Vikings traded for the 51st overall pick from the Houston Texans and moved up 11 spots to have the right of picking Gerhart before other interested teams made the choice. With height of 6-foot and weight of 231 pounds, Gerhart was strong competitor for the Heisman Trophy and eventually managed to win the Doak Walker Award, which is prized to honor the nation’s best college running back.

Gerhart showed his power as a running back by rushing for 1,871 yards and 28 touchdowns last year while leading the Cardinal to the school’s first appearance in bowl game in eight years. The addition of Gerhart is expected to add more depth in Vikings’ running back. Besides, picking a cornerback and running back instead of a quarterback made more people to believe that the No. 4 Brett Favre jersey is very likely to appear with the team for the new season.

What happened when Favre was traded from Falcons to Packers?

When Brett Favre was waiting in the 1991 NFL draft, he was not as brilliant as he seems to be now. As the 33rd overall pick in the draft, he was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round. He was offered a three-year, $1.4 million contract with a reported signing bonus of $350,000 in July. Everything looked good for the rookie quarterback but what happened in regular season simply resulted in Favre’s departure.

While Favre was taken as a talented young quarterback by most people, then Falcons head coach Jerry Glanville showed publicly his disappointment with drafting of Favre and determined that Favre would not be allowed to play in any game. His original words were that it would take a plane crash for him to put Favre into the game. Playing in only two games, Favre had his first pass in an NFL regular season game and it was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Attempting totally in four passes with the Falcons, Favre completed none of them and two resulted in interceptions. All the disappointing performance seemed to support Glanville’s unwillingness to hold Favre out.

After the zero-production 1991 season, Favre was unsurprisingly on trade market and became a target of Packers general manager Ron Wolf, who showed intension to draft Favre in the previous offseason but lost the chance as Falcons picked Favre with a higher pick. Wolf did not lose the chance again and made quick move to prompt a trade with the Falcons for Favre at the cost of a first-round pick. Then during the following 16 seasons, the No. 4 Packers style of Brett Favre jersey became more and more eye-attracting as the quarterback showed how well he could play as long as he was given the chance and confidence.