As Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert's reaction to losing LeBron James to the Heat last week showed, hell hath no fury like a man scorned and out for revenge. The same could be said for Brett Favre a few years ago when the Packers let him know that they were moving on and ready to start the Aaron Rodgers era.
Favre wanted to come back and play and was none too happy with the way the Packers were treating him during that whole situation. As a result, he demanded a trade and set off the first "Favre Watch," which is a now annual summer event. Rumors swirled about possible teams Favre could end up being traded to, and as we all know, he was eventually dealt to the Jets. He is now a member of the Vikings, of course, which was his hope from day one of this saga. He just wanted to stay in the NFC North in order to be able to get as much revenge on the Packers as possible. He even would have played for the Lions in order to get that revenge had it come to that, as revealed in an interview where Favre talks about meeting with head coach Mike McCarthy and GM Ted Thompson.
"There was just silence. I said, 'Well, what are we gonna do?' They made it pretty clear I wasn't going to play there, and I said, 'How about the Vikings or even the Lions?' I wanted to stay in the same division. They said that wasn't going to happen, but maybe Tampa. I said, 'Fine, trade me to Tampa. I'll whip your asses in week four.' Maybe that was a mistake. I'm flying back to Hattiesburg thinking I'm going to the Bucs, and I get off the plane and Bus tell me I've been traded to the Jets. I said, 'Bull,' but they were smart; they released the news so I'd look like an ass if I backed out."
As we all remember, the 2008 edition of the Lions went 0-16. Now, had Brett Favre been on that team, chances are the season would not have gone quite as badly, but that just shows you what lengths Favre was willing to go to for vengeance. He knew a trade to the Vikings wasn't possible, so his last ditch effort to stay in the NFC North was telling Green Bay that he'd even play for the lowly Lions. Green Bay didn't want any part of trading him to a division rival, though, which is why he ended up in New York for a season.
Obviously Favre to the Lions was never close to actually happening, but had Green Bay been okay with that idea, there's a good chance a trade would have been made. Matt Millen is pretty good friends with Favre, and I'm sure he would have jumped at the chance to acquire him. I just thank the football gods that the Packers didn't let that happen, because chances are Favre would have retired and gone to the Vikings after a season just like he did after playing for the Jets. Then the Lions would have been in an even bigger hole, and if Favre had joined the team, there's a good chance Millen would have never been canned. That thought alone is just frightening.