Oracle Of Cheese: Called out

Life is too short to eat fat-free cheese

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Called out

Brett Favre calls out Javon Walker in regards to his holdout. This interview made my jaw drop frankly. Let's take a look at what was so interesting about this article:

“If Javon wants to know what his quarterback thinks, and I would think he might, I’d tell him he’s going about this the wrong way,” Favre said. “When his agent tells him not to worry about what his teammates think and all that stuff, I’d tell him I’ve been around a long time and that stuff will come back to haunt you.”

Favre said Walker’s holdout reminded him of Sterling Sharpe’s decision to hold out the night before the Packers hosted the Vikings in the 1994 season opener.

So true. Javon is basically saying that he is more important than the team. If Javon thinks that his teammates will not look at him differently, he is sorely mistaken as Favre saw with Sharpe a decade ago.

“Nowadays you’re seeing more and more guys pulling that stunt,” he said. “If guys continue to do that and are successful getting away with it, then I’ll be gone, but I think the game will be ruined. My reaction to Javon’s situation was ‘Here we go again.’

“Javon has tremendous potential. We got to see some of that last year. The sky’s the limit for that guy, and I’d be the first to defend him, but he’s going about it the wrong way. What happened to honoring your contract and saying, ‘Let’s work as a team to see if we can get this done?’ Why not go about it that way?"

I bolded the shocking section, Favre is basically saying that he is getting sick of how players want to just hold out and threaten not to play unless they get a big pay raise. He would rather leave the game than have to deal with this garbage. He is probably is the only player in the NFL that can get away with this statement, given the amount of respect that he has. There are some who say that all these things should be taken care of in-house, I disagree to a point. Players who feel "disrespected" with their contracts make a public proclamation of their beliefs when thy hold out and state they want more $, Favre is just saying what his beliefs are. The public pressure is now back on the player, not the team. Great move.

If Walker’s stance doesn’t change, Favre said, “I’d just as soon go without him. He’s a great player. I think he can help us. He’s likeable and easy to get along with, but I’m guessing he’s getting the wrong advice, and he’s buying into that.

“We’ve got guys who’ll give great effort. Stars are made that way. Look what happened when Sterling left. Robert Brooks stepped up. We can win without him.”

Wow again. Favre would rather play with guys who want to play football and he could care less what ability you have. He is stating that nobody is more important than the team. How many WR has Favre created in his time at QB? Lots. He can make someone else a star if Javon doesn't want to play. Sportswriters and fans say this kind of stuff all the time, but rarely do players. It's about time that some of them come out and say what just about everybody is thinking, I wish more players would do this and stand up to the ones jeopardizing their team.

Brew Crew
The streak continues! Damn this team has gotten back to being fun to watch. Beating Zambrano is awesome as he was the lone pitching concern for the Brewers this series. A sweep is on the way people! Game ball goes to 2 people, Bill Hall and Carlos Lee. Both of these guys have had very rough seasons so far and came through big in this game. Major hat tip to Capuano for another solid outing.

Posted by: Cheesehead Craig / 9:03 AM