I had invited a prominent Wisconsin sports columnist to speak to the class that week, and of course, Favre’s decision was Topic A in class that day. The columnist, a man who had covered Favre and the Packers for many years, had attended the quarterback’s retirement session up in Green Bay a few days earlier, and was absolutely convinced this was it, the real deal. He had seen Favre weep, and for him, that was the clincher, proof positive that he was done. Career over.

Not long after my guest had walked out the door, I offered a far different prediction for my students. Favre would be back on the playing field by the time the 2008 season began, I told them. Forget the tears. Players play. The only way this player wasn’t going to perform was if someone ripped the uniform off his back and burned it.

After nearly 40 years in the business, you learn that rare is the athlete who gives up that charmed life voluntarily. If they think they still have just enough left in the tank to compete, eventually they will play. Giving it all up is so hard to do — the thrill of victory, the roar of the crowd, the camaraderie in the locker room, the hefty paycheck in the bank account.

Think Sugar Ray Leonard, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Michael Jordan, Junior Seau, Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Emmitt Smith among so many others.

And so, Professor Shapiro actually got it right that day. Favre did not retire, and signed on with the N.Y Jets instead.

And now, it says here that despite initial reports to the contrary, Favre will suit up again for the Vikings this season.

It’s not about the money. It’s almost certainly all about the ankle he had surgically repaired in the offseason. Sounds like it hasn’t totally healed, in my opinion the only reason Favre, at the moment, is not ready to commit to playing again in 2010.

“At the moment” is the operative phrase. He’s now going to consult James Andrews, the Birmingham orthopedic surgeon about a course of action to get the ankle back to where it needs to be in order to play professional football. Favre surely will do whatever he’s told in terms of continuing rehab.

If his ankle heals properly, Brett Favre will play for the Vikings again this season. Minnesota head coach Brad Childress will make contingency plans either way. He’s not going to pressure Favre into anything, because he surely knows the quarterback wants to play this season, but only if he’s physically able to perform. If not, he’ll retire, spend the season in a network broadcast booth or studio, and go directly into the Hall of Fame the first year he’s eligible.

But definitely, stay tuned.

If we’re not being force-fed overstated Yankees-Red Sox stories, we’re obsessing about some inconsequential football player missing a week of training camp. With a full month still to sweat through before pennant races become serious and before pro football and the U.S. Open begin, just the sight of Tiger Woods is like pennies from heaven. But Brett Favre and Albert Haynesworth have changed all that, haven’t they?

The 24-hour news cycle, not to mention Twitter, was tailor-made for Favre and Haynesworth and their respective dramas, the back-and-forth, the need for constant updates. If, for example, you didn’t check your PDA by 11:45 Tuesday morning, you wouldn’t have known that Favre had told ESPN’s Ed Werder that Monday’s hysteria over him retiring was a waste of time, that he plans to play this season for the Vikings if his surgically repaired ankle holds up. And if you wake up and fail to jump right into your Albert Haynesworth update mode, how would you know whether Coach Mike Shanahan would allow the team’s best defensive player to practice later that day?

You probably couldn’t find two football players as different as Favre and Haynesworth, yet they’ve tag-teamed the first week of training camp.

They’ve defined the start of the 2010 preseason. With any luck, their shenanigans will completely overshadow the worthless August exhibition games we’ll make far too big a deal of.

Very quickly we’ve switched gears this summer: from consuming stories about a sport where athletes have so much control (professional basketball) to a sport where very few have any control (professional football). Haynesworth, though paid like a king, is finding out that he nevertheless has little, if any, control. Favre already knew he has all the control, and he’s one of the very, very few players in the NFL who does.

Keep reading Wilbon’s column here…

Brett Favre is the childhood friend who wanted you to beg him to come out to play.

Brett Favre is the guy at work who always has to be patted on the back and told how valuable he is to the company.

Brett Favre is the guy on your high school baseball team who always limped around school or had an ice pack on his shoulder just so he looked that much more heroic when he came out of the dugout to pitch.

Brett Favre is the woman who sulks when another woman is paid a compliment.

Brett Favre is the guy who tells you he’s been offered another job just so you have to convince him to stay.

Brett Favre is the person you tolerate just because he’s so talented. Because without that talent you probably couldn’t care less.

I don’t want to talk about how talented Favre is (other than to say I’d take Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, Len Dawson and John Elway over Favre any day of the week. And I could be talked into adding a few more to that list.)

I don’t care how talented Favre is. This isn’t about talent.

And don’t tell me what a great teammate he is and how his teammates all adore him. I’ve met one of his former teammates and can tell you they don’t all feel that way.

If they haven’t said publicly that they believe Brett Favre is a prima donna, it’s because they’re holding their tongues. They’re being smart. They’re being gentlemen. They’re being professional. They know that they gain nothing by criticizing Favre.

Aaron Rodgers has never said anything about Brett Favre. Remember Aaron Rodgers? He’s the guy who had to go through a couple of off-seasons wondering whether he would get his chance to start for the Packers or hold Favre’s clipboard again. Want to know why Rodgers has never said anything about Favre? Because Aaron Rodgers is smart. He’s being a gentleman. You and I both know that Aaron Rodgers got awfully sick of Favre’s annual should-I-or-shouldn’t-I-retire saga, particularly that last year when Favre decided he wanted to play again after he’d already announced his retirement and Rodgers had already been named the starter.

Rodgers held his tongue and, instead, went out to have a couple of fantastic seasons after the Packers had enough of Favre’s antics and shipped him off to the Jets.

Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels now know exactly how Rodgers felt. I’m not saying they’re as talented as Rodgers — they aren’t — but their careers and lives have been needlessly interrupted by Favre’s annual Hamlet act.

They, too, have been smart. They, too, have been gentlemen. They, too, have held their tongues. They know they would gain nothing by criticizing Favre, but, not so deep down, you know they’re thinking, “Make up your mind already, you horse’s ass. This team isn’t all about you.”

But they won’t say that.

Nobody can say what they really think about Favre because they’re afraid of how he might react. That’s the problem dealing with prima donnas. It’s a constant ego massage, even if you have to lie through your teeth in the process.

Despite saying otherwise, don’t you think Brad Childress wants to know who his starting quarterback will be this season?

Don’t you think every member of the Vikings wants an answer to the same question?

Of course they do. And if they say differently it’s only because they’re afraid Favre will pout and retire again, and weaken the team’s chances if he stays retired this time.

Wouldn’t it be great if someone would just sit down with him and tell him to grow up?

Wouldn’t it be great if somoene would tell him to act like a man, instead of a spoiled little boy or girl?

Wouldn’t it be great if someone would tell him that his demand for attention and admiration is unseemly?

That’s unlikely to happen.

You and I both know that there’s a great chance Favre will come back to play for the Vikings this season, despite the signals he sent earlier this week. Maybe not in time for training camp, maybe not even in time for the first game or two, but he’ll be back.

He just needed everyone to tell him how pretty he is.

Again.

He retired because his body needed a rest. Playing quarterback at age 40 in the NFL is an amazing feat. Just to be good enough to be on an NFL roster at his age would be amazing, let alone to play like an MVP. I’m sure a lot of former NFL players would love to be feeling as worn down as Favre’s feeling, but he’s not used to this. Back in 2007, he reluctantly had surgery to remove bone spurs from his ankle. It was something he had put off for years. Whether it was the horrible auto accident he suffered in college, or a reminder of the addiction to prescription pain killers he developed after surgery in the mid-1990s, he’s consented to it reluctantly. He retired after the 2008 season because he needed shoulder surgery to continue playing, which he eventually did have. Now he’s been cut open in each of the last two offseasons, but it’s been reported that his ankle “has not responded” to rehab this time. He’s never been in a spot where he can’t play in a regular season game. Does he want his body to heal in time for the 2010 season?

He came back after someone challenged him. When he considered returning to the Packers in the summer of 2008, it was reported that Mike McCarthy told him that he would have to compete against Aaron Rodgers for his old job. That got him mad, made him determined to come back, and made him want to play for any team that was playing against the Packers in 2008. When he (finally) decided to come back in 2009, after a long flirtation with the Vikings, he did so because he didn’t want to let his daughter down. Does he want someone to put him on the spot and tell him to keep playing?

This special treatment can cause a problem in the locker room, and it was something the Packers were quite aware of when they chose to move forward with the young quarterback who worked hard all offseason instead of the veteran who steered clear of his teammates. But the Vikings seem to be an exception to this rule because they knew exactly what they were getting into from day one. They knew he’d waffle and ignore them for several months. They knew their head coach would travel to Mississippi to see him on his terms, and would gladly give him a ride from the airport. On any other team, I’d expect this would become a problem, but apparently everyone with the Vikings has realized what it takes to keep him happy and they appear willing to go along for the ride.

The Riverboat Gambler has always held his cards close and this season it’s no different. We expect a commitment or declaration from Brett Favre. But maybe we should be looking for consistency. In that sense, he’s delivered every year.

To his credit, he’s reportedly remained in close contact with Vikings Coach Brad Childress and at least one comment from his agent says Brett will return this season if his ankle is healthy. Don’t fault Favre for communicating to us that he is communicating with the Vikings. That might not be the answer the fans want but Favre can’t be responsible for the tidal wave of chatter that accompanies the start of every camp.

Despite the information from teammates that he will retire, we don’t have any official statement from Favre or the Vikings to go on. One of these days Favre will actually retire for good, and it will very likely be a pre-season announcement when he finally realizes his body can’t deliver the kind of performance he thinks his teammates and fans deserve.

Favre’s always been a “we’ll see” kind of guy. That isn’t the answer of a waffler. It’s the frank answer of a gunslinger who knows the day will come when his team needs someone faster on the draw.

On Tuesday, “sources” said Brett might not play anymore so ESPN devoted the first ten minutes of SportsCenter to that. Including a discussion between Ron Jaworski and Mike Golic — excuse me. Merrill Hoge and Mike Golic — over whether Favre is among the best quarterbacks ever. They finally agreed he “belongs in the discussion.”

I’ll take John Unitas and Joe Montana but I’ll “discuss” Brett.

But not right now. Because on Wednesday, Brett let the world know he hasn’t made up his mind yet and implied that no, it’s not about more money. No surprise there, because that’s been the standard, making late July and early August the annual “Brett Favre time,” something I suspect that most fans NOT in the upper Midwest are quite bored with.

Haven’t we learned that it’s always the same. Brett says “we’ll see,” then implies he’s retiring. Then he waffles. Then he returns. Although obviously, some year he won’t return. We just don’t know yet if that year is 2010.

Here’s what I do:

I wait until Brett tells the Biloxi Sun-Herald, his local newspaper, because that’s when we REALLY know his plans. Then I watch ESPN or the NFL Network showing a private jet taking off from the airport in Hattiesburg with “unknown people” aboard. (Actually, I don’t watch — it’s forced upon me if I tune to one of those channels.)

I love, by the way, that Brett talks to the Sun-Herald first. In a day when newspapers are struggling and the “Worldwide Leader” tries to put a stranglehold on “scoops,” Brett is being loyal to his hometown paper and his hometown fans.

So never mind the “sources.”

Never mind Ed Werder or anyone else on Brett’s front lawn (I get along fine with Ed, who has a thankless assignment tracking down stars and showboats.) Never mind Bus Cook, Brett’s agent — Deanna Favre, Brett’s wife, has far more influence, as she should.

Listen to Brett, who has a bad ankle, doesn’t like training camp and probably could report a week before the season opener because he knows the Vikings’ system in his sleep.

Bottom line: when Brett thinks it’s time, he’ll report. If his ankle really is sore, he won’t, leaving us to speculate through the start of the season, especially if the Vikings struggle a bit.

But in the meantime, let’s leave him alone.

Sports Center can spend a whole hour on T.O. and Ocho and Pacman with the Bengals.

Before you start thinking that Favre’s “just acting like a kid out there” for the love of the game, keep in mind that the Vikings have offered a sweetened pot for 2010 that could increase his compensation from $13 million to $20 million with incentives. And since the concept of anyone actually reporting anything about Favre in an objective fashion died years ago, if he does come back for the money, that fact will be buried quicker than Matt Millen’s credibility — perhaps by Matt Millen himself.

What Favre does know is that if he changes his mind again, the Vikings will welcome him back with open arms. While it’s possible that the ankle-related retirement story is real, it’s also entirely possible that in a week dominated by Albert Haynesworth, the Hall of Fame, and a rush of training camp stories, Favre’s own internal Media-ometer went off, telling him that he hasn’t been talked about enough in recent days.

That’s changed now — when Favre rises, as Lazarus from the dead, to grace us once again with his presence in a few weeks, the majority of the football media will try and snooker you with the notion that it’s the greatest thing for the game … well, ever. ‘Cause Brett just loves the game, y’see. But from year to year, as this ridiculous exercise continues, we’re exposed more and more to a personality so addicted to being the center of attention, he’s got his retirements/non-retirements down to where and when he “spontaneously” works out with the high school kids. None of this is up in the air — I’m firmly convinced that Favre already knows what he wants to do. But he’s going to string us along as long as he can, and we’re going to fall for it.

This year Favre says he is waiting on an ankle evaluation before committing to the Vikings again. But professional athletes are very in tune to their bodies, and Favre’s ankle was injured months ago. I have to wonder whether his indecision is based on other motives.

Favre reaps benefits from his indecisiveness, including being offered more money on his contract and conveniently missing training camp. The Vikings organization is probably willing to overlook this, as Favre had a good season last year (unfortunately). Still, I don’t know that his success is worth dealing with his vast ego.

What Favre seems most intent on doing is remaining the center of attention. My grandma taught me how to deal with irritating people like that. I think we should all try it. “Just ignore him, and he’ll go away,” she’d say.

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Playoff Football – Fantasy Style

I can’t say it enough- build depth. If you’ve gotten to the Fantasy Playoffs, a good bet is that the deciding factor will be who has the best depth. The key here is to have all your starters (behind your Studs) with favorable match-ups for the remainder of the season.

This is not the time of year to outwit yourself and over think your starting lineups. Go with the players that have gotten you this far and mix in players that have great match-ups. This is a surefire recipe for success.

However, one pitfall that must be avoided is starting players who may get rested and not play an entire game in Weeks 16-17 (like Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb were last year). But if you are lucky enough to ride the horses that got you this far and have filled your roster with productive role players, you’re going to strongly increase your chances for being a Fantasy Bowl Champion.

I wish you the best of luck and hope that we can help you accomplish those lofty goals of taking home your high stakes league cash or local league bragging rights, because either way one things is always for sure- The Road to Fantasy Bowls is different every time. If it wasn’t, we all wouldn’t be here doing what we love to do, which is watching football.

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