With not all that much to talk about in this, the slowest month of the NFL calendar, the round of interviews Brett Favre conducted yesterday in advance of his Packer Hall of Fame induction has provided plenty to talk about.
During an interview with ESPN Wisconsin, Favre said that despite the perceptions, there was no problem between him and the current occupant of his old chair.
“Was there animosity toward Aaron Rodgers [in the summer of 2008]? No, there wasn’t,” Favre said. “I like Aaron. Aaron and I get along fine. I knew at some point he had to play. I knew he had tremendous potential. All those things have come true, and I don’t feel like, ‘Well, what about me?’
“Again, my body of work speaks for itself. I’m a different player than he is. He’s a tremendous player and a great leader, and he’s doing exactly what I thought he’d do. When people try to create a wedge either with me and a player or me and the organization, there isn’t one. Life goes on, I understand that, and I’m OK with that. But again, what I did speaks for itself.”
Of course, there was certainly tension, as Favre was on his way out and Rodgers was on his way up. But Rodgers helped smooth things over, which sparked their onstage meeting at the February 2013 NFL Honors.
“As much as on-stage at the NFL Honors I think that was important for fans and the team to publicly see us coming together, I think time is the ultimate catalyst for things coming back together,” Rodgers said earlier this offseason. “Sometimes it just takes some time for people to move on and move past things. I was happy to be a part of that. It was fun for me to see Brett and do that little bit on stage with him.
“But this is a fun time for him, I think. He’s been obviously away from it for a few years now, and I think a lot of that stuff has healed up – I hope it has. And it’d be great to see him get his number retired, go up on the stadium facade – which is an incredible honor – with the other four legends – and obviously his Packers Hall of Fame induction. And then obviously next year, going into Canton will be great. So this is again a fun time for him, and hopefully people can look back and remember all the great memories, the streaks, the Super Bowls, the MVPs, the wins, the drama which always followed those games. It’ll be a fun time.”
Of course, Rodgers won’t be around for the fun in Green Bay later this month, as he’ll be busy playing in a golf tournament when Favre comes back to Lambeau Field for the ceremony.
