Brett Favre Shows Again Where His Priorities Lie

One of the big name free agents this year in the NFL was former San Diego running back, Ladainian Tomlinson. He narrowed his search down to two teams, the New York Jets and the Minnesota Vikings, and signed with the Jets on Tuesday. The Vikings asked their quarterback, Brett Favre, to help recruit Tomlinson. What did he do? He wouldn't meet with him and when Tomlinson asked him whether or not he would be back next year, Favre texted him saying that he had "no clue." Being the quarterback of one team and having played for both the Vikings and the Jets, his efforts to recruit Tomlinson no doubt would have meant a lot. Favre stated that he did not want to mislead Tomlinson with his status for next season and that both organizations could help Tomlinson succeed.

This is yet another example of Favre's baffling level of selfishness. How he can be so completely oblivious to how detrimental his "status" for next season is to his team just boggles the mind. On the surface it looks like a pretty innocent situation, so it's important to clarify. No, Favre should not mislead Tomlinson about whether or not he will be back and yes, he should be honest in his feelings for both organizations. It looks almost classy.

The problem is that Favre's indecision puts him in this ridiculous situation that is hurting the Minnesota Vikings. As a quarterback, Favre is looked at as a team leader just by the nature of his decision. For LT, this is the man that will be handing you the ball and calling plays at the line. If he's not there it completely changes the dynamic of the offense. The Vikings are now in a terrible situation in that they don't know who their quarterback will be next year. As you can see, this makes recruiting offensive players extremely difficult. Whatever LT may say, Favre's text had an impact. The offensive leader of the team won't meet with you and will only text you to say that he doesn't even know if he'll be back? No wonder why LT accepted less money to go to New York.

With the departure of back up running back Chester Taylor, the Vikings need a second running back. Adrian Peterson is of course one of the best, if not the best running back in the league, but the Vikings run a very successful two back system. Not only that, Peterson's aggressive style of play necessitates a very good running back who can step in if need be. The Vikings just missed their chance to sign one of the best running backs available because Favre didn't want to mislead him? Unless Favre has let the Vikings know what his decision is already, this is a very dangerous game he's playing. With free agency already underway and the draft quickly approaching, the Vikings need to know immediately if they should be looking for a new quarterback. What if Favre decides in August that he just doesn't have another season left in him? He will have hampered their free agency efforts and left the team with no quarterback capable of successfully leading the team (Tarvaris Jackson, really?).

How far are the Vikings willing to let this go? They need to sit him down and tell him that it's decision time. If he feels rushed, well that's too bad, thank you for your time and get out. He won't help you recruit, you don't know if he will be back, you don't know if you should be looking for a quarterback now and players like Brady Quinn and Jake Delhomme have already been signed, and the draft is approaching which is your last chance to get a quarterback to take the reins from Jackson. If Favre wants to pull the same trick he did last year where he won't make up his mind until after training camp, that's not going to cut it. Players don't get to pick and choose their practices. There were reports of players being upset with it last season, but the speculation surrounding it really took away some of the animosity. If he does the same thing this season, it will be blatant and it won't matter how good he is, this team will not respect him.

At what point did it stop being about what was best for the team and become what was best for Favre? The Vikings are a business and football is a team sport. They need to do what is best for the team and forget about Favre. If he won't make a decision then make it for him. You need to recruit players and begin setting up an offense for next season and you can't do either of those things without knowing who your quarterback will be. Favre's total disregard for what he's doing to the team is also contradictory to the entire sport of football in which the team is more important than the player. This guy won't even get off the coach to talk to someone. Favre's continued selfishness is inexcusable and I can't understand why the Vikings are sitting back and letting him string them along. Favre's one good season with the Vikings does not entitle him to do whatever he wants, but he will continue to do so until Minnesota tells him that they've had enough.