GREEN BAY — So all this Brett Favre-to-the-Minnesota Vikings was much ado about nothing?

Maybe, maybe not. For now, though, the legendary quarterback’s daliance with his former team’s rivals is over.

After making plans to have dinner Wednesday night with Vikings coach Brad Childress, then meet with Childress again Thursday, Favre called the Vikings and informed them he intended to stay retired.

Citing a source close to the team, Yahoo! Sports reported Thursday aftenroon that Favre told Childress he wanted to remain retired in a phone call that took place “sometime in the last day.” The report also said Favre is expected to publicly explain his decision soon.

An NFL source close to the the Vikings confirmed the Yahoo! Sports report to the State Journal later Thursday, although the source quickly added he didn’t think Favre’s decision was necessarily final.

“I don’t think it’s over,” the source said.

The Vikings’ mandatory minicamp is set for May 29 to 31, and without Favre, their quarterbacking options are Tarvaris Jackson, Sage Rosenfels and third-stringer John David Booty.

“I think (the Vikings) will watch ‘T-Jack’ and Sage at minicamp and realize they won’t put people in the seats,” the source said.

If Favre’s decision turns out not to be final, and he changes his mind again, it wouldn’t be the first time the ex-Green Bay Packers icon has mulled unretirement, set up a meeting to discuss returning, then decided to stay retired, only to go through with unretirement later on.

On March 27, 2008, Favre called the Packers and told coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson he had made a mistake in announcing his retirement three weeks earlier and that he wanted to return for a 17th season with the Packers after all.

McCarthy and Thompson, who were in Palm Beach, Fla., for the annual NFL meetings, were receptive to Favre’s idea about returning and responded by chartering a plane to fly them to Favre’s home in Hattiesburg, Miss. Then, after consulting with his wife, Deanna, Favre called the Packers back and told them he wanted to stay retired and they needn’t come to Mississippi.

When news of Favre’s March waffling broke during the height of his feud with the club last summer, Favre accused the Packers of exaggerating the incident in an interview with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren.

“Yes, they almost came down here at the end of March,” Favre acknowledged, according to the transcript of the interview. “(But they acted) like they were going out of their way to charter this plane (when in fact) they had already chartered (it) to go to Orlando and then on their way back, they were going to stop in Hattiesburg. ...

“I had second thoughts. I had second thoughts before. I told them that. I didn’t say I wanted to come back. I did not call them before they went to Orlando and say, ’I’m playing, man I made a mistake. I’m sorry, three weeks ago we had this big deal ...’ That’s not true.”

The Packers stood by their version of events.

After the March incident, Favre then called McCarthy June 20 and told him of his renewed plans to unretire. When McCarthy informed Favrethe team had moved on with new starter Aaron Rodgers, Favre asked for his release, which the Packers refused to grant, setting up the training-camp showdown that led to Favre being reinstated by the NFL and subsequently traded to the New York Jets.

Favre’s change of heart with the Vikings Wednesday explains why FOX9 in Minneapolis captured video Thursday morning of Childress entering the Vikings’ Winter Park facility in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie, Minn., when he was supposed to be meeting with Favre somewhere in Mississippi.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune had reported Wednesday that Childress had departed the team’s headquarters and was on his way to a meeting with Favre. The two planned to have dinner together, then meet again Thursday, the Star Tribune reported, citing a source with knowledge of the situation.

The news of Favre and Childress planning to meet was first broken by ESPN’s Ed Werder, a close confidant of Favre’s, earlier this week.

Amid all reports Wednesday, Favre’s agent, Bus Cook, conducted an interview with USA Today in which he said Favre was staying retired.

“As far as I know he is retired and he’s not told me he’s changed his mind,” Cook told the paper. “I’m on the golf course (Tuesday) and my phone was blowing up with all these messages. I said, ‘What in the world is all this stuff about Brett coming back?’ I talked to Brett yesterday. I said, ‘What’s all this about?’ He said, ‘I don’t know. I don’t know where that’s coming from.’

“I would think the first order of business would be that Brett would tell me, ‘Bus, I want to play again.’ That hasn’t happened.
“Will something happen down the road? I don’t know that.”

At this point, no one does.