Real Packer fans won't wish success to Favre

I read State Journal sports columnist Tom Oates' Wednesday piece after Brett Favre stuck it to Packer fans.
After all the "maybe I will, maybe I won't" stuff he put us through for years, you expect us to hope that he beats us so he can be the only person in history to beat all 32 teams? And we're supposed to hope he breaks more records -- even though they may be at the expense of the Packers?
Interesting concept, if you're a Viking fan, but not if you're a real Packer fan.

-- Donald Soehle, Grand Marsh

Favre wasn't one-man team for Green Bay

If you want the Vikings to beat the Packers because Brett Favre is their quarterback, then you are a Viking fan, not a Packer fan.
Every year we went through the same thing waiting for Favre to decide if he was coming back. It wasn't a one-way street with Favre and the Green Bay Packers -- someone had to catch all those touchdown passes, someone had to block for him to remain healthy. It was his teammates and the Packer organization who put them there.
You can cheer for the Vikings if you want and then try to convince yourself that you are still a Packer fan. But every time you look in the mirror you will know in your heart that you cheered for the Packers to lose.
I hope Favre has a great year and stays healthy, but I want the Vikings to lose every game they play, with the exception of a split with the Lions and the Bears, just like I do every year.

-- Jim McCarten, Milton

Favre will get well paid for doing what he loves

When Packer general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy felt Mark Tauscher's battered body had given football all it could, they cut the Wisconsin native and former Badger loose to land wherever old lineman land. A new, younger, larger man was brought in to replace him. That's the NFL.
Hopefully, Tauscher will land with another team that thinks his experience and work ethic is worth an honest season's pay.
Like a jealous ex-boyfriend, the Brett Favre haters seem to think that once you are released or traded from the Packers, you should not play football again. Blaming the traded Favre for playing with the Vikings is like faulting a laid-off GM worker for taking a job with Ford.
Simply put, Favre is a 39-year-old man wanting to work a job he loves for a coaching staff that wants him and will pay him $25 million. Find me an honest person who would turn down $25 million to play a game because it involves a purple jersey.
Unfortunately this year, Favre will be under center for the darn Vikings. Still, how can someone not root for a gray-haired man who has not missed a game in 18 seasons in a sport where the average player is 26.5 years old? Good luck, Brett. Go Pack.

-- Sean Malone, Portage

Time for writers, fans to cut Favre some slack

Wouldn't it be nice if all the sports writers and football fans would just take a step backwards and think about how they felt about Brett Favre when he was the much-loved quarterback for the Packers?
This is a man who truly loves the sport of football and feels that he is still capable of playing good ball. If the New York Jets and the Vikings didn't think he was capable of throwing the ball, would they have signed him to contracts? Duh.
Come on, people -- give Favre a break. The man brought a lot to the city of Green Bay and Packer football and still has a lot to bring to the sport. Also, 40 is not old.
I used to be a Packer fan but I tossed that out the window when Favre was discarded by Ted Thompson. I can't wait to see him play and will be cheering him on through the good and bad times with the Vikings.
Give it up, sports writers and fans. It's time to find someone else to rag on.

-- Barbara Beck, Madison

Favre in purple may become a target

Brett Favre should have stayed out of football because somebody is going to put him down and he'll be carried off the field.
While he was in Green Bay, he told the coaches what to do, but it should have been the other way around. That's why Aaron Rodgers never could get in to play.
I think Favre wanted to get out of Green Bay because the big wheels didn't want Randy Moss in Green Bay. They thought he would be nothing but trouble.

-- Rick Zogbaum, Lone Rock

Color commentary with green, gold and purple

It's early. We Wisconsinites won't see reds and oranges and golds on the hillsides for a few weeks yet. We can still discuss seasonal hues, but it would smack of sociology more than of trees.
Nonetheless, the talk has already begun, and I've seen passionate and adamant faces turn red as they've engaged in it. I would provide focus on it by discussing a new version of a Brett Favre shirt.
One side will be green trimmed with gold. Its number will be -4. The other will be purple trimmed with white. And there will be a second number, in this case, +4.
Instead of a name on the back, I would put "I don't do training camp." But that text is too long to fit on the shirt, so how about "traitor," "hero," "greatest," "go to it," "pass it no matter what," "comeback," "undecided" or "getting even?"
But a single phrase alone is not neutral enough to launch a fair discussion. Perhaps a series of question marks would be best.

-- Bill Lagerroos, Madison