Report: Brett Favre Wanted To Join Bears In 2008
(CBS) For all those years that Packers legend Brett Favre tormented, dominated and toyed with the Bears and their fan base, get a load of this.
He wanted to play for Chicago in 2008.
That news comes from Sports Illustrated's Peter King, who in an article posted Wednesday recalled that after Favre originally retired in spring 2008 and expressed a desire to return, he wanted to join the Bears or Vikings. The Packers still had contract control of Favre at the time but had decided to move forward with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.
He said he was having second thoughts. Lots of them. He said he still wanted to play. He said he was thinking of asking for his release so he could play somewhere else. Chicago or Minnesota, maybe. I told him I didn't think the Packers would release him so he could torment them from within the division. I remember saying to him that day he should think about all the kids with Brett Favre posters on their walls; they'd be heartbroken if he ever walked into Lambeau as a Bear or Viking. At the time he wanted to keep his ruminations quiet, because he was still thinking about what to do.
The saga dragged out until the start of training camp.
On the Saturday before the Packers were due at training camp, I visited Favre at his home outside Hattiesburg, Miss. He and wife Deanna were there, and agent Bus Cook. We went to dinner with some relatives, then back to the house on his 465-acre spread. That day, Thompson asked Favre for a list of teams he'd agree to be traded to. Favre wouldn't give him one. If Favre couldn't go to Minnesota or Chicago, his preference was to force Thompson's hand, and come back to play quarterback for the Packers. For Thompson, that was a non-starter.
Soon, the Packers traded Favre to the Jets, as it was their preference to get him out of the division. Of course, he'd return anyway, playing for the Vikings in 2009 and 2010. Minnesota advanced to the NFC title game after the 2009 season.
As for the Bears, Kyle Orton was their quarterback in 2008 before they finally settled on Jay Cutler to be the man in 2009. Cutler's become the franchise's most prolific passer since, though inconsistency and turnovers have plagued him as well.