Favre doesn’t feel vindicated by his play

Brett Favre knows about the criticism thrown his way, but he doesn’t think his critics have a leg to stand on right now with the way he’s playing. That said, he also said he doesn’t feel vindicated with his performance.

Brett Favre has faced more than his share of critics when he opted to come out of retirement (again) to play for the Vikings. Considering that, when healthy, he has been the winningest quarterback in the league over the last three years, it seems Favre is getting the last laugh.

Before Favre suffered a shoulder injury last year, the Jets had a record of 8-3 with him as their starter. Combine that with the 13-3 record he had with the Packers in 2007 and the 8-1 start he is off to with the Vikings this season, when he has been healthy, Favre’s teams have a record of 29-7 in that span.

So does Favre feel vindicated that, statistically speaking in terms of passer rating, he’s having the best season of his career? Not even close. He said the numbers don’t matter and still has a chip on his shoulder about comments he made earlier in the season – and reiterated Wednesday, that this Vikings team could be the best he’s ever played on.

“I am not worried about the ratings or anything like that,” Favre said. “Stuff like that gets brought to my attention, I am not worried about it, as I was not several years ago with the Packers when I caught heat for saying this team, coming off of an 8-8 year, could be the most talented team that I had ever played on. Everyone thought that I was crazy and then we went 13-3. I believed it. I believe that about this team. Is it the 1996 team? No, and I say that over and over again. This team has a long way to go to ever equal that. It doesn’t mean that we can’t be as good or on paper or we’re not as good.”

Favre has used the backlash of his signing and comments he has made about his new teammates to fuel his fire. He hasn’t backed off of his comments, but added that simply being 8-1 doesn’t anoint the Vikings as the Super Bowl favorite from the NFC. There is still a lot of work to do and he isn’t getting fitted for a Super Bowl ring just yet.

“It is a good team,” Favre said. “Does it have its flaws? Sure, every team in this league does and we’ll face adversity along the way and have faced adversity. We have handled most of it pretty well, but going on from here remains to be seen. I felt the first day here, I knew what this team was capable of and I know what I am capable of. That is no guarantee.

“I don’t feel vindicated. I am not surprised that this team has had the success that it has had. That is just up until now. It has nothing to do with the future. I hope it continues, but I am not surprised by it. For the people who said that he is crazy, at least up until this point, they don’t have a leg to stand on. They are waiting – everyone is waiting for us to fail and waiting for me to fail, and that’s OK.”

THURSDAY NOTES

Amid news that NBA superstar LeBron James would like to give football a shot, the same isn’t true going the other way. The Vikings have a children’s basketball hoop of the Nerf ball variety in the locker room. As Favre was leaving for his press conference, the ball rolled up to his locker. He picked it up and tried a sweet finger roll to the basket. The result was air ball that ended up in an adjacent locker, prompting Favre to joke, “Basketball was never my game.”

The rumors continue to fly that Brad Childress is close to signing a contract extension that would approximately double his $2 million-a-year salary. The team and Childress have reportedly been working on a contract extension for more than month, according to some unnamed sources, and apparently have the basic tenets of the deal completed. An announcement is expected “soon” or “very soon” or “before the playoffs,” depending on the report.

Fred Evans (illness) was the only Viking that didn’t participate in Wednesday’s practice. Five players were limited in practice – Favre (groin/hip), Antoine Winfield (foot), Bernard Berrian (hamstring), Benny Sapp (groin) and Naufahu Tahi (ankle).

Four Seahawks didn’t participate in practice Wednesday. Running back Julius Jones has already been ruled out with a chest injury and three others – CBs Marcus Trufant (concussion) and Josh Wilson (concussion) and DT Craig Terrill (shoulder) – sat out practice.

Favre may finally be providing the “kick-ass” component to the “kick-ass offense” Childress spoke of last year. In his first two full seasons as head coach, Chilly’s quarterbacks threw a combined 25 touchdowns. Gus Frerotte and Tarvaris Jackson combined to throw 21 touchdowns last year. Favre is on pace to throw 30 TDs this year.

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John Holler has been writing about the Vikings for more than a decade for Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.

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