Going for broke in Minnesota

One intriguing crumb of the terminally dumb storyline around Brett Favre’s courting of the Minnesota Vikings: Favre would open the season facing his former coach, Eric Mangini, in the Dawg Pound. (I said “crumb”.)

There’s been a fair amount of speculation that Favre and Mangini (a) didn’t get along; (b) were best friends; (c) aren’t speaking to each other; (d) named children after each other, etc. Some have pointed fingers at Favre for helping to end Mangini’s career with the Jets. Mangini and Favre have taken the high road on this one, both have moved on, and there’s realistically very little drama here.

(I can’t believe I’m dedicating space to the Favre Saga, but…) The Vikings are falling into a boring, seen-from-a-distance trap here.

While Favre superficially thrusts Minnesota onto the map (through increased, yet unearned media exposure [see Dallas Cowboys]), his presence puts a young Vikings team on hold for a year [see 2008 N.Y. Jets].

If you’re head coach Brad Childress, do you have the luxury of time?

Under Childress, the Vikes have finished 6-10, 8-8, and 10-6: that’s solid progression. Childress, today, sits at .500, with 24 career wins and losses. With the (increasingly competitive) NFC North up for grabs, would you latch on to a 19th-year quarterback in this pivotal season?

Childress is looking beyond what most of us know. He grew up in the West Coast offense, influenced heavily by Andy Reid and, by default, Mike Holmgren. These are men who see incredible value in Favre’s ability to engineer the West Coast attack, no matter his age.

Experienced head coaches have been known to gravitate toward end-of-career, wisdom-filled quarterbacks. Moreover, what are the alternatives? Childress may counter the (now annual) Brett backlash by arguing that a 50-year-old Favre is better than the ragtag, wandering motley crew of John David Booty, Sean Glennon, Tarvaris Jackson, and Sage Rosenfels.

Per ESPN, if the 39-year-old Favre doesn’t agree to play for Minnesota by week’s end, the deal could be off. If that happens, there’s been talk (or rumor) that the Vikings might pursure Browns QB Derek Anderson (not recent talk, mind you). If not Anderson, someone else may find their way into the Vikings’ fold.

Bottom line: That Childress is going after Favre, surgery and all, does not suggest confidence in Minnesota’s current state of affairs on offense.

Tarvaris Jackson (7) and John David Booty (4) may need to wait another year to win the hearts and minds of football fans everywhere.

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