Thomas Jones Calls Out Brett Favre, Another Teammate Calls Him 'Distant'

Brett Favre probably should've taken the $20 million. Instead, he un-retired, strong-armed his way out of Green Bay, and landed in New York to lead the Jets back to the playoffs. That was the plan, anyway.

Feuding Teammates

Thomas Jones wasn't amused by Brett Favre's three-interception game in the regular-season finale. During a radio interview recently, the Jets rusher said Favre should have pulled himself out of the game. Click through to see more teammate feuds in sports history.

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Apparently not everyone was a big fan of "Manny being Manny" in Beantown. According to former Red Sox teammate Curt Schilling, left, Manny Ramirez's "level of disrespect to teammates and people was unfathomable."

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Rays teammates Dioner Navarro, left, and Matt Garza had a heated exchange on the mound during a loss to the Rangers in June. TV cameras later caught Navarro and Garza shoving each other in the dugout.

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Mets closer Billy Wagner, left, isn't afraid to point a finger when the going gets tough. After a loss against the Nationals, Wagner looked in the direction of Carlos Delgado's locker and lashed out with profanities.

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In reality, the Jets performed well enough to win the division but Favre's Favre-ness played a nontrivial role in the team's 1-4 finish and another offseason of organization-wide introspection.

And unlike Green Bay, where Favre could go Natural Born Killers on his way to work and the locals would just assume the victims had it coming, Jets fans tend to be more cynical. Teammates too, apparently. Running back Thomas Jones, one of the quietest, most respected players in the locker room, took some not-so-subtle jabs and Favre during a Wednesday radio appearance:

"We're a team and we win together ... but at the same time, you can't turn the ball over and expect to win ... The other day, the three interceptions really hurt us. I mean, that's just reality. If I were to sit here and say, 'Oh, man, it's okay,' that's not reality." ...

"If somebody is not playing well, they need to come out of the game ... You're jeopardizing the whole team because you're having a bad day. To me, that's not fair to everybody else. You're not the only one on the team." ...

"You're playing to win, you're playing for the Super Bowl. That's what you do all this work for ... So when you get to the wire and somebody is just giving the game up, I mean, it's just not (fair)."

As the New York Daily News' Rich Cimini writes, Favre played the last few weeks of the season with a torn bicep muscle that will require surgery, but as Jones pointed out: if you're hurt -- and more importantly, hurting the team -- you shouldn't even be on the field.

But it gets worse: Favre's other teammates aren't that jazzed about him, either, and it had more to do with his off-field persona than his on-field shortcomings (although I suspect that didn't help):

The 39-year-old quarterback is not as welcome with his teammates, according to this veteran. After the Jets traded for Favre Aug. 6, the sure Hall of Famer made no effort to ingratiate himself with the already assembled team, the veteran said. He said Favre spent most of his down time at the practice facility in an office specially designated for him near the equipment room, not with teammates in the locker room, even after the media departed.

"He never socialized with us, never went to dinner with anyone," the player said. Asked to describe Favre in a word, he said: "Distant."

So, unofficially, Favre has exactly one supporter in the organization: the owner. I have no idea how this ends up, but given that guys are turning down the chance to interview for the vacant head coaching position because of a certain 39-year-old quarterback, I'd think that Favre wouldn't be back in '09.

Last offseason, Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy made that mistake and spent the rest of the year living down the decision to trade him. Thing is, they were right to unload Favre on the first willing sucker and give the job to Aaron Rodgers. It seems that everybody but Woody Johnson thinks the Jets should do the same.