Favre Owes Vikings More Than Charade

It really is a sickness, isn't it? As predictable as lawn fertilizer in springtime, Brett Favre wants to hold this country hostage with his acute case of megalomania. Once again, he's prepared to drag us through another melodrama designed to achieve two traditionally maddening objectives: (1) draw extraordinary amounts of attention to himself for the next several weeks; and (2) allow him to miss as much training camp as possible.

I am tempted to urge one and all to ignore him until mid-August, when he reports to the Minnesota Vikings in time to take 10 snaps in a preseason game and say how much he loves his teammates. But if we don't stay on Favre and remind him what a clown he can be, I'm afraid he actually might retire. He suggested as much Friday in a typically farcical media swirl that included an e-mail to ESPN, and then, when he wasn't pleased with how the story was interpreted by the reporter and received by the public, his own vague posting on his personal web site, officialbrettfavre.com.

The core issue is the left ankle he injured during that beatdown by the New Orleans Saints' defense in the NFC championship game. Favre says he needs surgery, as diagnosed by the omnipresent Dr. James Andrews, and my first problem with it all is why he didn't have the painfully swollen ankle examined at some point in the three-plus months since the game was played. What Favre should do, to eliminate the criticism bound to come his way again, is simply announce that he intends to play for the Vikings in 2010 and will have the surgery as soon as possible, even if he hates under-the-knife procedures and would prefer to sleep on a bed of snakes.

But, hey, what fun is that down yonder in Mississippi, where he insists on perpetuating the most annoying annual tease in sports?