Some research I've been doing on Boise State's offense in 2010, the last year under Harsin as OC.  A few quick things- the games are "generally" from beginning of the season to the end. (I did the research backwards, though, so the top game on each page comes after the previous game, at the bottom.  Just look at the dates with the opponent if you need.) 

In regards to yards, I don't like how sack yardage lost is taken from rushin yards in the NCAA, so I just pulled them out and listed them under the quarter they occurred in each game, if at all.  (BTW, Boise only gave up 8 sacks the entire 2010 season.  Think that doesn't help an offense??)  Furthermore, I considered pulling out rushing plays that were simply kneel downs to run out clock, but I decided against it.  Maybe I'll remove that later, but I just decided to keep it as is for now.  Obviously, those plays only happen at the end of the 2nd quarter (rarely) and in the 4th quarter.

Finally, I haven't tried to draw too many conclusions yet, but I did find it interesting that in every game but one, Boise State had more passing attempts than run attempts  in the second quarter.  Definitely not an accident if it happens in 12 of 13 games.  Although it helped to have someone like Kellen Moore at the helm.

Anyway, feel free to click on the spreadsheets to enlarge, and I'd love to see feedback and thoughts on this page or in the thread this was posted in....  Thanks.

Know Your Enemy

Sorry it's been such a long time, but now that summer is here, it's time to get the ball rolling on this blog life.

Today, I wanted to visit the old adage "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." As is the case, never has the Texas-OU rivalry ever been hotter than it is right now coming off the 2008-09 sports season. In basketball, the men's teams split the regular season matchups, with Blake Griffin getting knocked out of the game in Austin before leading his team to an Elite 8 run ended by UNC. Meanwhile, Texas fought valiantly before bowing out to Duke in round 2 in a year marred by inconsistent play and glaring faults. In baseball, Texas swept OU as both squads captured top 8 seeds in the NCAA tournament. However, OU was vanquished by another enemy of the 'Horns in the Arkansas Razorbacks in the regionals while Texas makes its 33rd trip to Omaha this week. Finally, as you might of heard by now, Texas came back from a double digit deficit in Dallas to prevail 45-35 over OU, only to get passed over for the Big 12 title game, National Championship Game, and Heisman trophy.


So, heading into the 2009 college football season, it's easy to say we still hate the Sooners. We hate that they come to Texas to recruit. We hate that they keep going to BCS games. (Though it's quite humorous to see them lay egg after egg in the big games.) We hate that they get rewarded for scoring 60 every game, while people overlook their D giving up over buttloads of points in those games. We also hate that they have an aversion to toothbrushes, deodorant, and homes without wheels. But that's just being picky....

It's 4:10, and OU still sucks. It's also about that time to get to know your enemy. There's plenty of time left to dissect the Texas team going into the new season. But for now, let's get to know the ins and outs of OU football for the 2009 season.

Offense

One of OU's potential saving graces this season is the amount of talent that decided to come back despite the opportunity to be first round draft picks for the NFL. Obviously, everyone knows Sam Bradford, but I might argue that Jermaine Gresham's return is just as critical. Gresham will help make up for the loss of a good chunk of Bradford's wide receiving corp from 2008. At 6'6", 260 lbs., Gresham is an athletic freak who can line up at TE or WR. However, it'll be interesting to see if teams can focus on him this season. OU will need players like Ryan Broyles to step up, and Mossis Madu will play a lot out of the slot rather than as an RB this year. In addition, Trent Williams will come back to try to add some stability to the OU O-line. 4 starters off of last season's team have moved on, and this will truly be the big question mark about the Sooners this season. Can they piece together a line that will help protect Bradford, or will he look a lot less spectacular if he's having to run for his life and throw the ball away? Finally, Murray and Brown will be back in the backfield, although Demarco Murray has been lost to injuries twice the past few years. He's easily OU's most explosive back, but can they keep him on the field? Maybe a reduction in special teams return duties will keep him available for a full year.

The bottom line is that this is still a very potent offense, but the departures at WR and OL would seem to be the "weak links," relatively speaking, going into 2009. If OU can get capable replacements at WR, and meld together a solid O-line (the talent is likely there, if not the experience, they'll easily be in the running for another Big 12 title.

Defense

For all the worries about the offensive line, the defensive line for OU is likely one of the most formidable in college football. Gerald McCoy joins the offensive returnees who turned down NFL millions to come back to Norman...for some reason or another, I guess. Regardless, he'll be joined by Frank Alexander, Auston English and Adrian Taylor, amongst others, in applying pressure and trying to lock down the run. Behind them stand a stable of linebackers with plenty of depth, including Ryan Reynolds, Travis Lewis, and Keenan Clayton. The secondary, not exactly elite last season, still lacks depth and experience as standouts Nic Harris and Lendy Holmes moved on. OU will be breaking in two new safeties this season as they try to slow down the pass happy attacks of the Big 12. (More on this in the schedule section.)

On defense last season, OU was able to mask many of their issues by outscoring their opponents and letting the media fawn over those 60 point performances. (They gave up 31 to KU, 35 to KSU, 28 to Nebraska, 45 to Texas, 28 to A&M and 41 to Okie State.) This season? Well, they could be better, but they'd better hope Ryan Reynolds and Auston English are able to overcome injuries, otherwise we could be looking at a team trying to outscore everyone again, but with fewer weapons to do so. They get 9 starters back overall, but how good were those starters? Maybe we find out this year.


Schedule

This is the part I really wanted to spend some time on. According to Phil Steele, OU has the 3rd toughest schedule in the nation this season. Especially considering that their pass defense struggled last year (ranked 99th in the nation in pass defense according to Athlon), OU might have some struggles against a plethora of pass-happy teams this season. BYU, Tulsa, Texas, Kansas, and Texas Tech all face off against OU in '09. Furthermore, here are the road (and neutral) games for the Sooners: BYU (in Arlington), U. of Miami, Texas (in Dallas), at Kansas, at Nebraska, and at Texas Tech (late in the season when Tech will have settled in with their new QB, Taylor Potts, and where OU has struggled in recent years.) Throw in a year-ending matchup with Okie State in the Bedlam Series, and this may be a year where OU does trip up, in conference or out, trying to get settled into a new O-line.

One more thing to consider is that OU benefitted a lot from turnovers last season. And, statistically speaking, what goes around often comes around in following years. In other words, about 77% of the teams with a double-digit + turnover margin often see a stagnation or drop in their record the following year. (According to Phil Steele, OU was +23 last season.) Certainly this doesn't guarantee anything, but it's a trend that's held up solidly since 1996 according to Mr. Steele's research. So, it's worth observing this year.

All in all, OU will once again be a great team, and a tough team to beat. But, with Texas winning 3 of the last 4, with OU facing some serious issues at Offensive Line and Wide Receiver, and with OU staring at a "harder than it looks" schedule, here's hoping that Texas can get back to the MNC game without any of the drama or insanity of last season. And if we have to see a few more faces like this after the matchup in Dallas....





...then that's okay, too.

Well, since you asked....

...I guess I'll share my thoughts on how I would format a playoff system. Let's forget, for a moment, how likely or unlikely such a playoff would be. Let's forget about who should have the power to make such decision, and how that decision should come about.

Let's just focus on the fact that fans are fed up, the current system is a crapshoot at best, and there are plenty of functional alternatives if all interested parties would just sit down and focus on what's best for the sport! (Yes, I know that "what's best for the sport" may not be what's best for all of the constituents. But a fan can dream, right? I mean, I can hope that one day we won't have to deal with all the politicking and bickering, and we'll be able to settle everything on the field? God, I hope so....)

With that said, here are some of the issues my system tries to address:

1) Too many games. I agree that college football can't go the way of the NFL, with teams playing nearly twenty games, counting preseason and post-season.

2) Fan travel. One can't expect most fans to be able to travel with their team for 4 rounds (or more) of road games in hopes of playing for a championship.

3) Room for the "little man." Not unlike major league baseball, the non-BCS teams have no chance to win a title each year. That is a FACT. Utah, BYU and Boise State might as well be the Pittsburgh Pirates.

4) Maintaining the importance of the regular season. No, I don't want the regular season cheapened, per se, either. However, I'm not letting every damn team into a bowl game, much less the playoffs. Furthermore, I'm rewarding the top teams for finishing near the top.

5) Get the freaking coaches out of the system! My system removes the obvious conflict of interest in coaches voting in the BCS.

Without further ado, here is my "system." I call it the "This is a Hell of a Lot Better than the Current System" System.

In my plan, the playoff takes in the top twelve teams. How are those twelve teams decided? Fantastic question! Like the NCAA tournament committee, I would create a committee of people who watch games all year long, meet during the season to practice seeding, evaluating, etc. Rather than coaches voting, who rarely watch teams other than their own or opponents, this committee will be devoted to watching non-stop football and making the final call on which teams make the field, and which will be delegated to the traditional bowl field.

What criteria will they consult? Well, just like basketball, it will be critical to look at strength of schedule, non-conference and conference schedule, injury situations, strength of conference, conference championships, etc.

Compiling their data, the committee will pick the top twelve teams, no questions asked. If a team wins a conference championship? Well, congratulations! But don't tell me that should guarantee a team anything. I'm not going to claim that a Virginia Tech or Cincinnati team is better than a Texas, Ole Miss or USC just because VT won the conference championship and those others did not.

As an amendment to the current situation, I call for ALL conferences to abort their conference championship games. They accomplish little, often force a team to beat an opponent twice, and often just destroy championship hopes for teams in the current system. Then, all conferences should abolish the "divisions" in the conferences, and play a systematic rotating schedule. Want to keep alive the rivalries like Texas-OU, OSU-Michigan, and Florida-Georgia? That's fine. That can be done if both teams prefer it. Finally, trim the schedule down to 11 games. This will help in the long run by cutting one more game from the loaded schedule the dear Athletic directors claim to worry about, DESPITE the fact that they added a 12th game for everyone several years ago.

Now, once the top twelve teams are selected, regardless of conference, the top 4 teams will be rewarded with a first round bye. This is their reward for for finishing in the top 4, and also an incentive for teams to try to go undefeated, or lose as few games as possible, in the regular season. The other 8 teams? Well, the 5-8 seeds will play HOME games against the 9-12 seeds. For example, the 5 seed hosts the 12, 6 hosts the 11, etc. This rewards the next four teams with another home gate, even though they have to win potentially an extra game. Also, this helps keep people from having to travel too much. The games will easily sell out, and I'm sure there will be sufficient interest in road fans trying to make road trips to some unique university stadiums with a aura of "sudden death" importance in the air.

In the next round, the four winning teams will face the four bye teams. The matchups will be re-seeded so that the top team plays the lowest seeded team, etc. Like the current BCS games, these games will take place at 4 of the 5 BCS game sites. (I say 5 because I think the Cotton Bowl should regain top 5 prestige again with it moving to a state of the art stadium that can be insulated from bad weather in the winter.) For instance, the four second round games would potentially take place at the Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. These would be tremendous matchups between top teams, and this would also be a fantastic trip for fans to make! These first two rounds would be played after a one week break from the regular season. Some may say that two weeks off after the regular season is a bit of a long layoff for the bye teams. However, I think it's much better than the current 38 day layoff the title teams might have. After these two rounds, the last four teams would break for two weeks for a holiday break and final exams.

The last four teams would commence in a "Final Four" event like in NCAA basketball. All four teams would meet in the 5th BCS site. For example, all four teams would meet at the Rose Bowl to settle the championship. The semifinal games would take place on a Saturday after the break, and then the championship game would take place on the following Saturday at the same site. This would also help with travel because people could make a week-long trip to one destination to catch the semi's and final game. Who wouldn't love the week-long hoopla similar to the Super Bowl or college basketball final four? It would fit easily into the current BCS bowl system, without a doubt. The money to be made would be ridiculously great for all parties involved. Fans wouldn't have to travel to 4 different sites. Rarely would a team play any more than 13 or 14 games, which is quite comparable to the current situation. Best of all, the best team would be decided on the field.

What about the other bowls, you ask? To me, it's obvious there are WAY too many. If we drop back down to 11 games, I'd cut the rest of the bowl field down to 20 bowls. This is 25 total sites, counting the 5 playoff sites. That would work out to a total of 52 bowl teams. I think that is a substantial cut from the 68 bowl teams now. I'm tired of seeing mediocrity rewarded! By slicing the bowl/ playoff teams to 52, I would think we'd see more 7-4 teams making the final cut, rather than the downright silly amount of 6-6 teams that go on to lose and finish their season 6-7 after the bowl. Huh??

So, I know this is long and a bit wordy, but what do you think? What do you like? What potential flaws do you see? I tried to troubleshoot and think of specific issues and details, but let me know if you think I forgot anything....I'm excited to hear some feedback!

Trickeration Times 11!!

UPDATE: Here is another article about the A-11. Click on the link to read an ESPN Page 2 take on the offense.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=weinreb/080811

Good morning/ evening, and welcome to the newest entry to my blog, sponsored by insomnia, an oppressive cough, and any other ailment keeping me up at the moment. Regardless, this will be an interesting entry, so I suggest you take notes.

While up at school tutoring today, I came across an extremely interesting article link to Rivals.com via Yahoo! Sports. Turns out that a high school in California has installed an offense referred to as the "A-11" that actively seeks to get all 11 men eligible in the offense! Here is the base offensive set-up as quoted by the article:

The base offense is one in which a center and two tight ends surround the football, three receivers are split right, three more split left and two quarterbacks stand behind in a shotgun, one of whom has to be at least 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage.


On www.a11offense.com, the offense is being described as a blend of the spread offense, west coast offense and run and shoot. And about getting all 11 men eligible- how is that even possible according to the rules of the game?

Yes, per the rules of the game, only five players are eligible to catch a pass during a particular play and seven players have to set up on the line of scrimmage. But in the minds of Bryan and Humphries, you can develop an infinite number of plays with an infinite number of formations.

Talk about confusing a defense.

"It presents a different set of challenges for defenses because they have to account for which guys go out or might go out," Bryan said. "Those guys who are ineligible to go down the field and catch a pass, they can take a reverse pitch or a negative screen or a hitch behind the line of scrimmage.

"We've opened up the game to the extreme with the rules already in place."

The rules themselves were a tricky subject, as coaches consulted rulebooks, high school coaches, officials and referees to make sure the offense would be considered acceptable according to football rules. And, once that was approved, getting the offense installed was no picnic, either. However, after finishing the season 7-4 and making the playoffs, the learning curve was overcome and the season was deemed a success. Now, coaches from all over the country at a variety of levels are consulting with the developers of the A-11 (formerly known as the "Pluto" offense,) and you can already see certain elements at places like the University of Florida, San Jose State and Rutgers.

So, feel free to check out the site www.a11offense.com, as well as the Rivals.com page that this article/ information comes from at: http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=825031 There you'll be able to find information, and video of the offense in action!

Here's what I want to hear from you, though. Does this sound like an innovative offense that represents football of the future? Or, does this seem more of a quirky fad that will run its course and quickly fade away? Do you see this as a brilliant device created to neutralize strong defenses and more talented teams, or is it a mechanism of bending rules and taking away from how football is meant to be played? Like it or not, it abides by the rules. But that doesn't always mean something still adheres to the spirit of the game. To me, whether I see long-term success in it or not, I appreciate and respect coaches coming up with new ways to counter the ever-increasing speed and strength of defensive schemes. And if it follows the rules of football, then I have no problem with them using the offense. Though God help us all when I have to try to defend that crap on NCAA Football 2020....

Let me know what you think, and check out those sites!

When Should You Retire a Jersey?

Today, the University of Texas at Austin announced that they were intending to retire the jerseys of nine prominent athletes in Longhorn history, including Vince Young and Kevin Durant. In the past, UT had a policy in which if a player wins a National Player of the Year award, their jersey is retired. (Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams won Heisman trophies, which led them to their honor, and T.J. Ford won National Player of the Year awards, which led to his jersey retirement.) But, with this said, under that policy, Vince Young would NOT have had his jersey retired because the Heisman during the 'Horns 2005 championship season went to Reggie Bush as a member of ESPN's alleged GREATEST BEST MOST AMAZINGEST TEAM TO EVER PLAY THE GAME OF FOOTBALL. (Prior to January 4th, 2006, at least.)

So, the announcement today may certainly spawn some more discussion, whether one agrees with it or not. And, if one wants to make a "head to head" case, the debate of Vince Young vs. Kevin Durant could be an interesting one. The case for VY is that he played three years at Texas, leading them to a 13-0 2005 season and their first national championship in decades. He won a variety of awards, but none with quite the prestige of the Heisman trophy. He also led Texas to two consecutive Rose Bowl victories, and was named the MVP of each game.

Kevin Durant played only one season at Texas. However, he swept the national player of the year awards and All-America recognition in leading Texas to the second round of the NCAA tournament before being bounced by USC. He finished top 5 nationally in scoring and rebounding, and led the Big 12 in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.

To this point, neither has graduated from school, though both are in the process of continuing their school work to earn their degree. Furthermore, their contributions to the game and the University can't completely be represented in stats, trophies or even dollar signs. Both are already making huge impact on current and future recruiting situations in basketball and football.

So, being such an avid fan, I've seen every game both guys played. In my opinion, both players unquestionably are of the "greatest ever" to lace up the cleats/ sneakers in Austin. I think most people have no issue with VY having his number retired, but have a little more of an issue with Durant only being here one year. However, if you got to see him play consistently, you knew he was a man among boys on the court. He accomplished things that were rarely, if ever, accomplished as a freshman in the NCAA. And, like Vince Young, he earned a reputation as a tireless worker off the court/ field, and one who had the ability to not only take his team on his shoulders when needed, but also make players around him better. I think it's fantastic that both guys are working to earn their degrees, and optimally they'll both graduate as Longhorns at some point in the future. Is that a necessity, in my opinion, in order to have their jersey retired? I don't necessarily think so. I think it trivializes the experience of college and higher education to assume that it's a waste of time if someone doesn't ultimately get that diploma to hang on the wall somewhere.

All in all, it makes me wonder- what do you all think should be the criteria for a player having his jersey number retired? Does that player have to play four years? Do they have to win any particular individual or team awards? Do they have to earn their degree? In professional leagues, what does a player have to accomplish? How long do they have to stay with a team in order to "earn" the opportunity to have their jersey retired? I'd like to hear your ideas. I'm not quite sure there is a concrete set of criteria. It may involve the "eye" test. As in, sometimes greatness isn't identified by numbers, but you know it when you see it. Feel free to leave your comments and questions in the comments section....

Favorite Player of All Time (College Edition)

I'm back with my college version of favorite players of all time.

To be honest, I've been a huge fan of college basketball and football for years. I remember first getting interested in both sports in the late 80's, and then being a pretty big diehard fan by the start of the 90's. Ironically enough, I even remember being pretty damn amused at Texas being ambushed by an aggressive and brash Miami Hurricane team in a Cotton Bowl in which the 'Canes set a record for most personal foul penalties! Yes, it's safe to say I'd think differently about an outcome like that nowadays!

In college basketball, I remember latching on to a Michigan Wolverine team in the 1989 March Madness tourney that ran the table despite their coach bailing on them right before the tournament started. So, Steve Fisher just took over and guided a team led by Glen Rice to victories over Illinois and Seton Hall in the Final 4. The next thing I knew, the Wolverines were champs, and they had found themselves a new fan in Houston, Texas.

Years later, it's obvious that the Texas Longhorns, my alma mater, are far and away my favorite college team. The Michigan Wolverines are sort of my adopted second favorite team after years of cheering for them as a young buck, and then finally getting to visit Ann Arbor a few summers back with my friends Mark and Jenna. However, my favorite players have come from a variety of teams over the years. Let's start with the round ball.

It goes without saying some Longhorns are going to make this list....T.J. Ford for helping Rick Barnes get Texas to the Final Four for the first time in the modern era, Kevin Durant for being an uber-talented man amongst boys on the court, D.J. Augustin for keeping Texas afloat and taking them to one game away from the Final Four in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year this past season. However, there have been plenty of others, as well. Back when the Houston Cougars were my team above all teams, Sam Mack was the man that had the talent to deliver victories for the Coogs. In later years, a young Shaquille O'Neal owned the court at LSU, Tim Duncan dominated both ends of the floor at Wake Forest, and was followed years later by a dominant stud running the point we all know as Chris Paul. LJ, Stacey "Plastic Man" Augmon, Greg Anthony and Travis Bice were a seemingly unbeatable force for the UNLV Runnin' Rebels...until they ran into Duke in the Final Four the second time around.

I'm sure I could go on forever with people like Paul Pierce at KU, Vince Carter at UNC, Byron Houston at Oklahoma State, or even my man Reggie Freeman for keeping it real under Tom Penders at Texas. But the bottom line is, the team that captured my interest more than any other was the Fab 5 at Michigan. Although ridiculously referred to as the "most underachieving team of all time" by Bill Walton, the Fab 5 did more than redefine fashion and attitude on the college level- they caused coaches across the country to re-evaluate how they viewed and played freshman. With a starting lineup that eventually included five freshman, the Fab 5 advanced to the National Title game against Duke and then North Carolina in successive years in the early 90's. Unfortunately, they never won it all, but in that time, Chris Webber became my favorite college basketball player of all time. At the time, Chris represented a healthy dose of attitude and brashness, but he had the game to back it up. As intense a player as you're likely to find, Webber provided a mix of all-around ability with a relentless ability to finish at the hoop with ferocity. Furthermore, for a player his size, he was quite adept at passing, too. All in all, he was the complete package, and might be remembered as such if it weren't for that fated timeout against UNC in the 1993 title game.

Nowadays, after an up and down pro career recently affected by knee injuries and reports that he accepted money from boosters while at Michigan, Webber still remains one of my all-time favorites in college. I guess that's because he fits the mold of a sympathetic character to me- often misunderstood, often defined by one poor moment that seems to overshadow so many great ones. And with college, it's also a case where I define that player as what they did in those years as ONLY a college athlete, not what came after. So, for all the memories of Webber throwing someone's shit in the paint, grabbing the rebound and finishing the break with a behind the back pass or a wicked dunk, he earns my vote as my favorite college player.

Long live the long shorts, black socks and bald heads! Long live the Fab 5....



In college football, my favorites are all over the place as well.

We can start with the two-sport talented Charlie Ward, who led the FSU Seminoles to a national title over Nebraska and captured the Heisman Trophy. Not bad for a first round draft pick....in the NBA!

Going back to my Michigan connection, Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson both won the coveted Heisman trophy, but while Howard was able to dazzle as a kick returner and wide receiver, Woodson brought his talent to the defensive side of the field, too, as a cornerback in leading his Wolverine team to a share of the national championship.

Julius Peppers, Clinton Portis, Donovan McNabb, Andre Ware, Larry Fitzgerald, Charles Rogers, Warrick Dunn, and obviously the Texas players who could make an appearance, including Derrick Johnson, Roy Williams, and Ricky Williams. In fact, I had the joy of watching Ricky Williams develop into a record-breaking, Heisman trophy winner over 3 years as I first started attending Texas, and I still haven't seen a running back with his combination of speed and power in the Big 12 since. However, like many Texas fans, the arrival of Vince Young on campus (from my hometown of Houston, nonetheless) as a player who could take over a game like no other takes the cake.

It didn't take long for Vince Young to show flashes of brilliance as a player in burnt orange. However, it was the end of his sophomore season against Kansas and Michigan when he started to demonstrate how special of a player he could be. With his legs, at least. So, when teams tried to eliminate that element of his game his junior year, he burned them, repeatedly, with his arm. In fact, over time, it was easy to see that VY was one of the rare players who could control a game seemingly on his own, and somehow even will his team to victory. (See: Rose Bowl, 2005 and 2006.) He, too, had that supremely ridiculous ability to look like a high school kid playing with toddlers on the field when he tucked the ball in and took off. (See: Woods, Donovan, and his jock strap, of Okie State.) All in all, he took a talented Texas team on his back, and provided the leadership and talent needed to take them from a top ten team to a champion. For all those reasons, he earns the nod as my favorite college football player of all time.

Brett Fav-ruh?

(Enjoy one of the NFL's best QB's ever in his stellar acting performance in "There's Something About Mary!)




This whole "Brett Favre" thing is pretty interesting. You wouldn't be alone if you said that you had a feeling that Favre might be second-guessing his retirement decision once the new football season crept closer and closer. In fact, coming off of his best season in years, including an appearance in the NFC Championship game against the Giants, most people thought it was a bit peculiar that Favre would hang up the cleats now. But, we hear all the time that athletes hold on too long, and the retirement choice is often made for them when they are bouncing around from team to team, trying to prove to themselves and anyone else that they still have some gas left in the proverbial tank. But, as emotional and as heartfelt as the press conference appeared to be, maybe it truly was a case of Favre making a decision still in the heat of the moment....

Now, what do the Packers do? If you were in there shoes, how would you handle it? The bottom line is that if Favre wants back in the NFL, that's his prerogative. The Packers have to accept his cancellation of his retirement, but then do they keep him on the roster? Do they cut him? Do they trade him? There are no easy answers, and this is no ordinary run of the mill player looking to hang on. Let's look at the options....

The Packers keep him- There is NO WAY the Packers keep Favre on the roster unless they intend to start him. This may burn their bridge with Aaron Rodgers, who *could* one day be a great NFL QB. The problem is, we just don't know. And as overrated as Favre can be at times, (he still makes some silly mistakes, tries to do too much, and has a tendency to turn over the ball), I still feel like he gives the Pack the best chance to win it all this year. And it would be difficult to turn down a better chance to win it all on a year to year basis, right? It pushes back the Green Bay plan for the future, but other than hurting Aaron Rodgers's feelings, isn't trying to win it all now, especially in a wide open NFC, the best thing? I'd have to think so.

The Packers cut him- If Favre is not in their plan, and refuse to give him his starter spot back, they could do right by him in one way and release him so that he can continue his career and they can stick to their current plan of Rodgers at QB. But how would this go over with fans? Beyond Lombardi, Favre IS that franchise, and to let him go to another team, especially a team in their division, might not sit very well with the Cheeseheads. So, if the Packers are convinced he's not in their plans, maybe they....

Trade him- The Packers could arguably get "something" out of him if they decide he's not in their plans. After all, there are some crappy, crappy starting quarterbacks in the NFL. Wouldn't there seem to be a few teams that are looking to make a run at the playoffs with a quality QB in the fold? One problem is that the fans might not be crazy about seeing their idol lined up against the green and gold on Sundays. (As Peter King reports, how odd would it be to see Brett Favre running out of the tunnel on Monday Night for the Vikings as they open the season against the Packers?) In addition, the value they get might not be much for an aging quarterback who is forcing their hand. Other than late draft picks that don't often pan out, it wouldn't look like the Packers could get a whole lot out of a trade.

Another option that seems to be floating around is the notion that the Packers front office tries to convince Favre to stay retired. Ultimately, it's his decision, and they have no control over it. However, if they can "guilt" him into staying retired, they might be able to appease the masses and stick to their plan of action without having to make a difficult decision. Personally, I think that's where their brains are at right now. I can't imagine that they know how to best handle the situation, and they are quietly hoping it'll work itself out somehow without them having to make that choice. But if Favre does return, how do they handle it? Once again, how would you handle it?

Personally, if he comes back, I see GB ultimately trying to soothe Rodgers's ego while simultaneously giving Favre another shot as the starter for this season. What else could they do? He's brought them to a championship, and with his longetivity streak, he's come to be defined as that franchise. Could the Packers really turn their back on their franchise face who has proven that he can still play with the best of them? He may not be the best around now, but he's definitely one of the best ever. I guess time will tell.