Conference Call Recap: Monday Night Football Team Discusses Packers-Vikings Game

ESPN hosted a media conference call on Wednesday to discuss this week’s highly anticipated Monday Night Football game between Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings and Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers Monday on ESPN and ESPN HD (8:30 p.m. ET). Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworksi and Jon Gruden, who will call the game, were joined by senior coordinating producer Jay Rothman. A full replay of the call is available here (access to the calls requires login/password). Select comments from the call:

Rothman on this MNF matchup and the game’s ratings potential …

“This one fell into our lap when No. 4 decided to come back. It’s a no-brainer what the meaning of the game is to him, to the Vikings, to the Packers. It’s one of the best divisions in football, certainly in terms of a ratings perspective, the NFC North … it always delivers. Anytime you get a division game, especially on Monday Night Football, the level of play is exceptional. It’s an electric environment, it’s a great stadium … and we’re really fired up for this telecast.

“Evidenced by the games we’ve had with him in the past and evidenced by a ridiculous preseason game where he only played a half against Houston. …you couple Monday Night Football and you couple Brett Favre, who moves the meter and the buzz from what he just came off of and what he just did on Sunday … He's a legend. He's a folk hero. I believe he's just one of those rare athletes that you'll watch for three hours, waiting for what you saw last Sunday."

Tirico on the hype surrounding this game …

“Talking to Favre a couple different times since he left Green Bay and being around the Packers a little bit, this is the game Brett Favre’s wanted to play. When the Packers essentially said, ‘we don’t want you to be our quarterback anymore,’ Brett Favre had an unbelievable clock ticking inside him to want to play the Green Bay Packers. So you can say that he’s waited 13-14 months for it and you’re not overstating it. It certainly equals the hype.”  

Tirico on whether there is any kind of “Favre fatigue” …

"I think people got very tired of the soap opera. I don't they ever tired of watching him play football."

Gruden (a former Packers asst. coach) on Favre’s arrival to Green Bay in 1992 and his competitive nature…

“I picked him up at the airport and this was a southern guy. He had no idea where he was. All I know it was really cold and he had a hard time with the terminology. He couldn’t believe how wordy our terminology was. We would just laugh. We marveled at how hard this was going to be just to try and get him out of the huddle. And was he special throwing the ball on the practice field. All the throws you’ve seen Brett Favre make, 90% of his best throws have been on the practice field. And, as a receivers coach, I can’t tell you how many fingers he’s broken, how many face masks he’s twisted and how many times the fans on Oneida Blvd. at training camp drove home marveling at some of the throws this guy made. He had a cannon and it was accurate, and it was unbelievable. You could hear the ball hissing through the wind. … His development was fast and furious and Mike Holmgren and his staff deserve a lot of credit.”

Jaworski on how personal a game this is for Favre …

“When you get an opportunity to go up against a team that basically got rid of you -- you’re not good enough -- you want to show what you can do … Brett Favre is going to approach this game and he’s going to be angry, he’s going to be vindictive and he will come out smoking.”

Jaworski on expecting the unexpected when Favre is on the field …

“The way he plays the game and the energy he brings makes the game what it is …There were a number of people streaming out of the stadium in Minneapolis (Sunday) and I got to thinking, how many of those people are really sorry that they left that venue? About a minute later, after three timeouts, they get the ball back and they drove down the field. There were empty seats in that stadium. …People now understand that you can never do that when Brett Favre is on the football field. The unexpected become expected … you’re always going to see something very unique from Brett Favre.”

Gruden on how Favre has performed so far for Minnesota …

“Brett Favre realizes that he’s missed training camp, missed all the OTA’s. He’s behind in terms of the continuity he’s had all those years in Green Bay. But, he does have system intelligence, he understands this terminology. … He realizes he doesn’t have to do it all by himself. … He’s got arguably the best back in all of football in Peterson, a great defense … he has been a little bit conservative, but I think the more he gets going in this offense, the better he’ll be.”

Jaworski on the Vikings …

“Their weakest point was consistent quarterback play and consistent leadership from that position and they picked up both when they got Brett Favre. I’ve seen how this team has expanded the offense. It’s a long way from a cohesive unit right now, but it will be much better each and every week … It’s still Adrian Peterson’s football team and it starts with the running game … I clearly believe that with this running game, solid defense, probably needs some improvement in the special teams areas, but the best (team) in the NFC right now are the Minnesota Vikings.

Jaworski on Favre playing cautious in the game against San Francisco …

“He left some plays on the field that it shouldn’t have come down to the final play of the game. There were opportunities where he could’ve got some explosive plays where he didn’t take the risk and didn’t show the gunslinger mentality that you expect to see in Brett Favre. So, to a certain degree he was playing a little bit cautious, playing to that running game, playing to his defense. But when the game was on the line, that gunslinger mentality showed up. When he had to make a play he showed that he can.”

Jaworski on his pick as the NFC North’s top quarterback …

“Right now I’d have to go with Aaron Rodgers. Last year he showed me an awful lot. He was able to handle all of the off-field distractions that took place when Brett Favre left and he had a terrific season. He will certainly have to play better this year. … He’s younger, which is certainly the positive. He has an outstanding repertoire of personnel to choose from in the running game and passing game. I would say because of the age, I’d lean towards Aaron Rodgers.

Gruden on his choice for the NFC North’s top quarterback … 

“Brett Favre has won and won and won. He is an ultimate winner and I like guys that win games. I liken the quarterback to a starting pitcher in baseball. He can manipulate a defense, he can rally his football team and he can excite a crowd. … I’d want Brett Favre with a very good football team at crunch time to win me a division title and help me advance in the playoffs -- because I know what I’m getting, I know how he’s going to respond in crunch time situations. And if we don’t get it done, I’ll get on the plane and will have enjoyed the ride that’s for sure.”

Gruden on Favre not getting traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2008 …

“Both of us thought he was coming to Tampa. I was sure we had Brett Favre. I talked to Brett on the telephone, and I think if you talk to Brett yourself, both of us thought he was coming to Tampa. I went to bed at about 20 minutes after 12, 12:30 thinking we had Brett Favre. I was sure we had Brett Favre. When I woke up the next day, Santa Claus didn't arrive. It was a sad day for me. … Brett Favre is a winner, he’s one of the great quarterbacks of all time and he would have made a difference, I can promise you that.”

Gruden on the Packers’ decision to trade Favre to the Jets …

“The Packers didn’t want to trade him to a team that was A) in their conference and B) and most importantly on their schedule. … I think the last thing Green Bay wanted to see was Brett Favre playing quarterback against them. It was a very emotional departure, divorce, whatever you want to call it. Very emotional. They wanted to give him an opportunity to continue playing and I’m sure they looked at the fact that the New York Jets weren’t on their schedule, weren’t in their conference and allowed him to go play there.”

On whether releasing Brett Favre was a right or wrong decision for the Packers …

Jaworski: “In the big picture of the Green Bay Packers it was the right move. There comes a time in everyone’s career and at an organization when you have to make those tough decisions and where are you going to be three years from now and five years from now. If you look historically at teams that have been successful over a long period of time, they aren’t afraid to make those tough decisions. … If you’re the Green Bay Packers and you have a guy like Aaron Rodgers who you believe is your guy, that’s going to be your quarterback for the next 10 years, and you’ve got a 39-year-old guy, it’s a tough decision but I believe it’s a decision that had to be made. Only time will tell how it really works out but I would agree with that decision at that time. It was time to switch to a younger quarterback that could hopefully give you a decade of playing quarterback hopefully at the level that Brett Favre played.”

Tirico: “One thing we have seen in the history of football is it’s better to say goodbye too early rather than too late. Saying goodbye too late has taken many franchises a step back. … The Packers wanted to take control of their franchise back. They kept waiting for their decisions – draft, Rodgers, contracts – they were making all of their decisions based on what Brett wanted to do. They wanted to take control of their franchise back and they felt that was the time to do it. … They just made a football decision and the results over time will answer that question.”

Gruden: “I respect the courage and confidence that Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy had in Aaron Rodgers. You don’t really know the mindset of Brett Favre. Was he really thinking about retirement? Were the Packers talking him into retirement? You really don’t know everything that went on. Loyalty is a very important part, I think, of championship football. I’m not saying that Green Bay lacked loyalty towards Brett Favre, or Brett Favre lacked loyalty to the Packers, but this was handled in one of the strangest fashions I’ve ever seen. … I just don’t know that the timing of this thing was appropriate. … I sense some bad blood. I don’t have all the facts. But, I certainly can see why the Packers wanted to get control of their franchise because they know they have a blue chip prospect in Aaron Rodgers and they wanted to get on with his career.”

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