We were talking about Brett Favre's "retirement" at the office yesterday and our office manager was really excited that they could finally retire his number with the Packers.  "It's going to be a great day" she said, almost gleefully.

Favre is the most popular entity in Wisconsin.  bigger than cheese, Miller Lite and perhaps the Packers themselves.  But, as so often has been the case with the Elderly Hillbilly, there is a snag that turns what should be a great moment for Packer fans into a "me" moment from Favre.

Word is, Favre still has a John Holmes sized hard on for Packers GM Ted Thompson and maybe even won't agree to a ceremony until Thompson leaves the organization.  That could be several years as it does not appear Thompson is going anywhere anytime soon.

So, what are Thompson's transgressions?  One of his first orders of business was to draft Aaron Rodgers, a quarterback and the heir apparent to Favre.  Don't blame Thompson for that.  I covered that draft and when Rodgers, who was originally projected as a top ten pick was still there at #24, Thompson actually picked the best player on the board at that time.  To draft a top ten quarterback and get a twenty-fourth pick discount was too good for Thompson to pass up, especially when no one knew how many more years Farve would be playing. 

Instead of seeing the logic in what Thompson did, Favre took it as a personal affront.

Then of course, there are the two contentious summers Thompson and the Packers organization were hijacked by Favre and his agent, Bus Cook, waiting to find out if favre was going to play or retire.  Last summer, push came to shove and Thomson shoved Favre out the door after Farve had decided to unretire.

What separates Ted Thompson from a lot of other GMs is that he acts in the best interest of his ballclub, not the best interest of his star player.  It takes some serious cahones to stare down a player with the stature of a Brett Farve, but Thompson understood he was being played and stood his ground when it came time for a showdown.  No matter what Packer fans may think of Thompson, he's no wimp and he's never going to cater to a player if he feels the entire organization is being hurt.

What Brett Favre fails to understand again is that these although it seems like these retirement ceremonies are for the players, they are also for the fans.  It's a way for the fans and the community to thank someone for their outstanding effort and to relive all the joy and great memories that the person brought to the team.

Rather than accept this with grace, Farve, as he often does, pouts and demands more attention and hangs the fans out to dry.  He needs to get over whatever bad feelings he has with Thompson and show up in September to a ceremony that celebrates his incredible career.  I'm sure the Packers can arrange for Thompson to be elsewhere that day.

Once again we're seeing the real Brett Farve, a self loathing, vindictive, selfish shell who happens to be one of the NFL's greatest players.  It's a sad ending to a fantastic story.