Brett Favre not surprised by success of Aaron Rodgers, only how long it took (BLOG)

It was bound to happen sooner or later. And now it has. Brett Favre emerged from his retirement cocoon in Mississippi to do a radio interview in which he said some things about his Green Bay Packers successor, Aaron Rodgers, are open to interpretation.

Favre, who won one Super Bowl in 16 seasons in Green Bay, was asked if he was surprised that Rodgers, in his fourth season, won a Super Bowl.

“I'm going to be honest, I was not surprised,” Favre said in an interview with 790 The Zone in Atlanta (via Sports Radio Interviews). “The biggest surprise to me would be that he didn't do it sooner.

“My last year in Green Bay, [when the Packers went 13-3] prior to the first game, I made the remark that this was probably the most talented team that I've ever played on. And of course everyone looked up and was like, 'This guy's off his rocker.' We were very, very young; take me out of the mix and we were by far the youngest team in the league. But I could see the talent pool across the board was outstanding. Now our season kind of ended up being a reflection of that.”

When it comes to interviews, Favre remains a ramblin’ man — especially when it comes to Rodgers. The Atlanta radio station contends that Favre’s comments weren’t a slam on Rodgers, the Super Bowl MVP who has followed up with a stellar start for 4-0 Green Bay. Others found Favre’s comments to be petty at worst, passive-aggressive at best.


Rodgers is good. A new Wheaties box proves it. (AP)“He's got tremendous talent, he's very bright and he got a chance to watch and see successful teams do it right,” Favre said. “And so he just kind of fell into a good situation. On top of that, he's a good player. I don't think there's any pressure on him now, the talent around him is even better than when I was there.

“So I'm really kind of surprised it took him so long. In the early part of last year season, it hadn't quite clicked yet, and I didn't know it would. I just kind of figured when they hit their stride, they're going to be hard to beat. And that's what happened.”

Favre, who’s been doing volunteer coaching and broadcasting a Southern Mississippi game, was asked about the “R” word and said he was enjoying retirement. (Whew.) He admitted that he had mixed emotions about being talked into playing in 2010 with the Minnesota Vikings.

“I won't lie to you,” Favre said, “but there has been times once that season started — numerous times — that I thought I shouldn't have played, this was a mistake. But then after the season was over, and maybe even before — I think the last couple of games which I didn't play in and it'd been years since I hadn't played and watched from the sidelines, better yet in street clothes, that was the first time I'd ever done that — but it gave me a chance to really reflect and look around. There was no pressure to perform. I was just kind of watching.

“So I had a chance to really think and think in depth. And to be honest with you, I didn't regret coming back at that point. ... I can only assume that had I not gone back as we're sitting here today, I, maybe you, maybe other people would wonder, what if I had gone back? Would the team have been different? I don't know how they would have ended up. They may have been the same without me, maybe a little better, maybe a little worse. I don't know. But there's the problem. We don't know.

“So if I needed an exclamation point on my career, two years ago would have been a great time to walk away. I don't think anyone wouldn't have been able to say. 'Hey, the guy's got something left in his tank, he probably could have played another year.' Well, you know, we know now.”