Who knew that Mr. Jeans, T-shirt and Baseball Cap, Brett Favre, owns a sport coat?
If anything surprising came out of Brett Favre’s appearance on the “Late Show with David Letterman,” it was that.
Because, as has been the case since the day he retired, Favre continued to tease his faithful following while aggravating the you-now-what out of the fans who are ready to move on and/or are just plain tired of the ordeal.
After some small talk about Favre’s 400 acres and his fondness for hunting — including Favre’s admission that he had hunted before what he remembered as a loss to the Bears — Letterman said to Favre, “Now, are you – you have retired? You have not retired?”
“I have retired,” Favre said. “Watch TV a lot, don’t you?”
Letterman then probed whether Favre had signed and mailed to the NFL the proper retirement paperwork. Favre said he hadn’t, and only needed to do so to start receiving benefits.
“You’re only 38, for heaven’s sakes,” Letterman said.
“I know,” Favre replied.
Letterman asked if Favre would “start feeling a little something” as minicamp approaches.
Favre said no to missing football when minicamp begins — he’s dreaded minicamps for years — then added, “I think when training camp gets close, I will — something’s bound to happen.”
Letterman pounced on that line.
“Yeah, now, what does that mean: ‘Something’s bound to happen?’” Letterman asked. “As you get close to training camp — now, wait a minute, ‘something’s bound to happen.’ What does that mean?”
“I don’t know,” Favre replied. “Did I just say that?”
“You just said, ‘Something’s bound to happen,’ so this makes me think you’re not retired,” Letterman said.
“Butterflies, or — I don’t know, something’s bound to happen,” Favre responded.
Letterman then asked what would happen if the Packers could make “adjustments” to Favre’s training regimen, a ludicrous notion given how important chemistry is between a quarterback and receivers.
“Can you get that worked out?” Favre asked with a grin.
Letterman let Favre off the hook at that point, asking if the Packers’ inability to acquire Randy Moss factored in Favre’s decision to retire. It didn’t, Favre said.
Maybe Favre’s “bound to happen” comment was innocent. As in he’s bound to miss the game once training camp begins. But Favre never clarified that open-ended line. He simply left the line dangling, like a life preserver for his legion of worshippers. Like a trip line for Aaron Rodgers.
Steve Lawrence is a frequent contributor to PackerReport.com. E-mail him at steve_lawrence_packers@yahoo.com