Packers Fans Divided on Favre

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Brett Favre left Green Bay Wednesday without a clear picture of his future in the NFL. Packers fans are similarly confused.

“It’s outrageous how they treated a quarterback who was near the top of his game,” Harvey said.

The veteran quarterback boarded a chartered jet Wednesday, returning to Mississippi to wait on his future.

After Wednesday morning’s training camp practice at Clarke Hinkle Field, Green Bay Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy walked back to Lambeau Field among players and fans.

While some fans carried signs supporting Favre and criticizing general manager Ted Thompson, others voiced support for Murphy and stopped to shake his hand or take his picture.

“Good job,” said David Steeno, giving Murphy a thumbs-up.

Steeno, a former Wisconsin resident who lives in Big Rapids, Mich., said there were inconsistencies on both sides of the issue. The best option now is to trade Favre, he said.

“I’m a Favre fan, but maybe he was in a zone where he was not seeing the whole picture,” Steeno said.

Brett Teela, of Madison, who carried a homemade sign urging Thompson’s firing, said management “botched the whole thing. They should trade (Aaron) Rodgers.”

Sharon Meyer, of De Pere, who has sold cold drinks and souvenirs at training camp for several years, said crowds Wednesday “were a quarter of the size when people thought Brett Favre would be here. The majority of people are not happy with the idea he may be traded.”

Todd Brown, of Green Bay, held up a “Bring Brett back” sign. Brown said he was disappointed with the way Favre was treated by Packers management and urged coach Mike McCarthy to apologize to Favre.

“It’s not over until there’s a trade or they bring him back,” Brown said.

However, Favre has seen a sharp decline in his favorability among many Wisconsinites, a new survey shows. Only 47 percent had a favorable view of Favre, while 34 percent had an unfavorable view. The survey of 600 people likely to vote in the November presidential election was conducted Sunday and Monday by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.

It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. In a survey last December, 73 percent of the people in Wisconsin had a favorable view of Favre and 7 percent had an unfavorable view.

Steve Tate of DeForest said he’d like to see Favre end his career in Green Bay.

“It had been a little bit of Camelot, but now it’s gone,” Tate said. “It’s big business and big egos.”

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Information from: Green Bay Press-Gazette, http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com