Thread: Childress wanted Favre to come out

Childress wanted Favre to come out

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ESPN.com news services

Brett Favre didn't want to come out of Sunday's 26-7 loss to the Carolina Panthers. He let Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress know about it. And after the game he let the media know about it.


Television footage showed Favre and Childress in an animated discussion on the sideline during the third quarter, while the Vikings were still leading 7-6. With the offensive line struggling to contain Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers, Favre was getting hurried and knocked down.

Favre did not come out of the game. But in postgame comments, it was apparent he was not happy with what happened.

"Yeah, there was a heated discussion, I guess you would call it," Favre said of the exchange. "No secret, I was getting hit a little bit. I felt the pressure on a lot of plays. We had seven points. So I think everyone in the building was like, 'They're not moving the ball, they're not getting points.' Brad wanted to go in a different direction and I wanted to stay in the game."

Childress said in a Monday news conference that he approached Favre with a "stream of consciousness" idea about taking him out of the game because he was getting hit hard by Carolina's defense. He stopped short of saying he wanted to bench Favre for performance reasons, and said he didn't consider the discussion "heated."

"It was more of a stream of consciousness," Childress said, "where he comes off the field, I'm watching what I'm watching, and I said, 'Hey, you know what? I'm thinking about taking you out of the game here.' I mean, [Favre was] getting [his] rear end kicked through not a lot of fault of his own.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press on Tuesday reported that according to six members of the Vikings organization, Childress lit into the team's offense at halftime and privately let loose with an expletive-filled tirade toward Favre well after the game was over.


"As I'm watching that and as I'm watching that occur, I'm giving him a stream of consciousness," Childress added. "Obviously, he didn't want anything to do with that, which I certainly appreciate from his standpoint. From any quarterback. He wasn't like, 'OK, let me get my hat on.' That wasn't in his makeup."

While Childress downplayed the exchange, a Twin Cities-area report citing team sources said that the Vikings coach was not happy with his team's performance on Sunday and made that known in no uncertain terms.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Tuesday that according to six members of the Vikings organization, Childress lit into the team's offense at halftime and privately let loose with an expletive-filled tirade toward Favre well after the game was over.

According to the report, at halftime Childress cussed out the Vikings' offense, which managed 66 net yards in the first half, and said it was "laughable" that they believe themselves to be Super Bowl contenders.

One player described the tirade as "entertaining," while another compared it to a parent lecturing a teenager, according to the report.

It was not the first time that Childress wanted to pull Favre from a game, but found the veteran quarterback not willing to step aside.

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Peppers was glad he stayed in

vikings lost another. Are they tired and banged up or did they get a little too cocky and paying for it?

The Playoffs alone will tell. I have money on Favre and his stubborn, at times reckless, thick skull to take the Ring this season, but what I saw the last few games of the regular season has me worried that internal disputes will kill their chances. And if the Vikings can't do it this time, with the team they have now, I seriously doubt they ever will...