Favre sightings just sizzle, not steak

Let's get this straight.

The Tampa Bay area is buzzing with alleged sightings of Packers QB Brett Favre at Fleming's Steakhouse Monday night. As the tale goes, he was with Bucs general manager Bruce Allen.

Restaurant and hotel employees aren't supposed to publicly reveal the identity of their customers for obvious reasons. But folks, trust us on this one, it's absolutely untrue.

Allen and the Bucs do hold a lot of dinner meetings at Fleming's -- and without getting anyone in trouble at the eatery on West Boy Scout Blvd., -- that was not the case this week. Allen has denied the report as well.

Now the sightings have spread to One Buc Place as well. A few things to consider: Favre is property of the Packers, and unless Green Bay officials allow it, any contact by officials from another team with him would be tampering.

If the Bucs were inclined to speak to Favre, it's pretty unlikely they would parade him through a busy restuarant that Allen, Gruden and company frequent.

Most of the trade talk regarding Favre continues to center around the Bucs and Panthers. Redskins executive vice president Vinny Cerrato told me earlier today his team is committed to Jason Campbell at quarterback.

Many executives still find it hard to believe Packers GM Ted Thompson won't simply allow Favre to return as the starter, regardless of what affect it has on Aaron Rodgers.  One thing is certain, you can expect more reports of Favre sightings. As best as we can tell, this one is false.

Comments

[jay]

FIRE JON GRUDEN!

[Green Bay Bob]

Hi all, I'm the goober that calls Steve every day to talk about the Packers. You know, the same station that blasts all the other fans if they call to talk about anything besides the Bucs ... but just mix in a Tampa Bay take and you're OK. Dahhh ... GO PACK

To back up Justin, it's not tampering if the pack gave him permission and that's what we're thinking has been in the works. I also think he's perfect for the Bucs if he doesn't start in GB ... even though it's like learning Mandarin Chinese to pick up your offense, it doesn't matter because I'm not too knowledgable about anything except where to buy my wife a cheese bra and panties.

GO PACK GO

[Turk]

Rick, you should delete that second comment. Humor is fine but that is uncalled for.

[Shane]

jay when will you stop saying fire gruden who out there(besides monte) in the active coaching market would make a better choice for head coaching...thats what i thought you little ball of s&*t no one why don't you just put your buc jersey back on from your bandwagon days and shut the hell up

[Shane]

and justin that was going a little far with the wife comment but nonetheless it was funny

[Grammar Nazi]

What the hell is a Restuarant?

[Jay]

No. It wasn't funny. It was actually quite stupid, and contributes nothing to the entertainment value, or the newsworthiness of the article. In short - go away, troll.

But, unless I'm mistaken, Brett Favre is officially retired, having already filed his paperwork with the league, and would have to file again for reinstatement in order to be considered an active player. In this case, even if #4 was meeting with Bruce Allen, he can do whatever he wants. As the Jake Plummer issue has shown (since he never filed his retirement paperwork), no one owns the rights to a retired player. And even then, no one knows whether or not the Packers have given him permission to seek a trade behind the scenes. So it's a bit presumptuous to declare even a fictional meeting a form of tampering.

[Jay]

Well, I went and looked it up, and it turns out I was wrong, and Mr Stroud was right. The Reserved / Retired list means that the Packers still own the rights to Favre and any contact is considered tampering. I now know this because the Pack just filed charges against the Vikings for this exact thing. Oops.

[T]

props bro Farve is god!!! Gracia is not god!! Maybe he should go to haties!! I think he is so hurt by this stuff and stuff!! You guys are really smart and stuff!! Exspecially Cheesy balls bob! Like Kraft macaroni and BOB!

In response to Jay, saying there isnt a better head coach out there: mariucci is a better coach. bill cowher is better. Marty Schottenheimer.

[DR]

Do you know what Packers fans were saying when Favre threw a bad pass for an INT in OT last year?... They said "oh my god, he did it again!?" Apparently, Packers fans were used to Favre blowing big games.

[#4 to #84]

Rick,

It seems to me the only proof you're offering is that because of tampering rules, Favre wasn't here.

That's not enough to say it's completely untrue. If you have other proof beyond what you've said here, than tell us.

Allen has good reason to deny the report, even if GB gave him permission. He doesn't want the Panthers or anyone else to know that they're negotiating a trade.

[Bridget the Midget]

Favre was in town this past weekend! I gave him a lap dance!

[Carmen Santiago]

Where in the world is Brett Favre???

[:PapaJohn]

This dinner did not happen. It would be considered NFL tampering and Allen would not be seen in public talking to Farve. Duhhh...

[Darrell Bevell]

WOW .. great insight PapaJohn!
You are 100% correct because no other football team would ever get themselves in a situation like that!

[George]

Mariucci is a better coach? How did he do in his last job?

Bill Cowher is better? Good, but overrated. Took him a lot longer to win a SB than Gruden with arguably better talent.

Marty Schottenheimer? When did he coach a SB team?

[DR]

George, be careful with your argument before you paint yourself in a corner. Super Bowls don't make coaches or players great. Is Barry Switzer a great coach?
Cowher is a far better coach than Gruden. He withstood changes in personnel over 12 years and made his team competitive year in and year out. His loss in the '95 Super Bowl was to the greatest team in the decade so you can't fault him on that one.
You gotta ask yourself, what has Gruden done since the super bowl, which team primarily assembled by someone else?

[Shane]

i do believe that cowher and marty are both retired and it would take a lot of money to coax them out of retirement and if the bucs were to fire JG(which will not happen)they would take a tremendous salary cap hit due to the fact JG's contract is about 5 mill a year for the next 5 years and he hasn't even served one, so that puts the bucs in a $25 mil hole right there, and then to sign cowher or marty it would take at least another $30-$35 mil and in the end the bucs would be spending any where between $55-$60 mil at the minimum to fire JG and hire another head coach

[Shane]

so i am glad the gruden bashers are not running the team

[Patrick McIrish]

is someone really comparing Chuck to Cowher?
LAUGHABLE at best
Nobody did a better job over the years coaching a football team that had as many FA losses as the Steelers

won better than 62% of his regular season games and had a winning record in the playoffs --- how's Chuck's record look in either department?

always great to see some of the CASUAL fans come out and let their pewter & red glasses distort the view that those of us who played the game know, but that's where you just have to take the high road

LOOK FOR ME ON THE HIGH ROAD

[DR]

Shane, are you kidding me? Read up on some NFL football and then write on this blog. I'll give you a couple of hours before I tell you how flawed your thinking is.

[Shane]

i agree with george cowher had a lot more talent in the last Sb win he had than gruden has ever had here in tampa. When gruden won the super bowl he won with a suspect o-line, 2 aging receivers(mccardell and johnson), an even older QB, a sub-par running back(pittman),a bruising FB(A-train),no return game, and with Monte's defense(i do believe that monte was here before dungy was, if not they were here at about the same time which make monte just as responsible for the defense,end result bucs dominate raiders 48-21.Also JG was the youngest head coach to win the big one.

Now cowher in super bowl 40 had Big ben, hines ward and several other good recievers, a hall of fame RB/FB(the bus), willie parker, good o-line, good return game, and a good defense, end result Steelers squeak out a 20-14 win over the seahawks. It took cowher over a decade to get back to the super bowl after losing to the cowboys in '95

[Shane]

Dr i can guarantee that cowher is retired(he in a sports analysis now) and marty has fallen off the face of the earth

[Stephen_Holder]

Hello all... Been laying low for a while taking some vacation. But to hopefully further convince those who still want to believe Favre met with the Bucs, Stroud and I have now two separate non-Bucs sources who confirmed it didn't happen. In fact, the meeting at Fleming's involved Bruce, assistant Kevin Demoff and Todd France, Aqib Talib's agent. Rumors are a dangerous thing. Let's let this go now.

[Shane]

hey stephen speaking of aquib and his agent...whats the deal with his contract or further more the deal with the other 3 or 4 draft picks that haven't been signed?

[Todd France]

We are setting up a cage match between my client and that punk Cory Boyd @ the sundome!

[miamivex]

First of all let me start by syaing JG is a Hack always will be. He won the Super Bowl on Dungy's work and steller work it was. Then what did he do Rip the team to shreds and start doing what he does best pick up OLDER PEOPLE that nobody else wanted. I love Dunn man but what is he 90 or something like that. Unfortunately they cant be rid of the Bum for lack of money so as Yoda once said... I think "Put up with him you will have to" Will he ever win a Super Bowl on his own... Doubtful to many players dont like him

[john]

Guys I can remember when everybody hated Dungy.It just seems like it doesnt matter what coach we have someone wants him fired.Dungy had that team with the same defense and didnt get the job done.Gruden brought in some key peices to the offence like keenan mccardell.

[Shane]

cage match huh well i don't know how many people would pay to see that unless the main event was Brett Farve vs Ted Thompson in a last man standing match(brett loses he stays retired ted loses brett comes back as starter)

[Shane]

odds are with Farves durability he wins the match unless Thompson hires another guy to take on farve(is that warren sapp in the crowd along with simeon rice, greg spires and booger mcfarland?and what T-Jack,Flip, and Ruud doing in full pads?)

[DR]

Shane, I gave you time and you failed. A coach's salary has no impact on the salary cap. The salary cap is for the players only. The Bucs could sign Cowher next year for $100M if they wanted to. Second, Dungy and Kiffen developed the Tampa 2 defense.
Cowher's daughter are done and graduated now and if he gets a good offer, he may take it. A fiery coach like him still has a desire to coach, I guarantee it. His super bowl team did not have more talent than the Bucs. That is a stupid statement. Both had great defenses that won them the super bowl, but the Bucs defense was better. The Steelers had a green QB in big Ben, who tried his best to blow the super bowl. The Bucs had the better QB in Johnson. Ben may be a better QB now than Johnson but he wasn't better during the SB run. Keyshawn, McCardell, and JJ were comparable, if not better than Ward, Randel El, and Washington. Randel El brought some versatility, but he isn't a great WR. McCardell and Key have a combined 1500+ catches between them.
Gruden is a replaceable coach. There is another Del Rio around the corner. Bring in fresh blood. Bring in somebody who will make changes to suit the players abilities. Bring in a Mike Singletary who wants a chance. Gruden has been trying to run a west coast offense without the right personnel. In 2002, it didn't work either, his offense was ranked 20th. He was lucky he had a legit #1 WR in Key who demanded double coverage and made everybody better. The Bucs don't have a legit #1 right now.

[Kurt]

DR, please stop your nonsensical rant concerning Gruden. How can you say that the Steelers have had less talent over the period that Cowher was there and the Bucs during Gruden's tenure? I'm not going to call you dumb or stupid like you enjoy doing to others, but that's just a dumb statement. The Steelers have never gotten themselves into a cap situation which warranted fire-selling all the good veterans like we had to (thank you McKay.) Dungy had the same team effectively for 3 years and couldn't get it done; plain and simple. Players on that SB team have stated in public that is was Gruden's ability to impose responsibility on the that offense which made the difference. You can have your opinion and all, but I will take the word of the players that actually brought the trophy home; not yours. The Steelers franchise is on automatic pilot due to upper-management and Cowher will do good to stay retired and keep his winning percentage intact. I know you don't like Gruden because he has been anointed some kind of offensive genius by everyone but himself. This team has evolved back into a contender since he had to go through the cap purge imposed on him. I might add that he is the youngest coach to win a SB, he played his former team that he built over the 4 years he was at Oakland, and he's taken his franchise to a division championship 6 of 10 years that he's been a coach in the NFL. Nobody wins SB's every year, especially in this era, so stop being analytical about the whole deal. He's our best coach yet.

[shane]

yes kurt he is our best HEAD coach yet but honestly our best COACH yet would have to be Monte Kiffin the man has put us in the Top 10 or 5 Defenses every year except for 2006-07 year even with a purged defense and lack of pass rush. I believe that Raheem Morris will be the eventual successor to Monte as D-Coordinator because he has worked wonders for our secondary(remember the year he wasn't here?)

[Kurt]

Shane; I agree concerning Kiffin. I also feel that Dungy gets the credit for Kiffin's "head coaching tree." All the head coaches that have spawned in the NFL played under Kiffin (some after Dungy was long gone.) Look it up. I'll give Dungy that flake in KC, but Lovie Smith, Rod Marinelli and the kid in Pittsburgh are all Kiffin trained. I truly hope that Morris or Coyer are the heir apparents, but if history is any indicator, they may be headed for bigger and better things too. Kiffin is the baddest @ss coach in the NFL by far.

[miamivex]

Monte is by far the best Defensive coordinator we have had and it will be a very sad day when it is his time to go. As far as Gruden being the youngest SO WHAT. The N.F.L is about what have you done for me lately and as we all know JG has done nothing... last year was a fluke with the Buc's making the playoffs if some of those teams that were supposed to have won did actually win the Buc's wouldnt have gone anywhere

[Jason]

miamivex - dumb comment "last year was a fluke with the Buc's making the playoffs if some of those teams that were supposed to have won did actually win the Buc's wouldnt have gone anywhere"... seriously? If that's the case then the Bucs would have won the Super Bowl again the year after they won their first. Heck, the Patriots would have won last year's SB because they were "supposed" to win. Are you serious? DUMB! That's why the game is played on Sunday's between the lines and not on this blog... because of ID10Ts like yourself.

[Shane]

this so called fluke that miamivex says that happened last year what was it again? Oh yeah a 3rd string RB stepping up to the plate and performing admirably after injuries to the numbers 1 and 2 backs, that was a fluke? A 33 year old forgotten WR who was a number 3 receiver stepping up to the plate when the receiver ahead of him couldn't get the job done, that was a fluke A third string LT stepping up to the plate whenthe starting LT was hurt and done for the season,that was a fluke? A rookie safety and converted corner knocking the tar and balls out of the opposition while being good in coverage , that was a fluke? How bout another safety who was continually criticized all of the previous season for his lack of coverage skills providing the knock out punch when other receivers caught the ball, that was a fluke? Hows this for a fluke a former QB converted to WR scores the first kickoff TD in franchise history. you all know what i'm getting at last season was no "fluke" and i'll be damned before anyone can change my mind about that, so heres some advice for miamivex. Next time you plan on ridiculing a team on their own blog know your facts. Also don't ridicule a winning team if you have the word Miami in your name cause the last I checked the fins had a 1-15 record last year and aren't going to get any better any time soon, they MIGHT have a 2-3 game turnaround but even so they'll be 3-13 or 4-12 which the last time i checked was still pretty horrible.

[Shane]

thank you kurt for your agreement on kiffin but wasn't marinelli a part of dungy's staff too? if not thats only one failed HC(but he doesn't get too bad of a grade he has done a good job in Detroit) that came out of under Kiffin but lovie and tomlin are SB caliber coaches(lovie just needs a more consistent QB and WRs and tomlin needs his o-line to stay healthy)

[NFL Guru]

miamivex,
do yourself a favor and either:
a) read these threads and keep quiet so that you don't make an even bigger A-S-S of yourself OR
b) go read the Howard-Troxler-weanie-blog and comment there if you feel the need to make a fool of yourself [fools seem to congregate there]

for the 1,375th time:
GRUDEN DID NOT WIN WITH DUNGY'S TEAM!
HE BASICALLY REWORKED THAT OFFENSE FROM THE YEAR BEFORE WITH WR'S, RB'S, TE'S AND ON THE OL!
Why are some of you so dense and wanting to hang on to the Father Dungy legacy of playoff futility?

[miamivex]

You people are a joke if you actually think the Bucs deserved to be in the play offs last year!!!I have been a Buc fan since the days we wore bags on our heads and I for one can at least be honest with my self... they didnt belong there I dont care what facts you state about 3rd string players. If the belong there why did the get beat so easily in the playoffs?you people a just lying to your selves... the Bucs didnt belong in the playoffs last year!!!If the keep going the way they are this year they wont belong there this year either

[miamivex]

P.S. Shane you are whats commonly refered to as a DOOFUS, just because someone has the name miami in their screen doesnt necessarily mean they have anything to do with the place... last I knew there was a miami in Ohio as well