ESPN.com is reporting that Brett Favre had ankle surgery and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune thinks he could be sending a message about his possible return.

Brett Favre has yet to inform the Vikings whether he will return in 2010, but his actions have made it clear he has every intention of playing a 20th NFL season.

The quarterback underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle Friday in Florida to clean up scar tissue and other elements of the joint to allow for a better range of motion. ESPN reported that noted surgeon James Andrews performed the procedure at the Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze. Andrews repaired the partially torn biceps in Favre’s throwing arm last spring.

Although Favre is well-known to be averse to any type of surgical procedure, it does not come as a surprise he had this done considering the success he had last season in his first year in Minnesota. Favre, who spent 18 years with the Packers and played for the Jets in 2008, led the Vikings to a 12-4 finish and the NFC title game at New Orleans, throwing for 4,202 yards with 33 touchdowns and a career-low seven interceptions.

So:

Surgery + Favre = Return.

Got it.

He was always coming back. The Vikings have shown zero panic over their quarterback situation since the season ended and the media in Minnesota isn’t hounding Brad Childress daily on whether or not he’s playing this year, so that’s a big indication that he is. In Washington, Mike Shanahan can’t walk past someone in the hallway without being asked if Albert Haynesworth is going to be at training camp. You don’t think they would be doing the same to Childress if everyone didn’t have a good indication already that he was coming back?

Brett is coming back. Thrilling.

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Right on time, Brett Favre has figured out a way to skip training camp this year.

From ESPN.com:

Brett Favre has been informed he requires surgery on his left ankle to play the upcoming season for the Minnesota Vikings, and the quarterback is deliberating whether to have the procedure or simply to end his 19-year NFL career by retiring.

“We have spoken,” Favre said in an e-mail. “To play again, I would need the surgery, as I suspected. This decision would be easy if not for my teammates and the fans and the entire Vikings staff. One year truly felt like 10 — much like Green Bay for many years. That’s what I was missing in my heart I suppose, a sense of belonging.”

Favre said he must determine whether his affection for the Vikings and his belief they are capable of winning the Super Bowl overrides his disdain for surgery.

He’s not going to retire. He never actually retires, so let’s just put that debate to rest. He’ll have the surgery, but he’ll make sure that his recovery time puts him on the practice field right after two-a-days and not a moment sooner. He had a similar situation last year, when he had a partially torn biceps tendon in his throwing shoulder repaired. He played then, and he’ll play now – as long as it’s on his terms.

The Vikings haven’t stressed about their quarterback situation this entire offseason, meaning Favre is coming back. If for some reason he doesn’t, Tarvaris Jackson will be counted on to be the starter, but chances are Jackson will be picking splinters out of his ass again this season while riding the pine.

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Joe Montana is confident that Brett Favre will return to football this season, but believes the 40-year-old quarterback is playing coy with his plans because he doesn’t want to go to training camp.

“He says he’s not sure [about playing] because he doesn’t want to go to training camp. He’s smart,” Montana said. “I’m sure he already has that agreement with them. Nine chances out of 10 they already know and they’ve already had this whole conversation and they should just let everybody know because they know he’s going to come back.

“He knows he’s going to come back, but the reason they don’t say anything is because he doesn’t want to go through training camp,” Montana said. “If he didn’t have to go through training camp, his decision would already be made, but he should know by now going to training camp isn’t going to be hard. They’d never make it hard on him.”

Seeing as how the Vikings have shown zero signs of panicking about Favre’s pending decision, I think Montana is right on the money. Favre has always disliked going to training camp, so it would make sense that he would have an agreement with the Vikings that he’d return as long as he doesn’t have to go to camp.

The Vikings haven’t made any moves yet pertaining to their quarterback situation that would suggest Favre isn’t coming back. And with Favre’s familiarity with Brad Childress’ offense, it wouldn’t take him long to get ready for the season if he skipped camp and showed up when the team started their regular practices. Personally, I think he should be in camp with his teammates, but maybe that’s just me.

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Before their win over the Cowboys in the Divisional Round two weeks ago, I proposed the question of whether or not signing Brett Favre was worth it for the Vikings. Now that Minnesota has been knocked out of the playoffs and the annual Brett Favre retirement dance has begun, I’m proposing a similar question.

If Favre does decide to hang ‘em up this offseason, was signing him for one year worth it for the Vikings?

Had they lost to Dallas, I would have empathically said “no” to the above question. The Vikings won the division and reached the playoffs with Gus Frerotte and Tarvaris Jackson in 2008. So for all intents and purposes, had they lost to the Cowboys the Vikings would not have improved under Favre and therefore, his signing would have been a waste. After all, Minnesota didn’t jump over all the hurdles to sign Favre last offseason just so they could win another division title and be bounced in their first playoff game. And had he retired after a loss to Dallas, the signing would have looked even worse.

However, my stance has changed after the Vikes advanced to the NFC Championship Game because that meant they did improve with Favre under center. They weren’t knocking on the door of a Super Bowl last year with Jackson at quarterback and although we’ll never know, I highly doubt they would have reached the NFC title game with Jackson or Sage Rosenfels this season.

So yeah, the signing of Favre was worth it in my eyes. Did they sign him in hopes that he would advance them to the Super Bowl? Of course they did, but 30 teams fail to reach the Super Bowl every year and 28 of them didn’t get as far as the Vikings did this season. They knew they were a quarterback away from making a legitimate run and they did what they had to do in order to sign one of the best in the game.

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Not eight seconds after the Saints beat the Vikings in the NFC Championship Game, FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer reported that “every player” in Minnesota’s locker room believes that Brett Favre will retire this offseason.

After the game, however, Favre was non-committal about his future plans (from USA Today):

“I know people are rolling their eyes or will roll their eyes,” he said. “In a situation like this, I really don’t want to make a decision right now based solely on what happened (Sunday).”

Favre’s last pass was an interception with seven seconds left in regulation that doomed the Vikings’ chances as girding for a potential game-winning field goal attempt. The Saints won the coin toss in overtime, and Favre never had a chance to run a play in the extra frame.

“It’s disappointing,” Favre said. “And that’s an understatement.”

I’ve taken on the mindset that Favre wants to win the Super Bowl again before he retires. With how close he got this season, I doubt he’ll hang ‘em up in the next couple months.

After figuring out a way to get out of training camp, he’ll return to lead Minnesota next season.

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The Minnesota Vikings didn’t just sign Brett Favre in the offseason: They jumped through every hoop and hopped every hurdle in front of them in order to acquire the ageless one, including alienating Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson in the process. (And while I can’t prove it, I also fully believe that Brad Childress sold his soul in order to sign Favre as well.)

That’s why if the Vikings lose this Sunday to the Dallas Cowboys, signing Favre would have arguably been a waste. A team like Minnesota doesn’t subject itself the way it did this offseason to sign a 40-year old quarterback to lose in the second round of the playoffs. It signs a 40-year old drama queen because he’s worth it and to ensure that the team is going to have a shot at winning the Super Bowl.

Okay, so there are no sure things in pro football. Signing Favre didn’t guarantee anything for the Vikings, but they knew that they were a legit passing attack away from being a Super Bowl contender and so far, suffering through Favre’s drama this offseason has been worth it.

But if they lose this weekend, then they would have accomplished nothing. Favre isn’t going to play forever (uh, I think) and the Vikings’ window of opportunity to win a Super Bowl has been shrinking since Week 1. If they lose to the Cowboys, then the Vikes will have won precisely the same amount of playoff games with Tarvaris Jackson under center last year: Zero.

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The Vikings’ 38-26 win over the Packers wasn’t even an hour old yet and I got an e-mail from my partner in crime here at The Scores Report, John Pauslen, who happens to be a huge Green Bay fan and is/was an active Brett Favre supporter.

I won’t share what John wrote in case there are women and children reading, but he wasn’t kind to Brett. And I can’t imagine that John is the only one who feels angry with Favre after what transpired on Sunday.

Brett walked into Lambeau Field, a place where he was known for being a legend, a hero and an icon, and essentially burned the place down. He completed 17-of-28 passes for 244 yards and four touchdowns, while also spending most of the game pumping his fists wildly in celebration of his accomplishments.

Many people still want to blame Ted Thompson for why Favre currently wears purple and white. But the fact of the matter is that there are 32 teams in the NFL and he wanted to be a Viking. If he just wanted to play football, he could have returned to the Jets. Hell, if he wanted to play football, he could have returned to the Packers two years ago because they said yes to him twice. It was the one “no” that has fans blaming Thompson, yet they should blame Favre for his indecisiveness and his desire to play in Minnesota before blaming the GM that eventually committed to Aaron Rodgers and decided to move forward.

I hope that Brett is satisfied with the outcome from today, because while he once again got his revenge on Thompson and the Packers, he also torched a lot of loyal Green Bay fans in the process. There will always be people that player worship and will root for Favre no matter what color jersey he wears, but there no doubt are many who watched the game today and said, “You know what? To hell with Brett Favre.”

The funny thing is, Brett’s true fans will always be in Green Bay. Unless he helps the Vikings win a Super Bowl, Minnesota fans will forget about him the moment he’s done playing for them and you’re kidding yourself if you think otherwise. So while he may feel good about the way things have transpired so far this season, he’s hurting his legacy in the long run by accomplishing exactly what he wanted in beating the Packers.

Was it worth it, Brett?

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