According to a report by Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports, one of the reasons Brett Favre contemplated not returning this season was because of Vikings’ head coach Brad Childress.
Multiple sources told Cole that Childress doesn’t have much respect from his players, particularly from Favre. “Brett thinks Childress has no clue about offense,” a Vikings player told Cole.
The sources told Cole that the mere existence of Childress was one of the reasons Favre might not have returned this season. Favre told some of his teammates in early July that he was probably going to return, Cole reports, but then his interest went down after Childress visited him July 19.
“Brett just doesn’t trust him,” a player told Cole.
It’s been a widespread rumor that Childress doesn’t have respect from his players and this report strengthens that case. While it’s important to remember that this was an anonymous source within Minnesota’s locker room and therefore it should probably be taken with a grain of salt, this news runs parallel to other reports that have stated that players aren’t fans of Childress.
Here are a couple of nuggets to chew on:
– Favre and Childress went toe-to-toe on the sidelines last year in a very public shouting match, so it’s not surprising to read that Brett doesn’t trust his head coach.
– It’s been widely speculated that the reason long-time center Matt Birk left Minnesota last year to sign with Baltimore was because of his disdain for Childress, who put together a tacky press release upon Birk’s departure.
– Childress has taken flack for the way he has handled the Favre situation as it pertains to Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels.
Yesterday I wrote an article titled, “Two reasons why Brett Favre and the Vikings won’t win a Super Bowl.” One of the two reasons I listed was Brad Childress, who I feel as though will never be a Super Bowl-winning head coach and who will always hold the Vikings back.
Apparently I’m not alone in that sentiment.
