Jeff Darlington of the Miami Herald was apparently so sick of the recent rumors that Brett Favre is coming back this season to quarterback the Dolphins that he actually traveled to Hattiesburg, Mississippi to ask Favre himself whether or not he’s returning.

And Darlington got the word straight from the horse’s mouth: Brett isn’t coming back.

Below are a series of tweets from Darlington that he posted after speaking with Favre:

After a 10-hour stakeout, I finally tracked down Favre. He was headed to take a team photo with players at Oak Grove High near his ranch.

In Hattiesburg, I just asked Brett Favre if he’s interested in joining Dolphins: “I haven’t heard anything & I don’t have any interest. No.”

If you don’t believe his words, you can believe my eyes: Brett Favre walks slowly and gingerly, every step taking considerable effort.

Favre apparently asked Darlington, “You’re from Miami? Don’t you have anything better to do?”

No, you attention-loving hooker, he doesn’t. It’s because of you that media members like Darlington will go to great lengths to try to uncover the truth about whether or not you’re playing. You’ve pulled this dog and pony show so many times that perfectly sane men feel the need to travel four states in order to track you down and cut through the B.S.

Anyone who watched Favre’s remaining games last year saw a man who was done. Let’s not entertain the idea that he’s coming back – stick a fork in him, it’s over.

Or is it…

Brett Favre left the Vikings’ 28-18 loss to the Patriots in the fourth quarter on Sunday after taking a hard hit to his chin/jaw. He was examined on the sidelines and was then carted off the field in the fetal position. (That’s not a stab at Favre, I just don’t know how else to describe the position he was in.)

Tarvaris Jackson replaced Favre and immediately threw a touchdown pass to Naufahu Tahi, then converted a 2-point conversation pass to Percy Harvin to cut New England’s lead to 21-18. Minnesota’s defense then allowed the Patriots to march right up the field and score with under two minutes to play to put the game out of reach.

Despite suffering from ankle, elbow and biceps issues, as well as acne, foot fungus and bad breath, Favre managed to complete 22-of-32 passes for 259 yards before coming out with the laceration on his jaw.

What’s interesting is that his ankle/foot injury never appeared to be a big problem, yet Brad Childress gave the impression throughout the week that Favre may not play. If the decoy was intentional, it was a smart move by Childress because it forced New England to prepare for two different quarterbacks. But because this is Favre and Childress we’re talking about, I don’t think I’m alone in saying that the entire situation was freaking annoying. It basically forced the media to talk about Lord Favre’s consecutive starts streak, which again, was really, really annoying.

It’s been an honor to watch you play, Brett. Now hurry up and retire.

The loss now drops the Vikings to 2-5 and while they’re not completely out of playoff contention, no team has ever made the postseason after starting 2-6. Minnesota hosts a horrendous Arizona team next week, so I’m sure the will-they-or-won’t they, will-he-or-won’t-he torture will continue after the Vikes win next Sunday.

Even though his annual retirement dance has long become an absurd spectacle, I’ve always maintained that Brett Favre can do whatever he wants.

Play. Don’t play. Sit on your tractor. Take pictures of weird people at Wal-Mart – I don’t care. Who am I to say when an athlete’s time is up? It’s not my decision.

With that in mind, no, I don’t think that it’s a mistake that Favre has decided to come back. Regardless of whether or not you’re entertained by his offseason antics or he makes you want to give yourself an at-home lobotomy, there’s no question that he can still play. And play at an elite level, for that matter.

But will he lead the Vikings to a Super Bowl? I think there are two distinct reasons why he won’t:

1. His Health.
Two years ago, Favre suffered a biceps injury and it played a huge role in sinking the Jets’ playoff hopes in the final month of the season. Last year, he made it all the way to the NFC title game, but he suffered a nasty ankle injury (the same ankle that required surgery in the offseason), which was one of the factors in the Vikings’ demise. Say what you want about Sir Fickle, but the man is a warrior. He’s never missed a game throughout his career and I suspect he never will. But at 40 years old, does anyone really think he’s going to stay healthy enough to lead the Vikes to the Super Bowl? Granted, no player is healthy by about Week 10 of the season, but they’re not 40 years old either. Let’s just play the trends here; the last two years an injury has sunk his team’s Super Bowl hopes. So let’s make it a third this year.

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While it hasn’t come out of his mouth directly, Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com writes that Brett Favre told teammates Steve Hutchinson, Jared Allen and Ryan Longwell that he will play this season.

Favre informed the trio Tuesday that he is, in fact, back in and will rejoin the Vikings, FOXsports.com has learned.

In addition, Favre is on the plane with the players and is heading back to Minneapolis. However, while signs point to Favre coming back, neither he nor his agent have informed the team that he’s returning. And with Favre, another change of heart is certainly not out of the question.

Does anyone else feel that this situation has gone from absurd to just flat out weird? The Vikings are in the midst of preparing for the regular season and Brad Childress thought it would be a good idea to send his top guard, his top pass-rusher and a kicker to woo Favre at his home in Mississippi? All right.

Although hey, assuming Favre is in route to Minnesota then I guess the move worked. It makes the situation no less ridiculous, lame and corny, but as long as Favre is back under center this year then nobody in Minnesota is going to care what it took to get him back.

Hopefully this year’s saga is finally over.

According to ESPN.com, Brett Favre has denied sending text messages to Vikings officials and teammates telling them that he had decided to retire and also told Ed Werder that if he’s healthy, he will play this season.

Favre also insisted that the decision isn’t about money, even though Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that the Vikings have offered Brett a raise that would increase his 2010 base salary from $13 million to $16 million.

Favre responded to a Star Tribune report that the Vikings were prepared to offer him more money for the 2010 season if he would play by insisting that his salary is not a factor in the decision. “It’s not about money,” he said.

Well, I would hope it’s not about money considering he’s made over $100 million during the course of his career (which doesn’t include the millions more he has made through endorsements). Money has played a factor in everyone’s decisions at some point or another, but it would be asinine to think that he would play next season for $16 million, but not $13 million.

Here’s the part of the story that I don’t get:

On Tuesday, Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe said Favre texted his teammates and told them he plans to retire. Shiancoe added he did not receive any direct messages from Favre, but learned of the texts from several teammates.

“He told a couple guys on our team he’s going to retire,” Shiancoe said after practice on Tuesday. “He hasn’t told me yet. I’m going to check my phone right now, but it hasn’t been said publicly yet so I don’t know what to believe.”

So did Favre send the text messages or not? Because if he didn’t, why did Shiancoe say that Favre told some of his teammates via text messages that he was going to retire? Something doesn’t add up here. Either Brett is a lying windbag or there’s a bad game of telephone going on inside the Vikings’ locker room.

Regardless, this report proves that this situation is far from over. As reported all day yesterday, Favre has yet to make up his mind about whether or not to return. Shocking.