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No Need To Rush: Bucs Can't Lose In Favre Circus

Tribune photo by CLIFF McBRIDE

Jon Gruden leads the defense, including Barrett Ruud and Ronde Barber during Monday's afternoon session.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 29, 2008

LAKE BUENA VISTA - A couple of things could have happened Monday to bring clarity and sense to what Jeff Garcia calls, "The Brett Favre situation."

Neither one did.

The Bucs could have issued a statement saying Garcia is their guy and wish Favre well, but they didn't. They hip-hopped around it several times and came awfully close once or twice, but then Jon Gruden told Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer Roy Cummings: "That wouldn't be fair to Brett Favre."

Well, of course. They have to be fair to the guy who has never taken a snap here, even if that means running the bus over a guy who led the Bucs to a division championship last year. Thanks for everything, Jeff.

You figure Gruden only would say something like that if a trade is imminent, or at least highly likely, so who cares if Garcia's feelings are as bruised as his ribs were last year? Except that, no, the much-anticipated arrival of the football's most famous semi-retiree didn't happen, either.

It may never happen. It may happen in a day or two. Favre hasn't even applied for reinstatement yet.

So let's take a look at this from another angle, shall we?

If this takes until today, tomorrow or even into the weekend to resolve, who cares?

The Bucs can't lose either way.

If they get Favre, wonderful.

If not, they have a Pro Bowl quarterback who took them to the playoffs.

No Damage Done

You say "The Brett Favre situation" is a distraction for the Bucs? It probably is, but who cares? Garcia created his own distraction in the spring by complaining about his contract. Deal with it.

Player after player expressed support Monday for Garcia, who was in camp after an excused two-day absence.

"The guy who's here, No. 7, he's our guy and that's all we need to know," guard Davin Joseph said.

Loyalty can be a great thing. If Favre shows up two days from now though, those same players will say how thrilled they are to play with a quarterback like him.

You say Favre needs to get to camp as quickly as possible if he's going to be a Buc? Of course he does.

But if he's the guy they want then, ahem, it wouldn't be fair to Brett Favre to assume that waiting a few more days is fatal to any deal. Opposing defensive coordinators haven't had much trouble figuring out Gruden's playbook over the years; Favre can handle it, if need be.

You say the longer this drags on, the more damage gets done to Garcia's psyche.

Whaa.

This is the fifth team he has played for. He was basically run out of Detroit and dropped by Philadelphia after, interestingly enough, leading the Eagles to the playoffs. Cliche alert: It's a business. Garcia has been through this before. It's a contract year and he is 38 years old. Whining isn't his best option now.

So if the Favre deal doesn't work out, Gruden slaps Garcia on the butt and says, "You're my guy." Garcia will thank him, then shut up and play.

"I have to," Garcia said. "I really just have to take that approach. I'm not going to sit back and hope that they say something today or hope that they say something tomorrow. I'm going to go about my business ..."

Gruden clearly seems in love with the notion of having Favre around and it is unseemly to let Garcia twist like this. But Gruden-Garcia was a marriage of mercenaries from the start. No one - particularly Garcia - can be surprised at the coach's roving eye.

A Big Staredown

Packers general manager Ted Thompson, during a televised news conference, looked like a guy holding a pair of 7s with his mortgage money in the center of the table. This is the kind of game Bucs GM Bruce Allen lives for.

Allen has stared down his own coaches who wanted to break contracts for better opportunities. When Garcia said he wanted more money, Allen stared him down, too.

The man knows how to stare.

What we don't know is whether there is a point where he just walks away.

Allen probably would say there is, but we don't seem to be there yet.

Then again, what's the rush?

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