I haven't talked to Sal Paolantonio's hair about this, but based on several comments from the NFL Matchup host, I can only assume that he's not a big Brett Favre supporter. In March, ESPN excerpted part of Paolantonio's book and slapped it with this title: "Overhyped: Favre Didn't Deliver in Second Half of Career." Shockingly, Green Bay fans weren't impressed.
To his credit, Paolantonio responded to his critics a week later, writing this in a letter to the editor of the Green Bay Press-Gazette:
"Thank you for Mike Vandermause's smackdown of my espn.com column on Brett Favre. But I take issue with one major point: I was not trying to criticize Brett Favre, only offer some healthy perspective, provide an alternative take. Favre, as I pointed out, is a bonafide first ballot Hall of Famer. But I just wanted to hit the pause button on the over-the-top deification of No. 4. In my view, he is not even the greatest Packers quarterback of all time. That would be Bart Starr."
Now that we're all caught up, Favre has been in the news recently for spilling the Packers' game-planning beans to his huntin' buddy Matt Millen back when Millen still had a job.
Although ESPN initially decided to not report the story because
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they want to marry Brett Favre, Paolantonio had no problem going on an Atlanta radio station yesterday morning and unloading on the former Packers quarterback/Peter King's BFF.
Via PFT, Paolantonio believes Jay Glazer's report that Favre is a vindictive jerk (my words, not Jay's), even though Favre denies the allegations.
"Do I think what he did was wrong? Yes," Paolantonio said Favre, who reportedly flatly denied Glazer's report on Sunday night but seemed to stake out a middle ground during a Wednesday press conference.
"Favre has to be smarter than that, and he was never terribly smart," Paolantonio said. "He feels like he can just lie. . . . You can't lie, because (a) you're Brett Favre and (b) we're gonna catch you on it. So you're lying. That's the biggest problem I have with this whole thing. Just own up to it. . . .
"The whole thing is just implausible that he would not just come out and tell the truth. Just tell the truth. . . . He gave the story legs."
But what of the fact that the Lions still were blown out?
"So you weren't very much help, and you aren't very much help to the Jets," Paolantonio said. "So go home."
Shorter Sal: Dear Brett, you're a liar. And you suck. That is all. Beat it.
I suspect somebody's head at Bristol World Headquarters exploded over Paolantonio's on-air frankness (the marriage is off!), but Favre has done a spectacular job of tarnishing his legacy in a few short months. Matt Millen is contagious, I guess.
By the way, anybody still questioning Ted Thompson's and Mike McCarthy's decision to go with Aaron Rodgers?
