And Watson’s agent recognized how hypocritical it is.
Good thing the Old Gunslinger never forced a trade
Brett Favre knows a thing or two about forcing a trade. When he decided to unretire on the eve of the 2008 season, the Packers had already committed to Aaron Rodgers, and so Favre got the Packers to trade him to the Jets. You’d think that would make him sympathetic to the plight of Deshaun Watson, who is fed up with the Texans’ dysfunction and has reportedly told the team to ship him out of town. Well, he’s not!
Favre, speaking with Yahoo’s Minty Bets, said he doesn’t really get Watson’s trade request.
“I’m kind of old school,” Favre said. “I think you play. You get paid a ton of money to do a certain job and just do it and let the chips fall where they may. I think we make too much money to voice an opinion, but I’m not saying he’s wrong. Again, I think it’s a different day and time, and it will be interesting to see how the organization handles it.”
Saying athletes “make too much money to voice an opinion” is absurd. Star players deserve to have a say in the future of their careers, and they have the ability to do so because they make so much money.
Favre has been in Watson’s position before, under contract with a team he no longer wished to play for. He didn’t “let the chips fall where they may” and serve as Rodgers’s backup in 2008. He put the Packers in a position where they had no other choice but to trade him.
The hypocrisy of Favre’s statement was not lost on Watson’s agent, David Mulugheta, who tweeted about the “glass house” Favre is living in.
And Favre’s breakup with the Packers was infinitely more messy than Watson’s situation with the Texans has been thus far. Favre routinely mulled retirement in his final years in Green Bay, which is why the Packers spent a high draft pick on Rodgers. His constant flirtations with retirement hamstrung the team’s ability to plan for the future. Every time he decided to come back, Rodgers’s ascension to the starting role was postponed. It got to the point where the Packers almost gave up on Rodgers and traded him to the Raiders for Randy Moss.
Watson, by comparison, has been incredibly cordial with the Texans. He didn’t complain when Bill O’Brien made the disastrous DeAndre Hopkins trade. He didn’t check out this season as the lack of talent around him led to a 4–12 finish. He still hasn’t even publicly demanded a trade. All he’s done is ask to be included in the search process for the team’s new coach and general manager. And after his input was ignored, he decided he’d rather be somewhere where he was more respected.
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