MINNESOTA – NFL icon Brett Favre announced he has reconsidered wearing purple and will stay retired.

In Favre fashion, the prima donna quarterback took the Vikings down to the wire when he told the Vikings on Tuesday, just 48 hours before training camp opens, that he would not team up alongside Pro Bowl running back Adrian Peterson to battle his former Green Bay Packers for the NFC North title this season.

“It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made,” Favre said. “I didn’t feel like physically I could play at a level that was acceptable. I would like to thank everyone, including the Packers, Jets and Vikings — but, most importantly, the fans.”

The Vikings now have to switch gears to ‘damage control’ since several of their star players had contacted Favre encouraging him to take snaps in a Viking uniform.

Vikings Adrian Peterson, Jared Allen and Steve Hutchinson are said to have contacted Favre by text or phone to recruit the 40-year-old slinger who had already agreed to a one-year, $10 million contract with the team.

Gallant efforts to get Favre on the roster like those made by the stars listed above may have sent a message of ‘lack of confidence’ to quarterbacks Tarvaris Jackson and newly-acquired Sage Rosenfels who are currently on the squad.

While Vikings management and coaching staff concentrate on smoothing things over in their locker room, the announcement did not come as a surprise to many of us.

With Favre’s history of stringing teams along, many of us expected these results while some seemed oblivious to Favre’s past history.

Vikings linebacker Ben Leber told the AP, “When I heard the news, I was probably as surprised and shocked as everybody else. The writing on the wall was as long as his arm was healthy he was going to play. I really expected him to be at camp. I was really surprised.”

FYI Mr. Leber, Favre seems to write on the wall with one hand while holding an eraser in the other.

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