Vikings coach Brad Childress sounded peeved this week when discussing the absence of running back Adrian Peterson from minicamp. But Childress is the same coach who was fine with Brett Favre waiting until mid-August to join the Vikings last year, and is fine with Favre doing it again this year.
So why the double standard?
Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe says it’s quite simple: There are rules, and then there are exceptions to the rules, and everyone understands that Favre getting to report to the team when he feels like it is one of the exceptions.
“Of course, there are going to be exceptions for him. Everybody knows that,” Shiancoe said. “It’s Brett Favre. He’s earned the right and everybody else feels the same way, especially after the season he had last year with the interception ratio compared to the completion ratio. I wish I could play like that when I’m 40 years old, 41 years old. He’s still running around like he’s 28, 27. It’s all love for him. We accept him back when he comes back.”
Obviously, Shiancoe is right: Favre is the one player in the entire league who’s permitted to do whatever he wants during the offseason. And the Vikings will accept him as soon as he decides to come back.