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Anointing Brett Favre as their savior could alienate rest of Vikings locker room
10:58 PM CDT on Thursday, August 19, 2010
SportsDayDFW.com
Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson was interviewed on the Dan Patrick Show on Thursday to discuss Jets head coach Rex Ryan and Vikings quarterback Brett Favre. Here are some highlights:
How would you have handled the situation with Brett Favre in terms of bringing him back while still keeping charge and control of the locker room?
I’m really, really uncomfortable with this. I would have not made those kinds of concessions. You know, I’ve always said that my kind of approach to players was that I want to be very consistent. I’m going to treat every one of you differently but it was at my choosing. I talked to Troy Aikman about it just a couple of days ago at the Fox Seminar and I said, “Listen, all of our star players, I expected them to be on time. I expected them to go through the same drills. I expected them to have the same rules and regulations as a backup offensive guard. And then at my choosing, at the head coach’s choosing, I might sit them out of practice or I might sit them out a drill or might give them some leeway on a curfew or this or that.”
They had privileges because they were great performers but they still were expected to do everything that the other players did and so it was at my choosing, not at the demand of the individual; him telling me, “I’m not going to come to training camp. I’m not going to do this. I’m not going to do that.” And I think when you anoint someone as your savior, then I think the rest of the players are saying, “Hey, what about me? Well, evidently my deal is not that important.” I don’t know that you get the maximum performance out of the rest of your team when you say, “Here comes our savior. He’s going to lead us to the promised land.” What happens when Brett Favre doesn’t have that magical season that he had a year ago? What happens if his ankle is not 100-percent? Now, you better rely on someone else and I don’t know that you’re going to get the maximum performance out of those individuals the way you have started the season.
Who has more power over the Vikings: Brett Favre or Brad Childress?
Well, it looks like Brett Favre right now. I think if you put the two of them in a room and one said, “Let’s go this way,” and the other one said, “Let’s go that way,” I think you would have most of the players going with Brett Favre.
The Big Three have all been inducted into the Hall-of-Fame. How important is it to you to be recognized for what you did with them? Are you a Hall-of-Famer?
I was only in the league for nine years and so you don’t see the numbers from me that I think they probably wanted. You know, my whole deal was for the team anyway. We got those three offensive players in but people fail to realize that while we had great teams, we were number one in the league in defense when we won that first Super Bowl. And so we had some defensive guys…Charles Haley, for instance, he’s not in. He probably should be in. So, there’s a lot of guys that I would like to recognize but more than anything else, we had a great team. We had some great offensive linemen to block for Emmitt and to protect Troy, and so it was a great team that won those Super Bowls, not one or two individuals.
When was the last time you got a job offer?
I haven’t had any in the last couple of years. I think people see on Fox NFL Sundays, they see me having so much fun and they say, “No way in the world he’s going to go back to coaching.” And then I had my last little run with the Dolphins and we were in the playoffs three straight years and won a couple of playoff games and then when I walked away from them, I think people realized I didn’t want to coach anymore. I wanted to be up there with [Terry] Bradshaw and Howie [Long].
To listen to the interview, click here.
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10:58 PM CDT on Thursday, August 19, 2010
SportsDayDFW.com
Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson was interviewed on the Dan Patrick Show on Thursday to discuss Jets head coach Rex Ryan and Vikings quarterback Brett Favre. Here are some highlights:
How would you have handled the situation with Brett Favre in terms of bringing him back while still keeping charge and control of the locker room?
I’m really, really uncomfortable with this. I would have not made those kinds of concessions. You know, I’ve always said that my kind of approach to players was that I want to be very consistent. I’m going to treat every one of you differently but it was at my choosing. I talked to Troy Aikman about it just a couple of days ago at the Fox Seminar and I said, “Listen, all of our star players, I expected them to be on time. I expected them to go through the same drills. I expected them to have the same rules and regulations as a backup offensive guard. And then at my choosing, at the head coach’s choosing, I might sit them out of practice or I might sit them out a drill or might give them some leeway on a curfew or this or that.”
They had privileges because they were great performers but they still were expected to do everything that the other players did and so it was at my choosing, not at the demand of the individual; him telling me, “I’m not going to come to training camp. I’m not going to do this. I’m not going to do that.” And I think when you anoint someone as your savior, then I think the rest of the players are saying, “Hey, what about me? Well, evidently my deal is not that important.” I don’t know that you get the maximum performance out of the rest of your team when you say, “Here comes our savior. He’s going to lead us to the promised land.” What happens when Brett Favre doesn’t have that magical season that he had a year ago? What happens if his ankle is not 100-percent? Now, you better rely on someone else and I don’t know that you’re going to get the maximum performance out of those individuals the way you have started the season.
Who has more power over the Vikings: Brett Favre or Brad Childress?
Well, it looks like Brett Favre right now. I think if you put the two of them in a room and one said, “Let’s go this way,” and the other one said, “Let’s go that way,” I think you would have most of the players going with Brett Favre.
The Big Three have all been inducted into the Hall-of-Fame. How important is it to you to be recognized for what you did with them? Are you a Hall-of-Famer?
I was only in the league for nine years and so you don’t see the numbers from me that I think they probably wanted. You know, my whole deal was for the team anyway. We got those three offensive players in but people fail to realize that while we had great teams, we were number one in the league in defense when we won that first Super Bowl. And so we had some defensive guys…Charles Haley, for instance, he’s not in. He probably should be in. So, there’s a lot of guys that I would like to recognize but more than anything else, we had a great team. We had some great offensive linemen to block for Emmitt and to protect Troy, and so it was a great team that won those Super Bowls, not one or two individuals.
When was the last time you got a job offer?
I haven’t had any in the last couple of years. I think people see on Fox NFL Sundays, they see me having so much fun and they say, “No way in the world he’s going to go back to coaching.” And then I had my last little run with the Dolphins and we were in the playoffs three straight years and won a couple of playoff games and then when I walked away from them, I think people realized I didn’t want to coach anymore. I wanted to be up there with [Terry] Bradshaw and Howie [Long].
To listen to the interview, click here.
• • •