Brett Favre "Could play today," according to his agent Bus Cook.
Certainly many Viking fans long for there to be some truth to these rumors, others maybe dread the thought. To be a part of one more magical comeback from another written-off veteran quarterback, but know that another rebuilding process lurks around the corner.
After all, that is what the Vikings do, it's who they are. Placing one band-aid after another on their wounded quarterback situation, failing over and over to find a cure.
Since 1961, the Vikings have began the season with 18 different starting QBs. 18 starters in 52 years may not seem like a lot at first glance, but quick math proves otherwise. Viking quarterbacks average less than three years as a starter with the team.
It's remarkable that a team with only one true franchise quarterback in it's 52 year history, (Fran Tarkenton, who left following the 1978 season), has the eighth highest winning percentage in NFL history. I would challenge any Viking fan to name even one QB from the end of the Tarkenton era to the mid '90s. That's twenty years with no face of the franchise.
That overall winning percentage is probably the only silver lining in what has been a Super Bowl-less run. It's also proof that the strategy of employing aging veterans as QB band-aids has worked to a point. Even Tarkenton was an aging veteran by the time he returned to the Vikings to lead them to three Super Bowls in four years, after his five year hiatus from the team.
While it's a terrible long-term strategy, the most exciting and successful seasons have come with an "old man" at the helm. Jim McMahon, eight years removed from his '85 Super Bowl victory with Chicago, led the team to the playoffs. Eventual Hall of Famer Warren Moon followed suit, and Randall Cunningham led one of the most prolific offenses and arguably the greatest team to not win a Superbowl during the twilight of his career in '98. Since then, Favre is the only newly signed veteran to see any success. Jeff George, Brad Johnson, Gus Frerotte, and Donovan McNabb all failed to do what their predecessor band-aids did so well.
Now, with the failed experiment that is Christian Ponder, the Vikings will look to another formerly successful QB. No not Matt Cassel. This time, the band aid is no old man. Josh Freeman, 25, has already experienced real success at the NFL level. Freeman led the Buccaneers to the playoffs in his first season as a full time starter, posting 25 touchdowns against only 6 interceptions. Freeman's ability to get the ball down the field will be a welcome addition. Granted, Freeman has failed to post impressive yards per attempt numbers this year, but he did rank in the top 13 in 2010 and 2012. Meanwhile, Ponder and Cassel have combined to average only seven yards per attempt this season, despite having deep threats like Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson and Jerome Simpson.
So after 52 years of quarterback futility and the long lasting, damaging effects of the band-aid strategies employed by the franchise, a long-term solution might be on the horizon.
In what has been a rough few years following the heartbreak and eventual departure of Favre, there appears to be a faint but potentially bright light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.
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