WisBusiness: Packers prez predicts Favre will return

By Samantha Hernandez

For WisBusiness.com

New Green Bay Packers President Mark Murphy said today it’s likely Brett Favre will return for another season and that Favre will probable make his decision by the end of the month.

In a question-and-answer session before the Milwaukee Press Club, Murphy praised Favre’s leadership skills, but reminded people that there is a lot of training that goes into playing football and that Favre wants to make sure that he is up to that before he plays another season.

“If Brett Favre comes back it gives us the best chance to win the Super Bowl this year,” said Murphy.

Murphy said he has no plans to make any large changes right now as he feels that that organization is strong.

“We have a young team and the players are really looking forward to next year,” Murphy said.

Panelists included Fox-6 sportscaster Tom Pipines, ESPN-Milwaukee AM 540 talk show host Steve “The Homer” True and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel sports writer Tom Silverstein, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student Rachel Huyink.

Murphy said he felt that the renovations to Lambeau Field have had a significant positive impact on the team’s finances.

Looking to the future, Murphy said the biggest issue is the collective bargaining agreement and salary cap.

Murphy said the Packers would likely only survive a year without a cap and and said he feels the cap has worked well and benefited the league as a whole.

Murphy noted that some have said that a uncapped year would be “Armageddon.”

Murphy credited the revenue sharing model within the league with being instrumental in keeping the team stable and said high-revenue teams and low-revenue teams need to looked at to make sure that money is being fairly distributed.

He also commented on allegations that a New England Patriots staffer secretly videotaped the St. Louis Rams’ pre-Super Bowl walkthrough. Murphy expressed surprise that the issue made it to Congress and said he feels it is an internal issue for the NFL to deal with.

“If there is new evidence, particularly related to the Super Bowl, then we should see it,” he said.