Got an email from a good friend who had an interesting and SUPPORTED take on the Favre lovers' need to question those pieces of the puzzle in place around Favre when he was in Green Bay. Emphasis on the word "supported" there.
Favre lovers have a tendency to throw nonsense out there without any factual evidence. In fact, they seem absolutely allergic to the truth, considering the times when it stares them in the face they pretend it's not there like some boogeyman Ted Thompson. The nonsense in question concerning Favre never having a running game to support him while he was here, and now with AP he'll win the Super Bowl.
Take it away, Steve:
"You know revisionist history is one thing that always drives me crazy. While sometimes it's just bad memory or genuine nostalgia like the "good old days," often it's a blatantly dishonest effort to whitewash history to further one's own agenda.
Such is the case lately with the Favre & the running game. Now the story is that Favre never had any running game in Green Bay and look what he did. Just imagine him with AP. Now you know I was a huge Dorsey Levens fan so I'll admit a little bias there. But objectively, he did make a Pro-Bowl and was among the top in the league for a brief period. Wanna know something surprising...take the two best years of AP's career - he had 3494 yards from scrimmage (rushing & receiving) and a total of 23 TDs. Take the two best years of Levens’ career - 3412 yards from scrimmage and 22 TDs. Now clearly Peterson is a tremendous running back - the best in the game right now and Dorsey Levens was a nice, very solid all around back, but not in the same ball park. But before everybody says Favre never had any kind of running game or running backs, how about we look at the numbers and realize that it's yet another myth which doesn't exactly coincide with the facts.
That's Levens. During a 5 year stretch, Ahman Green rushed for more yardage than anyone in the NFL (2000-2004). He averaged just over 1800 yards from scrimmage over those 5 seasons. Peterson has averaged a gaudy 119 yards from scrimmage per game he started. Ahman averaged 123 yards per start over an 11 year career. And during the 5 year stretch with the Packers, Ahman averaged 148 total yards per game.
So please - this Favre never had any running game garbage is just that. Sure there were some lean years - primarily the initial rebuilding years of Holmgren, and a couple of times when there were significant injuries. In fact, what's the standard bearer in the NFL for a rushing season? It's the 1,000 yard season. In the first three years, Green Bay didn't have one. Over the next 13 years Favre was there, 9 times the Packers had a thousand yard rusher. That does not count 2007 which saw Ryan Grant total 956 yards but led the league in rushing over the second half of the season. Nor does it count '96 when Bennett ran for 900 and Levens 560. In other words, he actually had a fairly solid run support - especially when you consider much of Holmgren's offense was predicated on using a short passing game as an "extended handoff" in place of running the ball."
Favre lovers have a tendency to throw nonsense out there without any factual evidence. In fact, they seem absolutely allergic to the truth, considering the times when it stares them in the face they pretend it's not there like some boogeyman Ted Thompson. The nonsense in question concerning Favre never having a running game to support him while he was here, and now with AP he'll win the Super Bowl.
Take it away, Steve:
"You know revisionist history is one thing that always drives me crazy. While sometimes it's just bad memory or genuine nostalgia like the "good old days," often it's a blatantly dishonest effort to whitewash history to further one's own agenda.
Such is the case lately with the Favre & the running game. Now the story is that Favre never had any running game in Green Bay and look what he did. Just imagine him with AP. Now you know I was a huge Dorsey Levens fan so I'll admit a little bias there. But objectively, he did make a Pro-Bowl and was among the top in the league for a brief period. Wanna know something surprising...take the two best years of AP's career - he had 3494 yards from scrimmage (rushing & receiving) and a total of 23 TDs. Take the two best years of Levens’ career - 3412 yards from scrimmage and 22 TDs. Now clearly Peterson is a tremendous running back - the best in the game right now and Dorsey Levens was a nice, very solid all around back, but not in the same ball park. But before everybody says Favre never had any kind of running game or running backs, how about we look at the numbers and realize that it's yet another myth which doesn't exactly coincide with the facts.
That's Levens. During a 5 year stretch, Ahman Green rushed for more yardage than anyone in the NFL (2000-2004). He averaged just over 1800 yards from scrimmage over those 5 seasons. Peterson has averaged a gaudy 119 yards from scrimmage per game he started. Ahman averaged 123 yards per start over an 11 year career. And during the 5 year stretch with the Packers, Ahman averaged 148 total yards per game.
So please - this Favre never had any running game garbage is just that. Sure there were some lean years - primarily the initial rebuilding years of Holmgren, and a couple of times when there were significant injuries. In fact, what's the standard bearer in the NFL for a rushing season? It's the 1,000 yard season. In the first three years, Green Bay didn't have one. Over the next 13 years Favre was there, 9 times the Packers had a thousand yard rusher. That does not count 2007 which saw Ryan Grant total 956 yards but led the league in rushing over the second half of the season. Nor does it count '96 when Bennett ran for 900 and Levens 560. In other words, he actually had a fairly solid run support - especially when you consider much of Holmgren's offense was predicated on using a short passing game as an "extended handoff" in place of running the ball."
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