Vikings QBs: Well, this is awkward
By MICHAEL RAND, Star Tribune
Last update: May 26, 2009 - 9:20 AM
With the Vikings having completed a recent round of Organized Team Activities as speculation over the future of Brett Favre simmers, it's time to suss out the situation as it pertains to Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels -- the two quarterbacks presumed to be battling for the job before No. 4 frenzy kicked in.
First, is the situation awkward? Yes. In fact, it really couldn't be any more awkward. You have an incumbent who kinda sorta made strides last year but knows his clock is running out. You have a newcomer thinking he finally is getting a legitimate chance to be a starter, though even when he was acquired it was made clear he was not being anointed the starter.
And these two are duking it out, splitting reps, trying to say all the right things about their relationship with each other. Jackson: "It's good to listen to him talk. Just trying to pick his brain and learn as much as possible." Rosenfels: "Any time you have competition it's going to end up helping the football team."
But the whole time, they both know that no matter how well they perform, it's a competition contingent on the whims and health of Favre. If he can and wants to play, and if he signs with the Vikings, he's the starter.
And that brings up the second question: Is that fair? That, of course, is more complicated.
A good friend of ours would tap his index finger on a table and say, "Look: this is America." And by that, he wouldn't be demanding another slice of apple pie. Rather, he would be saying it's about winning and picking the best person for the job, regardless of whose feelings might be hurt. There is no fair. Only accomplishment. And, we would add, anyone who doesn't think a healthy Favre is the best man for the job is crazy.
Then again, one could argue that Rosenfels was brought in under false pretenses and that Jackson, at least for 2009, might not be given the chance he thought he had earned. Rosenfels has the more compelling case here.
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