Packers President Has No Regrets After Favre Saga

The summer provided some lonely moments for Mark Murphy, but he believes the organization will move on. "In time, this will be forgotten . . . " he said. "He'll be remembered for what he did with the Packers. This will not tarnish that." (By Mike Roemer -- Associated Press)

For Murphy, the Favre saga played out at a time of personal tragedy. His father Hugh died in mid-July in Clearwater, Fla., at 83, only about 3 1/2 months after having brain cancer diagnosed. Hugh Murphy had a long career in labor relations and had continued to work as a mediator in Florida until about a year before his death.

"It was tough," Mark Murphy said. "He meant so much to me. One of my fondest memories was Super Bowl XVII, when we [the Redskins] beat the Dolphins and somehow, some way, he ended up getting into the locker room. I know what NFL security is like, but somehow he worked his way in. To be able to share that moment with him was pretty special."

Murphy remained in the background throughout much of the Favre ordeal, allowing Packers General Manager Ted Thompson and Coach Mike McCarthy to handle the issues that arose. Murphy's first shareholders meeting with the publicly owned Packers came the week before the team opened training camp. Murphy spoke to the shareholders briefly and then introduced Thompson.

The Packers' ownership structure left Murphy essentially in charge of overseeing the entire situation from the team's side; there is no majority owner to whom Murphy could go and ask what he should do. Eventually, Murphy did become involved directly by flying to Hattiesburg, Miss., to meet with Favre and his agent, Bus Cook.

Murphy renewed discussions then about a marketing deal between the team and Favre that had been discussed previously, an arrangement that reportedly could have been worth between $20 million and $25 million to Favre over 10 years. That offer was portrayed by many media outlets, and later by Favre, as being a bribe designed to keep Favre in retirement. Murphy objects to that characterization.

"It was nothing like that," Murphy said. "It was a legitimate business offer. Part of it, too, was I was trying to help him out of a difficult situation. We wanted to have a long-term relationship with him when he was done playing. We still want to have a long-term relationship with him when he's done playing."

Now Murphy must oversee not only a new season with a new quarterback, but the Packers' bid to win back the loyalty of the disgruntled and wounded segments of their fan base.

"I've gotten a lot of positive feedback," Murphy said. "Some of it has been negative, obviously. When Aaron Rodgers went out there for that first [preseason] game and you heard some boos but then they were drowned out by cheers, I took that as a positive sign. We're not naive. This is going to take time. Players like Brett Favre come along once in a lifetime. . . . We were joking: 'We hope we have a lot of players whose numbers we have to retire.'

"It was just such a unique situation. It isn't going to come along very often. We wish him well. The opportunities for him in New York are really very good. In a lot of ways, it was like a family going through a divorce. I really don't think it was his fault or our fault. It just got to the point where it was very difficult to go forward."