ChiefsPlanet - Football Vikings accused of tampering

...with who else? Brett Favre

Sources: Packers say Vikings tampered with Favre
by Jay Glazer
Jay Glazer is a Senior NFL Writer for FOXSports.com on MSN and also appears every week on FOX NFL Sunday as the network's NFL Insider.

Updated: July 16, 2008, 7:14 PM EST 444 comments add this RSS blog email print As the days roll by, the Brett Favre saga seems to get stranger and stranger. Now the soap opera has shifted to a new level.

Favre to Minnesota? Brett Favre as a Viking? If you're in tune to the rumor mill, you know it's a possibility. Where else could the Packer legend end up? Alex Marvez runs down the list of contenders HERE. In the latest twist, the Packers have filed tampering charges with the league office against the Minnesota Vikings for alleged communication with Favre, still technically a member of Green Bay, FOXSports.com has learned. The league, according to a source, is currently in information-gathering mode, speaking to members of both teams.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told The Associated Press that the league had no public comment on the report. Packers general manager Ted Thompson declined to comment on tampering rumors in an interview with the AP on Saturday.

The Vikings were informed late last week that the allegation is that Favre has had inappropriate dialogue with Minnesota offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, a close Favre friend and former assistant coach with the Packers. Favre has sought his release from Green Bay and several rumors have swirled that Minnesota is his targeted landing place, largely due to his relationship with Bevell.

League sources say the Vikings vehemently denied any wrongdoing and are awaiting the league's next step in the process. The Packers, meanwhile, have supplied the league with their version of wrongdoing.

Should the league find the Vikings guilty of tampering, they could lose draft picks and/or face fines.

The entire affair escalated to an ugly level this week when Favre conducted an interview with FOX News' Greta Van Susteren in which the living legend took the Packers to task for refusing to release him. In fact, a leaked version of the transcript had Favre blasting GM Ted Thompson, but in another odd twist, that portion of the interview has not been shown on the air.

The Packers have refused to grant the league's all-time leading passer's request for a release due in part to their fear that he would sign with the Vikings. Despite the wave of speculation, Vikings head coach Brad Childress insists that Tarvaris Jackson is his guy.ROFL

The entire affair is unfortunate, as Favre is more synonymous with Green Bay than any other player is with a city. At the same time, however, fans are now forced to make judgments for or against their hometown hero/team.

Calls by FOXSports.com to head coaches of both teams have not yet been returned.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8...red-with-Favre