CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Brett Favre walked to the sideline in the third quarter after another thwarted drive. Brad Childress told him he was going to change quarterbacks. They argued. Favre stayed in the game.
That's what we know about the Vikings' first Favre-related crisis of what had been a remarkably placid season, and we know it because Favre recounted the conversation late Sunday night in Bank of America Stadium, after Childress had avoided the topic and departed the locker room.
The Vikings lost 26-7 to Carolina, lost while their offensive line got whipped all game and their defense got dissected in the fourth quarter. The story of the night, though, was a story that may be discussed by all of Minnesota before it is discussed by the principals -- the new, intriguing and dangerous development in the most crucial relationship at Winter Park.
We've heard and told jokes about Childress and Favre this season -- that he had to sign off on Childress' contract extension, that the quarterback could fire the coach but not vice versa. Sunday night, satire mingled with reality as Favre and Childress seemed in need of counseling, if not divorce court.
"Yeah, there was a heated discussion, I guess you would call it," Favre said. "We were up 7-6 at the time. No secret, I was getting hit a little bit. I felt the pressure on a lot of plays ...
"We had seven points. So I think everyone in the building was like, 'They're not moving the ball, they're not getting points,' and so Brad wanted to go in a different direction, and I wanted to stay in the game.
"We were up. We were up 7-6. Yeah, it's not 70-6, but we're up 7-6, so ... so I said I'm staying in the game, I'm playing."
Why did Childress want to bench him? "I don't know if it was exactly to protect me, or we had seven points, I'm not sure," Favre said. "That's his call. But we talked it out. We didn't have time, I didn't have time to sit there and say, 'Why?' or 'What?'My response was, 'We've got to win this ballgame, and I want to stay in and do whatever I can.' Now, unfortunately, I didn't do that, but that was my intention."