Favre has surpassed Wilf's hopes

AUSTIN, MINN. - Zygi Wilf figured Brett Favre would make the Vikings better when the quarterback was lured out of retirement in mid-August, but even an optimist like the Vikings owner couldn't have seen this type of success on the horizon.

"You really don't expect to be in a situation where we are right now, but we're very, very happy to see that Brett Favre is able to make everyone on our team that much better and welcome the spirit in the locker room and the performance on the field," Wilf said Tuesday. "It's great to see everyone really stepping up and being in there for the hunt."

While Wilf has been frustrated in his quest to get a new stadium, his fifth season as the Vikings' owner is turning into a memorable one for some positive reasons, too. The Vikings hold a commanding lead in the NFC North with a 9-1 record, and the 40-year-old Favre has performed better than anyone could have expected, having thrown 21 touchdown passes and only three interceptions.

This has made Wilf a popular figure with fans -- as he found during a Vikings community tour stop in Austin -- and his team one of the NFL's most popular. That was made clear again Tuesday when the league shifted the Vikings game at Arizona on Dec. 6 to a prime-time start on NBC.

Since purchasing the Vikings in 2005, Wilf has seen his team go through the infamous "Love Boat" scandal on Lake Minnetonka, has fired coach Mike Tice and experienced the growing pains of Brad Childress' first season. Now he owns a team that is scheduled to play three of its final five games in prime time and is a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

"It's rewarding coming from where we were and building an organization pretty much from the ground up," Wilf said. "Working together with such great professionals like Rick [Spielman, the Vikings vice president of player personnel] and the coach and everyone else on the scouting stuff. ... Have a team that the community can be proud of in the way they handle themselves off the field and certainly the way they perform on the field. [We're] looking forward to having this type of feeling for a long time. That's where we built this franchise to be. We're very happy to be here at this moment."

The fact the Vikings are in the spotlight has plenty to do with Favre and the fact his performance has elevated the play of guys such as tight end Visanthe Shiancoe and wide receiver Sidney Rice, who made the trip to Austin with Wilf and other Vikings officials. An estimated crowd of more than 200 attended a luncheon hosted by the Austin Chamber of Commerce and the Vikings at the Hormel Historic Home.

During the question-and-answer portion, a fan raised his hand and told Wilf, Rice and Shiancoe: "I've been a fan for 40 years and just have a comment. If you make the big show, you have to win." That was an obvious reference to the Vikings' 0-4 record in Super Bowls. "We'll definitely try," Shiancoe responded.

Paul Allen, the Vikings play-by-play announcer for KFAN who hosted the event, also teased Wilf about the two-year, $25 million contract Favre received.

"I think we did pretty good," Wilf said. "What he has done for the team and the fun he brings to the game ... to have that leadership in the locker room and on the field is something that we didn't anticipate him having that great of impact. But he certainly has, and we're very happy to have him."

Asked later if he thought Favre was the NFL's MVP, Wilf said: "It's really hard to focus on that right now at this point in the season. If you want to talk about MVP of baseball, certainly I can endorse [the Twins'] Joe Mauer. Football? I'm sure you can ask Brett: He wants to get to the Super Bowl. [If it] so happens if he becomes MVP, so be it. That would be icing on the cake. Very tough to predict MVPs for players as it is saying who's going to make the Super Bowl. He's on the right track. We're on the right track, for both. We're just going to continue."

Obviously with this type of success, Wilf would like to see Favre continue in the 2010 season. "I would love to have him here, both for what he does for the club and the other players," Wilf said. "But again, it's up to him and we're taking it one week at a time and see what happens. We're very happy to have him, and I'm sure all the other players are, too."