Favre is no pantywaist

"It is horrible," said Tom Zenner of Brett Favre's "Pants on the Ground" performance, which has become a Youtube.com sensation.

About time somebody important said that.

Yet, Zenner, editor of a publishing company that specializes in championship books, totally supports Favre victories at the Superdome and Super Bowl.

Zenner, who just finished a championship book about Alabama, is busy promoting "Purple Reign: Brett Favre's incredible journey to Minnesota ..." It's a collection of Star Tribune articles and photos, reprinted with permission by Zenner, who said the Strib shares in the profits.

"Brett, if you're going to do a rendition of something, watch the show," said Zenner, whose path I crossed Thursday at FOX 9. "You could tell when he did that he had no concept of what he was doing."

While I faintly remember some member of the media remarking that Favre had been moved by Larry Platt's "American Idol" audition, the fact that, in Zenner's opinion, Favre didn't know what he was doing "kind of made it funnier."

Funny doesn't mean outstanding. I will give Favre credit for a more dynamic performance than Prince's soporific "Purple & Gold" song written for the Vikings. But Vikings fans must not let this glorious spell of Purple Fever make us delirious. It was charming of Favre to acquiesce to Percy Harvin's request to perform a bit of the song if they spanked the Cowboys. But there was just nothing special about Favre's take on Platt's song.

Favre the prankster has been a lot of laughs between the faux rappin' and the enthusiastic butt-slapping. But who would dare to slap Brett's fanny?

I put that to Zenner. If you care to hear his perfect answer, watch startribune.com/video.

Purple undies pride Cris Carter predicts that the Super Bowl will be the Vikings vs. the Jets.

Obviously, Carter's underwear is cutting off the circulation to his brain. The Jets will not defeat the Colts unless Peyton Manning is injured.

Carter, the former Viking and current NFL analyst on ESPN, made his prediction last week when he called into ESPN's "Mike and Mike" radio show, simulcast on TV, after the Vikings whupped the Cowboys and the Jets did in the Chargers.

A few weeks ago on ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown," I heard Carter for the first time divulge his support for the Vikings, right down to his underwear. His colleagues told him that was too much information.

Approachable Barry Barry Switzer is a sweetie.

Saw him last week while sitting at a gate of Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City with my Aunt Jacquie. I had been celebrity surfing faces of arriving passengers. Didn't see any until I noticed the former Oklahoma Sooners and Dallas Cowboys coach sitting there talking on his cell. Out came my video camera. He spied me pretty quickly, hung up and started walking. I thought he was going to the restroom, but to my amazement he was walking over to us.

"You think you can work that camera and take a picture of me with her," Switzer said to my aunt.

Now that's how a big celebrity behaves!

More chatter ensued. I told Switzer about my aunt's OU connection -- she's a summa cum laude graduate. There was more polite talk before Switzer excused himself.

Although Switzer was thoroughly engaging, when I replayed the encounter in my head I sensed a slight mood change after I mentioned Mozy's name. On Thursday, I called Mozy in Dallas and asked if something had happened between Switzer and him. At one time they had a restaurant deal in the works with Jerry Jones. (By the way, when Jones had dinner at Manny's the night before the Vikings spanked those Cowboys, he graciously walked around taking pictures with fans of both teams.) Oh, there's a problem, I learned, but I couldn't follow Mozy's complicated explanation. This much I heard clearly: "Money makes people fight. Money is dirty. My feelings about him have never changed. I love Barry. He's a good person."

My aunt, who was on the same plane Switzer took to Kansas City, said, "The flight attendants were all talking about how personable he was."

I've got Switzer at startribune.com/video along with Tony Jefferson Sr., father of a prized OU recruit from California, talking about today's Vikings-Saints game.