Favre claims Vikings most talented team

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – “Physically, and from a talent level, this is the best team I’ve ever been on.”

That’s what Brett Favre said a few weeks ago about his Minnesota Vikings.

And fans in Wisconsin dusted off commemorative programs, pulled out VHS tapes, arched an eyebrow with a little attitude and thought, “Brett, all due respect, but are you for real?”

So you can imagine what his 1996 teammates think.

The Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl after the 1996 season with Favre playing in his MVP prime and with the Minister of Defense, Frankie, Chewy, LeRoy, Free and the Gravedigger.

Today’s 6-1 Vikings are good, and running back Adrian Peterson is the man. Favre kindly backed off his statement by saying he wasn’t trying to slight his ‘96 team.

But his old mates sure seem to have good memories, and they had plenty to say about comparisons between the two teams and Favre’s “homecoming” to Lambeau Field on Sunday.

LeRoy Butler, safety: “To say that the team he’s on now, after seven games, is better than the ’96 team – that’s just preposterous. Not only did we have the No. 1 defense in 1996, but we had No. 1 special teams.

“I bleed green and gold so much. I don’t want somebody to beat my team. This is my team. I played 181 games, I was there before Brett, before Reggie White and Ron Wolf and everybody. This team means a lot to me, so when somebody calls up on the radio show: ‘Brett Favre is the one that turned everything around’ – it’s almost a disrespectful slap in the face.”

Mark Chmura, tight end: “I kind of went through the teams position by position and they just aren’t as good as we were. And it all starts with Brett – Brett’s not as good as he was.

“They have Adrian Peterson, but I think Chester Taylor is a guy. We had Dorsey (Levens) and Edgar, that’s pretty good balance. Our tight ends were clearly better (laughs). I may be biased. Their offensive line may be a little bit better. Our quarterback was 10 times better, our receivers were better, our special teams were much better.”

Ken Ruettgers, left tackle: “No doubt there was great talent on that 1996 team, great leadership and the coaching staff was phenomenal. In the spring, during workouts, I came home and told my wife: ‘This team is going to the Super Bowl.’ It’s just that feeling you get when you’re around guys who are all putting their own egos on the backburner and coming together for what’s best for the team. We had some teams that were talented in the past, but there was no team where it was like, ‘Wow, we’re going this year.’”

John Michels, left tackle: “Brett was coming off an MVP year, Reggie White was at the top of his game, Mark Chmura was a Pro Bowler. We were pretty stacked. They had lost to Dallas the year before in the NFC Championship Game and were favored in 1996. We had superstars, but we didn’t have superstar attitudes.