The Packers have given Wisconsin residents and so many across the country and the world something to cheer about.

It’s not unusual nor a surprise that PFT – Pro Football Talk’s – Mike Florio has again placed the Green Bay Packers as his top team in his weekly power rankings.

I just like what his comment was with the Packers listing:

1. Packers (No. 1; 11-0):  Any sounds you hear coming from South Florida won’t be coming from a cork leaving a bottle of champagne.

Find the complete listing after the jump … and Like Lombardiave.com at Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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Could Brett Favre be headed here?

Ok, so we have to join in … apparently the Favre watch is on in Miami.

After a week or so since the flag was raised in Philadelphia (before that team’s massive influx of new personnel), it seems that Miami Dolphins’ coach Tony Sparano could be seeking out the aged one, though the head coach is mum on the subject.

When asked about the possibility of Favre being considered as an option in Miami, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that Sparano said,  “I can’t rule anything out, I’m giving you the only answer I can give you.”

This is after the Dolphins couldn’t pull together a trade for Kyle Orton. Like all teams in the NFL, Florio is pretty sure that Sparano is trying to win at all costs … thus the move to consider Favre.

Will Brett consider it? We hope not. But in this day and age, we are pretty sure he’s sitting in Mississippi thinking about it.

Maybe the Dolphins could talk Randy Moss out of retirement, too.

Commissioner Roger Goodell could still come out of this mess smelling good if he can help usher in a CBA that benefits both sides and gets football players on the field soon. Raymond T. Rivard photograph

The players’ reps email allegedly went out Friday (though there are those claiming it was never sent) saying they would huddle again on Monday to consider how to proceed. Now Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is reporting today that the work continues behind the scenes through the weekend.

That’s a good thing … and at least sheds some light on the situation.

He cites Ravens cornerback and players association executive committee member Domonique Foxworth’s Twitter that everything is happening by phone today (Saturday). Florio also reports that Michael Lombardi of NFL Network is saying the owners, who despite Packers’ President Mark Murphy’s statement that the league has put down its pens, is having a conference call today to discuss the situation.

In addition there are many reports that are claiming the 10 named plaintiffs in the Brady case are moving out of view to allow the process to continue. Yet to be decided is how the NFLPA is to be recertified as a union … a question that should have been determined weeks or months ago and a situation Florio rightly points to as the fault of both sides.

Why didn’t someone take a look at this necessary step weeks or months ago and come up with a plan to make it happen in a timely manner?

Like one league source who was quoted in Florio’s post so succinctly said: “It’s like putting a man on the moon and worrying about how he’ll get back after he gets there.”

Yes, it’s even worse than Apollo 13 … our hope is that the league and players association have enough duct tape to fix the situation.

Florio said:

“It’s hard not to point to the lack of urgency in May and June, once the parties realized that the time had come to start talking, as one of the primary causes of the current predicament. Two days per week ultimately weren’t enough, and now that the plane is supposed to be landing, the pilots are circling the runway trying to figure out how in the hell to put the wheels down. For two supposedly sophisticated parties poised to do a deal that, over time, will kick out well over $100 billion dollars, it’s worse than disappointing. It’s embarrassing.”

We here at lombardiave.com simply can’t believe it. Aren’t these people supposed to be smart?

According to a FOX Sports report by Jay Glazer, former Packers quarterback Brett Favre called the Detroit Lions before the Packers played in Detroit on September 14, a 48-25 win for the Packers.  Glazer first broke this story on “FOX NFL Sunday”:

“Favre called the Detroit Lions, starting off with (former Detroit general manager) Matt Millen,” Glazer said. “Matt Millen then put him in touch with the coaching staff and gave the coaching staff like an hour or a 90-minute dissertation, every single thing that the Green Bay Packers do on offense. It’s his former team. He’s calling a division opponent of a team he has nothing to do with any more and just let’s loose all the family secrets. How about that?”

Glazer later posted the above report on foxsports.com.  It also appears that the New York Jets quarterback could be doing his best to sabotage Green Bay’s season:

Other teams the Packers have played had also heard about the Favre coaching clinic with Detroit. In addition, there have been rumors that Favre has spoken to other teams giving them information, but most of those teams insist they have not heard from the famed gunslinger.

However, there is no rule prohibiting players from calling teams and giving them information on their ex-teams.  It’s something that you just don’t do.  Or at least something it seemed like Favre wouldn’t do.  I was taking a neutral stance towards Favre after the messy divorce from Green Bay, but after this incident, I may have to swing all the way around to “Good riddance” standpoint.  The Packers players aren’t too happy about this either.  Take Charles Woodson:

“You know, I don’t respect that.  If they call him and he gives them information, that’s one thing. But to seek a team out and feel like, I guess, you’re trying to sabotage this team, I don’t respect that. I know he’s been the greatest player around here for a long time, but there’s no honor in that.”

Mike Florio, the all-knowing one from Pro Football Talk, had this to say:

In our view, Brett’s legacy with the Packers has officially been forever stained, if not completely destroyed – unless Favre immediately denies the report, and unless people believe it.

I totally agree with Florio.  Favre is showing that he lacks the capacity to understand.  He can not come to grips with the fact that he was done in Green Bay.  Maybe not physically, but overall, his time was over in Titletown.  It was finally time for him to go.  If he can’t grasp that, he goes down a few notches as a person in my book.  Everyone viewed him as a young boy out there playing the game, but we can now view him as a young boy off the field as well, a young boy who is bitter over having his toys taken away from him.

After losing to the Oakland Raiders, Favre texted BFF Peter King, who appeared on NBC’s “Football Night in America,” and said the report was “total B.S.”  After all the stuff said or supposedly said this summer, I’d have to say Favre has more B.S. than Jay Glazer.

The most curious thing about these rumors is that ESPN stayed quiet over the whole thing.  No links out to Green Bay-area newspapers, not a peep on the NFC North or AFC East blogs until today, when they posted this article from the Associated Press.  According to one of my sources, ESPN said they did not cover “Favre-gate” (I haven’t seen that in print yet) because one of their writers did not break the story (which can be viewed as complete B.S., as Glazer helped break Favre’s retirement and ESPN was all over that, like a fat kid on cake).  Rumors spreading on radio talk shows, however, say that ESPN does not want to help ruin the reputation of their good man Brett.  Which, given ESPN’s perpetual bias, would not be that far-fetched.

In still refusing to have their writers address this situation, ESPN posted Brett Favre’s latest news conference verbatim on the NFC North Blog.

He denies everything.

More to come on this one later.  And there will be more once ESPN determines to set their writers out on it.