Poll shows support for franchise
By Don Walker
Tuesday, Aug 5 2008, 10:03 PM
Sixty percent of Wisconsin residents think Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy are more concerned about the long-term future of the franchise than Brett Favre is, a statewide poll released Tuesday shows.
At the same time, the survey by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute shows that favorable feelings among state residents for the future Hall of Famer have dropped dramatically since December. According to the poll, only 47% of those surveyed had a favorable view of Favre, while 34% had an unfavorable view.
That is a startling drop in support for the three-time most valuable player, who is perhaps the Packers' greatest player ever. Last December, as Favre's Packers were readying a playoff run that would take them to the NFC Championship Game, 73% of the people in Wisconsin had a favorable view of him and only 7% had an unfavorable view.
In September 2004, 75% of those surveyed in Wisconsin had a favorable view of Favre and only 9% had an unfavorable view.
But after his tearful news conference in March when he announced that he was retiring, Favre began having second thoughts and indicated an interest in coming back to play even though the team had decided to turn to Aaron Rodgers to play quarterback.
The survey was conducted statewide on Sunday and Monday. The survey was being conducted as Favre arrived back in Green Bay after being reinstated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in an effort to end the standoff between the quarterback and the franchise.
Survey respondents were asked this question: "Who do you think is most concerned about the long-term future of the Green Bay Packers - Brett Favre and his supporters, or general manager Ted Thompson and his coach, Mike McCarthy?"
According to the survey, 60% said Thompson/McCarthy and 16% said Favre. A total of 24%, nearly one-quarter of those surveyed, either didn't know or declined to answer.
Support for Thompson and McCarthy was statewide, according to the survey, with the strongest support (75%) coming from the Milwaukee area.
In the Green Bay area, Thompson and McCarthy were supported by 71% of the survey respondents, while Favre supporters were at only 15%.
The support for management in the ongoing tussle between Favre, who wants to return to play professional football, and the Packers, who want to move on without him, could be reflected in the fact that the Packers are professional football's only publicly owned franchise. The franchise says 112,015 people own shares in the team.
Survey respondents were asked this question in relation to Favre: "Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of him?"
For those who had a favorable view of Favre, his strongest support came from Milwaukee's suburbs (54%) and Waukesha (56%).
Favorable views of Favre were weakest in Green Bay (31%). In December, 82% of those surveyed in the Green Bay area had a favorable view of him.
The telephone poll surveyed 600 residents who said they were likely voters in the November presidential election.
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
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