Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

Let it be noted that on April 28, 2009 the sun rose in the east, it set in the west and a Brett Favre comeback rumor began circulating. All in all, just another routine day on planet earth.

In a column from today's Chicago Tribune, David Haugh speculates that Favre's release by the New York Jets will pave the way for the 39-year old quarterback to go to Minnesota, the destination he originally desired last year. I expect SportsCenter to lead with this story for the next 57 days. I also expect the rumor to eventually come to fruition.

Oh, officially the Wrangler Jeans-wearing gunslinger says he's not coming back, but he hedged that statement with a classic Favrian qualifier:

"At this time, I am retired and have no intention of returning to football."

Ahh, good ol' "at this time." I like that. At this time I have no intention of calling Favre a faded star who hasn't won anything of consequence in 12 years and is desperately clinging onto his career like a bald guy trying to convince himself that his combover looks good. But, like Favre's plans, that's subject to change.

The sad part is, Favre to the Vikings (oh, I'm going to hate myself for saying this) actually (gulp) makes sense for Minnesota. This isn't because Brett Favre is a high-quality quarterback anymore (he's not), but because the Vikings' quarterback situation is about as stable as Favre's ability to stick to a retirement.

Whether or not this will happen comes down to two factors. First, does Favre still want to play football? By not closing the door on a comeback, I think it's safe to say that he thinks he still does. Second, would the Vikings want him? That's also a probable "yes". While Favre was only a middling quarterback last year, he's still an improvement over Sage Rosenfels and Tavaris Jackson.

Translation: You may want to prepare yourself for another eight months of hearing about Brett Favre non-stop. The only question now is, what impact will this have on John Madden's retirement plans?