MILWAUKEE -- After 16 years, maybe Brett Favre's past is finally starting to pass Cheesehead country by.
On Saturday, fewer than half the fans who responded to an unscientific newspaper poll said they wanted to see the legendary quarterback return to the Green Bay Packers. The next day, a rally drew fewer than 200 supporters to Lambeau Field. And on Monday, only about 30 people came to a similar event in the Wisconsin State Fair parking lot in Milwaukee.
"I'm shocked that there hasn't been more support from the fans," said rally organizer Erick Rolfson, 32, of nearby Pewaukee. "This is a Hall-of-Famer we're talking about, and last I checked, the team is owned by the stockholders, not the front office."
Eric Anderson, 49, of Milwaukee, showed up in a referee shirt, which came in handy when he engaged in banter with fans sporting Favre jerseys.
"Maybe this shows that more than a few people are sick of and fed up with Brett," Anderson said. "I personally think he should just show up on the first day of training camp and compete for the starting job like anybody else."
Wearing the obligatory foam cheesehead, 17-year-old Charles Mollenkamp of suburban Brookfield said the 38-year-old Favre is the only Packers quarterback he's ever known.
"I was born in 1991 and he came here in 1992," Mollenkamp said. "I like Aaron Rodgers, but come on, the guy gets hurt in practice. He's no Brett Favre."
Chuck Perock, 44, of Sussex, waved a Packers flag while wearing a "Favre 4 President" shirt, which seemed appropriate since Favre and Republican presidential nominee John McCain were both scheduled to be interviewed by Fox News on "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" later Monday.
"I hope he's back," Perock said. "He's a class act and a good role model. That's why these shirts were made. He'd get my vote."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
