Brett Favre, with wife Deanna, arrived in Green Bay on Sunday, Aug. 3, almost five months after his March 6 retirement press conference. AP Peter King's Mailbag Peter King will answer your questions each week in Monday Morning Quarterback: Tuesday Edition. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Peter King on Twitter

Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think these are my Favrian thoughts of the week:

a. It is an insane story. That much I can tell you. It is beyond insane, really. By midday Saturday, Favre turned down Packer president Mark Murphy's invitation to return to the team Monday. FAVRE SAID HE WAS NOT COMING. Those in the middle of the story were positive he was going to spurn the playing role and accept whatever the silly figure was to not play anymore and take the 10-year marketing deal with the team. What changed overnight?

I heard two things Sunday -- the Favre side changing what it wanted on the marketing side, and the Pack's change of stance of Favre competing for the starting job with Aaron Rodgers. The latter was truly significant and showed Green Bay finally listened to the sensible voices of most people around the league. Yes, they wanted to get off the Favre merry-go-round of never being able to plan for a quarterback future. But it's smart, coming off a year like he had last year, to give Favre the latitude he wants to decide when he wants to play. And so Sunday morning, the Packers agreed to let Favre compete for the job, and told commissioner Roger Goodell, and everyone could breathe a sigh.

b. Re: Goodell's role: It was huge. Absolutely huge. After Favre lost every ounce of trust for the Packers, the only NFL person in a suit he trusted was Goodell, who became his regular confidant during the past nine days. When we look back on this story in 10 years and laugh (or cry, maybe), the one thing we'll know for sure is Goodell saved Favre's future with the Packers.

What he did, I'm told by people on the two sides, is make them aware it was a slippery slope they were going down toward the end of Favre's playing career, with Favre being a mercenary and the Packers snubbing their noses at him and painting themselves into a corner they very well might live to regret. For those who say Goodell shouldn't have gotten involved because it sets a bad precedent, I say that's ridiculous. Goodell should help any franchise and any legend reaching out for his help if it's in the best interests of the game. And anyone who doesn't think Brett Favre playing for the Packers -- if he's going to play football this year -- is in the best interest of the game is delusional.

c. Re: Aaron Rodgers: I think he needs that Justin Timberlake hug again. For a while, I was hugely sympathetic to Rodgers, and I still feel for the guy because he's waited long enough. But the NFL's about winning, at almost any cost.

d. If it's a fair competition, do you have any doubt Favre will win? I don't.

2. I think I have no idea what Casey Hampton weighs, but when I saw him at Steelers camp last week, he looked like one of the heaviest players I've ever seen at an NFL camp. Hampton's on the Physically Unable to Perform List because of his weight and conditioning, and Mike Tomlin's peeved about it. No matter how important the nose man is to Pittsburgh's defense, and no matter how good Hampton's been for them, Tomlin will sit Hampton if he has to.

3. I think I still believe Shaun Hill, who sat a couple of practices with a dead arm last week, will beat out Alex Smith for the 49ers starting quarterback job. But Mike Nolan is doing everything he can to convince both parties -- and the public --he's not playing favorites. "It'll be a fair battle,'' Nolan said. "We're not going to play favorites. It'll be won on the field.'' I know he's telling the truth. I also know most people around the 49ers think the guy who's played the best there in Nolan's time is Hill. Nolan's coaching for his job this year, and unless Smith is far better than he's shown previously, Hill's going to get the first shot to start in September.

4. I think I'd like you to tell me what these athletes have in common: Jeremy Shockey, Chad Johnson, Jason Taylor and Manny Ramirez. Give up? They all tried to talk their way out of town in the past eight months. Johnson's the only one it didn't work with, but it wasn't because he didn't try. The strategy seems pretty obvious. If you want out, make a scene, say some things you know will hit the team below the belt, risk ruining your good name locally, but do it all because you have only one goal -- to get out of town at any cost.

5. I think I was impressed in my 1.5-day visit to the Cowboys by a lot of things, and one was surely Wade Phillips' hold on the team. He's gotten guff for being a laissez faire kind of coach, but in reality he's a coach who doesn't let the little things bother him because there are so many big things to be worried about.

"I tell the players, 'If you can't handle media, change, pressure and lots of attention, you don't need to be on the Dallas Cowboys,' '' Phillips told me Saturday. "We're in the big leagues. You've got to be able to handle stuff.'' He said his dad, Bum Phillips, the former Oilers and Saints coach, wouldn't like some of the things he tolerates, like the wearing of hats in team meetings. Hats were always taken off indoors. "If it affected how they studied, I'd have them take 'em off,'' Phillips said. "But it doesn't, so I don't make a big deal of it.''

Jason Garrett making $2 million as the coach-in-waiting? "[Wade] told me he wanted Jason back, that he was important to Tony Romo's development,'' Jerry Jones said. That's a man comfortable in his skin, as they say.

6. I think Steve Smith deserved two games for what he did. Had he gotten four, I wouldn't have argued. Imagine if his attack on Ken Lucas had been caught on tape. Smith's life would never have been the same. As it is, he'll need months, and maybe years, to rehab his image.

7. I think Lane Kiffin has to be just sick about his chances this year when Al Davis has to talk Javon Walker out of retirement. Walker was a risky signing anyway because of his health, and now, after the attack on Walker in Las Vegas, there's a good chance he'll never be the player the Raiders thought they'd signed.

8. I think if I take one thing from Sunday night's game, it's that Jason Campbell is off to an excellent start in Jim Zorn's offense. What a beautiful TD throw across the back of the Indy defense to Antwaan Randle El.

9. I think if Darrell Green and his son think there are only two current players who are Hall of Fame-worthy, I'd like them to join me in the room next year for the annual Hall voting. That's a stunning statement. So you put Peyton Manning and Favre in, I guess. Tom Brady, Marvin Harrison, Tony Gonzalez, LaDainian Tomlinson, Ray Lewis ... sorry, fellas.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. For a guy who needed to go on the disabled list, Manny Ramirez sure looks frisky out there for the Dodgers. Gee, I wonder what happened. Manny wouldn't have been trying to fake an injury, would he?

b. It's a trade that had to be made. Face it. And whoever gets Ramirez after this season, good luck. You'll have two years of euphoria, or maybe a year and a half. Then it'll be a constant little trail of bullcrap that you'll have to put up with because your team decided he was worth $23 million a year.

c. My favorite part of the trade was the $1 million "relocation bonus'' Ramirez got. No wonder so many fans are fed up with this business.

d. Excellent speech, Len Pasquarelli. Classy, dignified, full of truisms. Lenny got into the Pro Football Hall of Fame the other day, and he had many far-flung peers cheering for him.

e. Coffeenerdness: If this trip across the United States has reinforced anything, it's that the world is getting far too used to coffee-flavored water. That passes for coffee in most hotels now. Putrid stuff.

f. Good luck in Beijing, Laura. Don't breathe too much. Mind if Manny takes your room while you're gone?