Pending a physical, future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre will end the months of tireless speculation and **sign with the Minnesota Vikings**, per Chris Mortensen of ESPN. According to Mortensen, Favre flew from Mississippi to Minneapolis earlier today and is expected to undergo a physical this afternoon.
If he passes the physical and signs, Favre's first game likely will be at Reliant Stadium on preseason Monday Night Football on Aug. 31. The Vikings' next preseason game is on Friday against the Chiefs, so it seems unlikely that Favre would be ready for game action after two days with the team (UPDATE: The *Minnesota Star-Tribune *reports that Favre is **expected to start vs. KC**. So what do I know.).
So much for Sage Rosenfels' long-awaited chance to be a starter in the NFL. It appears that the former Texans' backup chance is on hold for at least one more season and he will now compete with Tarvaris Jackson for backup duties. Texans-Vikings almost certainly won't be the battle between Rosenfels and Matt Schaub that a lot of Houston fans were looking forward to.
But how great is this for the Texans and their fans? The Vikings game just got that much more exciting. If you already have **a ticket**, congratulations. If you don't, good luck.
Every football fan in America will be tuning in to see Favre, and that means the relative strangers to the general football public known as the Houston Texans will have a huge opportunity to make a statement for all to see. You can bet the players will know it, too. Favre will be getting all of the attention leading up to the game, but it's not as though the millions of nationwide viewers are going to turn away if Mario Williams blows up an offensive lineman and welcomes Favre back to the NFL, or if Andre Johnson makes a ridiculous one-handed catch.
The third preseason game is usually the best because the starters play about three full quarters. This was already going to be an especially good one because of the Monday night setting and because the Vikings have arguably the top running game and defensive line in the league, not to mention the Schaub-Jared Allen drama stemming from the 2008 season. On top of all of that, it's now going to be one of the most hyped games in Texans history - and it's just the preseason.
Yes, the 24/7 Favre talk on ESPN will be annoying. Excessively annoying. But as far as the preseason goes, it doesn't get much better than this.
