A Sporting Chat With Peter Moore

7/31/2008 6:19 PM | 0 Comments | Page 4 of 7

But when we started to socialize this at the highest level at EA, people were saying, "Well this is ridiculous! He'll retire! You'll never hear about him ever again. He'll be in Mississippi and he'll disappear in April."

For a guy that isn't playing, it's all the NFL is talking about. I think it's interesting that people that aren't Packers fans all have an opinion about this. He's one of the most popular players to ever play the game. Everybody has a soft spot for the Packers because of who they are and the way they are structured, and where they are. The press are having a great time with it because the tension between love and passion and business and commitment and big money. Would he go and play for the Vikings? How weird would it be to see Brett Favre in any other uniform? We went to this kind of farewell thing that we held, and it was weird to see him in a Falcons uniform in his early days.

Crispy Gamer: So what happens then? You guys are releasing on August 15th...

Moore: ...We're printing now.

Crispy Gamer: So what happens if he lands on another team?

Moore: There's a plan.

David Tinson [marketing director, EA Sports]: The game will ship as you see it today.

Crispy Gamer: With Favre as a Green Bay Packer.

Tinson: It will ship with what you've seen. Yes. And then we'll have a plan if he's not.

Moore: It would be a massive collector's item if we do a packaging change mid-shift.

Tinson: We can put him on any team in the league.

Crispy Gamer: Well, the review build of the game you can release him and put him on whatever team you want to.

Moore: The interesting thing -- this is my mantra, and I'd love to be proved wrong -- but when he retires, "Madden 09 is the only place where you'll have Brett Favre playing for the Packers." We may be wrong now, again. He was always going to be seen as an unlockable player.

Crispy Gamer: Well John Madden is a huge Favre fan. Did he have any input?

Moore: He had an opinion on it -- which I won't share -- but John did have an opinion on it. It wasn't, "You should put Brett on the cover." We informed John of it and he had an opinion -- which you'll never know. [smiles]