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Rams called Brett Favre to replace Sam Bradford

Needless to say, the St. Louis Rams were desperate for quarterback help.

By Ryan Van Bibber
Leon Halip

The St. Louis Rams spent the better part of the last week scrambling to find a quarterback to replace Sam Bradford. The eventually settled on former backup Austin Davis, and they also added Brady Quinn for veteran insurance to backup Kellen Clemens. But not before putting in a call to Brett Favre.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported the news early Thursday morning. The Rams called the 44-year old Wrangler spokesman to see if he would leave retirement to take over head gunslinging duties in place of Bradford. He declined.

There was even a social media angle to Schefter's report.

One source familiar with the Rams conversations said that, if Favre took them up on their interest, "it could break Twitter."

Oh, Twitter probably wouldn't be the only thing breaking if the Favre took them up on their offer.

Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer did coach Favre during his late-career stop with the Jets. Favre spent one season, 2008, in New York. It didn't end well, thanks to some poor choices made with camera phones.

There's another connection between Favre and the Rams. Austin Davis is a Southern Mississippi product, Favre's old school. Davis broke Favre's records for passing yards, touchdowns and completion percentage. He also spent some time working with the old gunslinger himself.

Jeff Fisher has a track record with quarterbacks in the twilight of their careers. He rode with Kerry Collins in the middle of Tennessee's debacle with Vince Young. Favre's more in the past midnight phase of his football career.

Had Favre taken them up on the offer, he wouldn't have been the first 44-year old signal caller working in the NFL. Vinny Testaverde started six games for the Panthers in 2007 at 44. He had a 65.8 quarterback rating. A more appropriate comparison for the Rams situation would be Steve DeBerg. He retired at the tender age of 39 in 1993, but returned to the league five years later, in 1998, as a backup with the Atlanta Falcons. He played in eight games, starting one. He threw three touchdowns and one interception, completing just over 50 percent of his passes. He did not return in 1999.

If the Rams really were, or are still, looking for an older quarterback, Jeff Garcia recently offered his services to the Cleveland Browns. They declined.

Then, of course, there's Kurt Warner, who said this ...

The Rams have nine more games to play. But with sideshows like this, it might not be such a long season after all.

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