The Green Bay Packers wanted Brett Favre to return last season, but the welcome mat for him is no longer in front of their office for the aging quarterback legend.

Favre's desire to return to the NFL has produced a new round of criticism directed at the Packers from Favre's family and friends in Kiln, Miss., and the Gulf Coast. They are suggesting the quarterback's retirement in March was not only welcomed, but encouraged.

According to Favre's Web site, Official Brett Favre.com, his mother, Bonita, told Milwaukee TV station in Milwaukee after it was reported by ESPN that Brett was getting the itch to play again, "he has felt like for the last couple of years, that the Packers really didn't want him back. "But nothing has been said. You know it has just been bits and pieces throughout the last couple of years, things that would just come up, and it just didn't seem like they went out of their way to keep him. It was kind of like, 'You're done.'"

Biloxi Sun Herald reporter Al Jones, a self described friend of Favre's, added fuel to the fire in an interview on Milwaukee's WTMU radio when he said Favre was forced into retirement by Packers general manager Ted Thompson.

"It all comes down to Ted Thompson," said Jones. "The main thing is the man has shown no respect to perhaps the greatest quarterback in their franchise history. Brett's a little disappointed. He feels he can still play. He knows he can still play."

Jones added that Favre has been working out, throwing passes to receivers at Oak Grove High in Hattiesburg, and that he doesn't want to play for any team but the Packers.

"When it's all said and done, Ted Thompson is the man to blame on all this," said Jones.

Thompson doesn't understand why Favre's backers are making a fall guy out of him.

"We went  about this offseason they way we have in the past several, making sure Brett knew that Mike McCarthy (coach) and I both felt he's still a good player, can still play the game, can still win and that our team was going to be in a position to win," said the GM before leaving for a vacation. "I think that's what a veteran looks for: Do we have a chance to win? And can I still play?

"Other than that, it's not my place to try to convince someone that they're making a bad decision or a good decision. It's my place to say, these are the facts as I see them, now it's up to you and Deanna (Brett's wife) to make your choice."

That suggests that Thompson would have forced Favre back. Thus, it's puzzling that Bonita Favre and Jones are so critical of the Pack's GM. Thompson has been to Kiln. "The Kill" as it is known on the Gulf Coast. It's a town like the "Dukes of Hazzard" without the demolition derby.

Why does a superstar quarterback need to be coddled? Favre went out of his way at his retirement news conference in March to thank Thompson and absolve the Packers organization of playing a role in his departure.

"I know there's been comments and issues in the media about why I'm leaving," said the quarterback at the time. "Whether or not the Packers did enough, whether or not Ted and Mike tried to convince me to stay. None of those things have anything to do with me retiring, and that's from the heart."

The Packers have spent the past four months setting up their offense to highlight new quarterback Aaron Rodgers's strengths, and it appears that neither Thompson nor McCarthy is eager for Favre to return.

Sports Elevated's Peter King is a sportswriter very close to the Favre scene. "I fully expect Favre's agent send a letter to the Packers within the next few days, stating that Favre, 38, wants to be taken off the NFL's reserve/retired list. At that point, the team will have no choice but to readmit him back to football, and Thompson and McCarthy will have a decision to make that that you can be sure is keeping them up at nights. They can give him his starting job back, trade him or they can release him. Every one of those decisions make the Packers wretch.

"If the Packers can't convince Favre to stay retired, I believe they have a chance to convince him to accept a trade, which I think is best for all parties.

"But right now, I believe the heart is telling Favre to play, and what the heart wants, the heart usually gets."

SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: Rivals college baseball editor Kendall Rogers has LSU ranked No. 2 in his early 2009 rankings and also predicts that the Tigers will return to the College World Series. Tulane earned a spot at No. 24. Wrote Rogers of the Tigers: "When the Tigers won 23 straight games and notched yet another CWS berth in 2008, it was only a sign of things to come. With most of the offensive contributors back in the mix in 2009, the Tigers should be  in great shape to once again compete for the national title. Playing in a new stadium is icing on the cake. North Carolina is ranked No. 1 and is the Web site's early pick to win the national championship. Rogers ranks Florida eighth, Georgia No. 10, Alabama at 19 and Vandy at 25th...Former Hornets employees who claim they were coerced into working overtime without being paid for it or were unfairly denied commissions may bring the team to trial, a federal judge has ruled. The Hornets said they will appeal the ruling...Will Brett Favre  retire? Blaze Starr didn't retire as a "dancer" until she was 52. Favre isn't even 40 yet and no body's asking him to take off his clothes...Tickets are the new Yankee Stadium will be so expensive, the only people who can afford them will be Yankees...By the way, Steiner Collections is charging $120 for framed Yankee Stadium batter's box dirt...The Charlotte Bobcats have signed former New Orleans prep star (before the storm) D. J. Augustin, their first-round draft choice. Under the NBA rookie scale, he will make about $1,8 million next season and $2 million the next. The point guard was the ninth pick out of Texas in the draft...A-Rod is making $28 million this season, $6.2 million more than the  entire opening-day roster of the Florida Marlins...My time is up. Ed Staton can be reached at edcoachstaton@yahoo.com.