GREEN BAY--In a gesture of protest against his teammate’s decision to skip training camp, Packers QB Brett Favre has announced that he, too, will hold out until Javon Walker ends his hold out. Walker is demanding a new contract that would pay him considerably more than his current deal, which he signed as a rookie.

Favre said he is also prepared to sit out the season if Walker does the same.

“I’m holding out, man. I’m not coming to mini-camp and I’m not coming to training camp either,” Favre said from his home in Mississippi. “As long as Javon sits out, I’m sitting out. I truly hope that management doesn’t give in to his demands. Believe me, we can get by without him. And judging from my performance the past few seasons, we can get by without me, too.”

Favre called Walker “selfish” and said he longed for the old days when players honored their contracts.

“I guess I’m just old school, but when you sign a deal, you honor it,” he said. “For example, when I signed my cushy, incredibly lucrative deal I was good enough to honor that deal. Never once did I hold out for a better one or make a stink about not getting my fair market value. I guess I’m just upset that Javon’s not going to be playing for a while. I truly believe if everyone on the team came back, we could duplicate last year’s playoff collapse.”

After hearing the news of Favre’s decision to hold out, head coach Mike Sherman said he was prepared to play the entire season without his starting QB and star receiver. Rookie Aaron Rodgers will get the majority of snaps until Favre returns.

“It’s tough, but this is the business of football,” said Sherman. “Nowadays players put themselves ahead of their team. I can understand what Brett is doing. In a way, I actually support it. He’s trying to make a point that if a player holds out he can seriously hurt his team’s chances. After all, Javon did sign that deal in good faith. It’s not a bad deal, either. We’re talking millions of dollars here. He was pretty happy when he first signed it but then he hooked up with Drew Rosenhaus, the man who makes a living sucking all the joy and happiness out of life.”

When reached for comment, Walker defended his actions and expressed surprise that Favre would go to such lengths to prove a point. Still, he refused to budge from his demand for a new contract.

“Brett’s holding out? Wow, that’s something I never thought I’d see,” said Walker. “I never imagined he would abandon his team just to teach me a lesson. But if that’s what he wants to do, then so be it. I believe in what I’m doing and I think America is right behind me. There’s nothing that tugs at the nation’s heartstrings more than a professional athlete who is not getting paid his fair market value.”

Walker believes all Americans who are underpaid should insist on reworking their contracts.

“Oh I don’t have a double standard. I think every American should get their fair market value,” he said. “Seriously, if you’re not making enough just don’t show up for work. It’s easy. Eventually they’ll have to pay you something. It’s not like they’re going to just fire you and replace you with a low paid Mexican laborer or something. That kind of stuff only happens in books and movies and the newspaper.”

With Favre and Walker holding out, the spotlight falls on Rodgers, the rookie out of University of California. Though he was one of the draft’s top prospects, Rodgers fell to the Packers at the end of the first round. Some are doubting he has what it takes to fill in for Favre, but Rodgers is confident.

“This certainly isn’t the way I wanted to become a starter,” he said, “but I am the backup and this is my job. I’ll just have to go to the field and prepare every day and watch tons of film and listen to my coaches. It’s going to be a big learning experience for me. Hopefully I can step in and provide some leadership in Brett’s absence. I will say this though: I need to make more money. This contract I signed is a load of shit.”

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