Over the past few months, MortenWerder and their fleet of anonymous busybodies have dropped the following bombshells on us:

"Sources: Favre anguished over choice," July 24

"Sources: Favre throws for Vikings," July 13

"Source: Favre to be monitored in Miss.," June 12

"Sources: Vikings back off Favre some," June 10

"Sources: Vikings want answer this week," June 9

"Source: Favre doesn't want surgery," May 19

"Source: Favre looking for options," May 15

"Source: Favre, Vikings to meet," May 7

"Sources: Favre won't need major surgery," Dec. 30, 2008

"Source: Favre has 'itch' to return; player calls it 'rumor,'" July 3, 2008

The biggest story of all, of course, was Favre's ultimate decision to stay retired, which he relayed to Vikings coach Brad Childress in a phone call yesterday. And who got the scoop? The Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Brett Favre takes a pass on joining Vikings [Star Tribune]

You have to admire Werder's moxie. He was heavily criticized for his aggressive reporting during the first Cowboy incident, called a liar by T.O. and Patrick Crayton (and, essentially, by Stephen A. Smith, too) for going ahead with another story featuring unnamed sources. It wouldn't be a surprising move on the Cowboys part, considering that T.O's 35 and, well, kind of a self-absorbed prick. Here's what Werder's Cowboy Deep Throat speculated:

"I think we all know that chemistry is the problem with this team more than the schemes or anything else. Are we going to continue to allow talent to outweigh everything else in the decisions we make with players and putting the roster together? We're like the Redskins used to be when they signed every player they wanted. There's more to it than talent. It has to be more about the team."

It's important to note that the Cowboys still haven't had any formal talks with T.O. yet, so this is all backroom speculation. Another interesting aspect of this new report was pointed out by NFL tree-shaker/Italian Talking Head, Mike Florio. PFT says this "new" story is essentially a repackaged version of the Pacman Jones television report Werder ran last week, with T.O. as the lede item this time around.

Crafty. Angry Cowboy Chris should just follow Werder around wherever he goes this offseason and scream at him.

Sources: Dallas Cowboys To Talk About Releasing T.O. [ESPN]

Not surprisingly, Stephen A. Smith was summoned for the special ESPN therapy session with Terrell Owens. T.O. continues to insist that Ed Werder made up his story, but amazingly, SAS chose not to defend his colleague. (Smith even used "allegedly" to talk about the incident.)

But afterward, SAS popped onto Michael Irvin's radio show to clarify his position:

Smith — Ed Werder is only as good as his sources. At the end of the day, someone told Ed Werder what he wrote, he didn't make it up. People in the Cowboys lockerroom need to be looking at each other and not Ed Werder.

and

Smith —

You cultivate sources over time and judge whether that sources information is always accurate and then you go with them. Ed Werder's reputation is well established. Terrell Owens is not lying

Smith maintains that he was critical of T.O. when he was "columnist" for the Philadelphia Inquirer and isn't siding with him. SAS is great at building these relationships with athletes — especially ones that are perceived troublemakers and have Philly ties. (Kobe, A.I. are also on this list.) He presents himself as a confidant, one who's sympathetic, who will let the person tell "their side of the story" and only prods a little to keep the conversation real. He speaks jive, stewardess. It's definitely a skill.

But what about poor Ed? SI's Arash Markazi almost went all-caps on his blog to rip ESPN:

There's no way Werder can properly defend himself against Owen's allegations, and for ESPN to continue to put him in that position is unfair. Werder simply reported a story that he heard from "multiple team sources." What is he supposed to do? Name his sources? When Werder asked Owens if he would comment on what he heard and answer just a couple of questions last week, Owens said, "Nope." So if he turned down an opportunity to defend himself to the reporter actually covering the story, why should he be able to do so with someone he and his agent may be more comfortable with?

And remember: ESPN stands by its reporting.

ESPN Misses Point on T.O. Story [For The Record Blog/SI]

"We stick by our reporting" is the official, unsurprising quote from ESPN officials after Owens' rant. Werder was questioned by many people about his anonymous sources that launched a week's worth of melodrama in Big D, but given Terrell Owens' history of torpedoing his own team, it didn't seem implausible that some Cowboys were getting sick of his antics. Werder's been the target of a spirited YouTube video and had his Wikipedia page completely altered since his initial reports surfaced, bringing more attention to the fiasco.

Then, yesterday, Deion Sanders piled on Werder as well during his hard-hitting NFL Network analysis when Rich Eisen a— former colleague of Werder's at ESPN— said he's never known Ed to be a liar. Deion had his own opinion, and Sports On My Mind has the transcript:

Why would you say he’s not a liar? Why would, couldn’t he be a liar? He’s over at another network fighting with two other journalists (Cris Mortensen and Michael Smith) to have a name for himself in the capacity that he is in. So the most crap that they can come up with, they get their names mentioned. He’s trying to get his name mentioned.”

Eisen did his best to tamp down Sanders' accusations, but Deion was unrelenting:

“You know the sad thing is that I have to balance my relationships as well as being an analyst because I know a lot more than I can really say on TV at times. But then it’s my obligation to the fans to tell you what I know but balance that and not allow a relationship with many players inside that locker room to really say everything I know. So alot of what I’m saying isn’t hearsay, it’s known; it’s the truth. And it’s not just what T.O. is telling me, because I would check the facts with other receivers on the team as well as with other coaches on the team - as well as the owner of the team. So I never report hearsay - it’s fact.”

Fine. Ed Werder might have goosed this story a bit by resorting to anonymous sources, but I'd be curious to see if the brother-in-arms routine pulled by Romo, Witten, and T.O. would happen had the Cowboys lost last night's game. After a victory, though, Werder and the media are the enemy.

Ed Werder has yet to respond to an email request for comment. Bootsy Collins-type person was not contacted for comment.

PHOTO: Courtesy