My Thoughts on Another Brett Favre Return

I started by posting a comment on This May Concern You and by the time I posted it, I realized it was pretty much my own blog entry.  So I’m reposting it here, with a few things added.  I know everyone’s heard so much about him already and I’m sick of it too, but here it is anyway – my feelings about ole #4′s second comeback.

As someone that grew up in Wisconsin, worshiping Brett Favre like the rest of the state, I think I’ve got a different perspective than some others .  The guy’s the only QB I’d ever known for the Packers and he was truly one of us.  Through the trials & tribulations of his painkiller addiction and the rumored extra-marital affairs, he showed a human side that, in the end, endeared him even more to people, especially Wisconsinites.  His play on the field mirrored his real life, with tremendous success or epic failure a constant trend.  But whether he was winning an NFL-record third MVP award or throwing an NFL-record number of interceptions, he played with joy and a became one of Wisconsin’s favorite sons, alongside Vince Lombardi and Robin Yount in our pantheon of sports greatness.  We all assumed that he’d retire a Packer and then become an ambassador, a coach, a commentator, something…but he’d always be around Lambeau and a part of the fabric of our state, like Bart Starr and many of the other Packer greats.  His final year in Green Bay was magical – his best season in years, the Packers with a 13-3 record, the record-breaking moments throughout the year and that same joy.  Then, he choked in the NFC Championship game against the Giants, who eventually won the Super Bowl.  Not a Jordan-esque picture-perfect ending, but he then sat at a press conference, choked-up with emotion and retired.  We all were saddened but understood it was probably time.

Then, late in the spring of 2008, he changed his mind and told the Packers he wanted to play again.  They agreed and began making plans.  Then, Favre again told them he wanted to retire and they told him, “Ok, we have to move forward with Aaron Rodgers as our QB then.”  A month later, the king of indecision changes his mind again, only to find the Packers didn’t want him anymore.  They’d moved on because they had to, they couldn’t keep waiting for him to make a real decision.

He then began to transform into the sad character he’s become today.  With highly orchestrated press interviews and snide comments, he began turning his back on the people that had worshiped him for 16 years.  He ended up with the Jets, which wasn’t that bad.  I mean, MJ finished with the Wizards and it didn’t really diminish his career in Chicago.  We still remember #23 in red.

And then this winter, he retired again.  Only to start the whole process over again this summer with the Vikings.  After far too much drama and indecision, he’s a member of the Vikings.  The frickin’ Vikings.  I understand why he likes the opportunity – he knows the offense, he’s got a fantastic O-Line and running game to take the pressure off himself.  But seriously, the Vikings are the most-hated rival of the Packers – I hate them more than the Bears.  For him to put on purple and turn his former house-of-horrors (he couldn’t ever win at the Metrodome for the first decade of his career) into his home stadium is blasphemous.  He hasn’t just turned his back on Wisconsin; he’s given all of us a giant middle finger and said, “Your support for 16 years doesn’t matter.  I’m still bitter as hell that the Packers wouldn’t let me change my mind the 18th time so I’m after revenge.  F*ck all of you.”

And the Vikings sold their credibility up the river by letting him play this silly game, skip training camp and still join the team when they said he couldn’t do so.  I predict a lot of locker room turmoil and an early playoff exit.  I only wish I could be in Green Bay in week 8 to boo him mercilessly.  The guy went from the most beloved athlete in America to a wishy-washy, incredibly-selfish egomaniac that can’t live without people fawning over him, and it’s sad.  Maybe I’ll forgive him in seven years when his number is retired in Green Bay and he enters Canton as a Packer, but for now, you’re dead to me Brett Favre.  For now, I’ll just remember this amazing play from his final year in Green Bay, when he beat the Broncos on the first play of OT with this amazing throw: