Talk about Decisional Conflict… Decide already!
Teary-eyed Favre retires in 2008, the 1st Time.
Here we go again: Brett Favre, the former NFL quarterback of the Green Bay Packers and New York Jets, has announced for a third time that he is definitely, unconditionally and unequivocally retiring from the National Football League for good. Yeah, right!
Brett Favre has been a fantastic quarterback in the NFL and has had jaw-dropping performances on the field in huge games. He has been an inspiration to millions of aspiring young football players and as a Mississippian himself has participated in a very effective disaster relief program after Hurricane Katrina leveled a good portion of Louisiana and Mississippi. He’s always played like a warrior giving 110% all the time and never asked anything of his teammates that he didn’t expect of himself. His name scatters the record books in practically every quarterback category and his iron Man will and never give in competitiveness are unequaled by anyone else in the game. He is the greatest Green Bay Packer player ever in team history voted by Packer fans and he holds more individual records than any Green Bay Packer since the inception of the franchise in 1919 by Earl “Curly” Lambeau.
However, I’m not so sure Curley Lambeau would be proud of the team’s most popular and definitely most focal player in team history, not proud at all.
With one of the most celebrated careers in the NFL, with a bigger than life persona in Wisconsin and with a giant fan base all over the country, Brett Favre has done everything he could possibly do to; trample on, pour gasoline on and set fire to his legacy as a legendary Green Bay Packer. He has also risked looking like a big flake as he stands at the podium in Canton, Ohio, one day, giving his Hall of Fame induction speech.
Brett Favre even has a street named after him in Green Bay, “Favre Way”, running adjacent to Holmgren Avenue. Yet, Packer fans aren’t exactly dancing down the street in Favre’s honor. He once held the key to the city in Green Bay, but now many of the unhappy, betrayed fans of Green Bay are calling locksmiths and are having their locks changed after the much talked about antics of the golden boy from Gulf port, Mississippi. Why?
In 2008, Brett Favre, in an emotional and tearful press conference, announced that he had spent himself on the field and had nothing left to give the game. He adamantly announced his retirement effective immediately and that he was unconditionally retiring from the NFL. Packers Head coach Mike McCarthy and team Pres. and CEO Mark Murphy scrambled for a replacement for their future Hall of Fame quarterback directly after Favre informed them of his imminent retirement. After a long and grueling search, the Packers staff chose the successor to Farve- 24-year-old Aaron Rodgers from the University of California would become the new starting Green Bay Packers quarterback. Then… before a single snap of the football in the following preseason, Favre announced that he was coming out of retirement. Coming out of retirement? The off-season wasn’t even over and a preseason practice hadn’t even begun and he was convinced that now he had changed his mind and was ready for another season with the Green Bay Packers in ‘09. However, Favre’s plan didn’t exactly coincide with the Green Bay Packers? The problem was that Farve told the Packers organization that he was definitely not coming back for another season with the team and was permanently retiring. McCarthy and Murphy stated to Favre that they accepted his voluntary resignation for retirement and needed to move on. When Favre changed his mind, it was too late for the Packers to reverse their decision and that they were ready to go into the ‘09 season with Rodgers, a dynamic young quarterback with a ton of raw potential. Favre’s timing regarding his announcement to come out of retirement was horrible for the franchise and it put everyone concerned in a big pickle. Of course, the fans of Green Bay would’ve loved to have No.4 taking snaps again for another season in a green and yellow jersey, but the coaching staff and front office decided that because of the late notice, they would move forward, without Farve, and start building their new look offense around Aaron Rogers. Favre was angry with Mike McCarthy and Mark Murphy among other key personnel responsible for making this tough decision and decided that he would still continue his bid to return to the NFL for another season, it just wouldn’t be in a Packer uniform. The decision met mixed reviews depending on who you talk to, and in an unsurprising way, the majority of Green Bay Packers fans held their support for the move and would wait cautiously optimistic. Rogers had gigantic shoes to fill, but his first season as Favre’s successor, Rogers had a very acceptable opening season. Rogers started all 16 games in 2008 and ranked third in the NFC and sixth in the NFL with a 93.8 passer rating. He completed 341-of-536 passes (63.6 percent) for 4,038 yards, 28 touchdowns and only 13 interceptions. He also ranked fourth in the league in both TD passes and passing yards . Altogether, not a bad freshman year for the former California Bear quarterback. The Green Bay Packers fans had officially embraced Aaron Rodgers as their new starting quarterback.
Favre signs 1 year deal to play in the Big Apple
So, Brett Favre went on to test the market and see which teams might be interested in him, but it would have to be in a starting capacity. Favre wasn’t interested in holding a clipboard on the sideline, so it would have to be a tailor fit program for him and those jobs don’t come along every day. Although it looked like it would be a difficult task to find Favre a starting position somewhere in the NFL, there were a few interested teams that could possibly accommodate a starting job for the veteran quarterback with 17 seasons behind him. Some of those possible suitors were; the Chicago Bears, the Minnesota Vikings, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Jets. Favre took his time determining just which team would fit his style and which team was willing to offer him the most money. He juggled the four teams interested and at the last possible breaking point, he chose the New York Jets. The Jets weren’t dealing with a surplus of quarterbacks on the roster and they hadn’t developed a definite starter for the future. Chad Pennington started most of the the games between 2000-2007 seasons peaking in 2002 with a 68.9 completion percentage, with 22 TDs and a very respectable 104.2 quarterback rating, but his production at quarterback was drastically hampered by the crummy supporting cast around him at the time. Pennington was a more than adequate starting quarterback. He did his job and really deserved to hold onto his starting position, but the Jets were impatient with losing and no city in the world hates losing more than the fans of New York City. Pennington is a good quarterback, but he doesn’t inspire people and he doesn’t have the kind of game where he can put the team on his shoulders and carry them to victories… Brett Favre can. The team coaches and front office were ready for a change and, in signing Favre to a one year tender offer of $5 million,.that’s what they got.
At that point, they knew they were looking to find a quarterback who could secure the position until they were able to find a long-term solution to a problem position they’ve had in New York since perhaps Richard Todd wore a Jets uniform in the early 80’s. We now know that New York did find their long-term solution in drafting Mark Sanchez out of Southern Cal in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft. But, Lo and behold, along came Brett Favre with his big arm and big mouth in the Big Apple and New York was buzzing with excitement of a Hall of Fame quarterback like Brett Favre calling signals for the New York Jets. Favre’s arrival in New York was a media circus and Favre appeared to marinate in the attention. Of course, he made no promises regarding his addition to the football team, which I find spectacularly peculiar considering they opened up their wallet to him and he had no problem taking the money. But, that is just the way that American professional sports works… and unfortunately it’s the way that the American people think… “Give me what I want now, and all pay for it later.”
I think Brett Favre is a chump and he has single-handedly ruined the football careers of dozens of players due to his selfishness and narcissistic approach to the game. Oh, he’s all team member on the field, no question about it, but his off field behavior has hurt coaches, players and it has rippled out to their families and many fans and Favre doesn’t really care about that, or so it seems.
As he dangled his name to several teams in the NFL, questions started stirring around every team interested. In Minnesota Tavaris Jackson, their starting quarterback at the time, wondered how long his job would be available and with the Vikings interested in Favre, Jackson knew they weren’t happy with him. In Tampa Bay, Jeff Garcia had the same issues that Jackson had and in Chicago, it was Brian Griese and Kyle Orton.
Now, Brett Favre has done it again. He gave his definite, unequivocal, unconditional announcement that he was retiring once again. You can probably guess what happened next. That’s right… he announced that he was interested in shopping his name around and looking for a possible team that he could land with and play one more year… with of course, another announcement of retirement after that year.
Packer legend, will they ever forgive him for considering Vikes?
It was the worlds worst kept secret that Brett Favre was courting the Minnesota Vikings for his so-called, final season. It was contingent on his surgically repaired arm and whether or not it was able to pass with much strength. What makes this ridiculously idiotic is that the Minnesota Vikings are direct rivals of the Green Bay Packers and Favre was entertaining the idea of playing one more desperate year with a team in the same division as to so-called beloved Green Bay Packers? I don’t think you could pick a better team, except for maybe the Bears, that Green Bay Packers despise. It’s mostly a friendly rival, but Brett Favre had no business in considering playing for the Vikings after 17 seasons with the Green Bay Packers. He didn’t need the money (that’s for sure) and he had already retired twice. Now he just looks like a sad, pathetic football player who has millions of dollars and just can’t find anything else to do with his life except for play football. I can’t think of a much more selfish mentality than to hold a bank account over $100 million and you can’t find anything else to do in the world to fill your time… how about helping somebody who isn’t worth $100 million? Something tells me that Brett Favre just doesn’t find helping the less fortunate to be rewarding. There’s nothing more pathetic than an aging mascot and that is what Brett Favre has become. The problem for him and his legacy is that Packer fans will always remember that Favre was poised and ready to play for their rivals the Minnesota Vikings, with only a sore arm preventing him from entering Lambeau Field wearing purple. Even just the serious consideration might as well have been a full on contract with the Vikings. It wasn’t necessary, I think it was a slap in the face of Green Bay Packers fans and it comes off looking like a desperate man who has no other identity but his place on the football field. That is sad for Favre, it’s sad for Green Bay Packers fans and frankly it’s sad for anyone who once admired Brett Favre while he was one of the greatest sports personalities in America and a pretty fine quarterback in the NFL. He had the Green Bay Packers fans eating out of his hand for 17 seasons, and he might as well have spit in their faces.
In the end, the only thing that kept Favre from signing that one-year deal with Minnesota was his failing surgically repaired throwing arm. The detached muscle on his throwing arm was causing him pain and he could not develop enough velocity on his throws to be able to make accurate and strong passes. I think he has really put a black eye on his name and has thumbed his nose at the city of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
How sad…
