Blog #15: Brett Favre, Enough Already!

Jeff Schwartz

Blog #15: Brett Favre, Enough Already!

July 21, 2010

In 1991 The NFL was first graced with the presence of one Brett Lorenzo Favre. The blame for that rests in the Atlanta Falcons who drafted Favre with the 33rd overall pick (Round 2). Over the course of the next nineteen seasons the NFL fans in Green Bay, New York, and Minnesota have been held hostage by this lunatic. Whether it was the ridiculous commercials for Wrangler Jeans or the absurd amount of references to his appearance in There’s Something About Mary, Favre has been everywhere even during the off season. For the last five seasons, Favre has threatened to retire from the NFL. When I say threatened, I say it as an awful thing, because he’s never serious. The Packers, Jets, and Vikings all fell victim to his demands.

Heading into this off season, the Evil Four Letter Network has launched Favre watch 2010. The whole LeBron-nonsense wasn’t enough, neither was the Tiger Woods coverage, so the Evil Sports Programming Network has launched this year’s version of Favre Watch. Rachel Nichols is held up in Mississippi waiting for Lord Favre to step outside of his manor. Wendy Nix is posted up live outside of the Minnesota Vikings training facility hoping to catch a small glimpse of Coach Brad Childress in hopes of gaining a word or two from him on ESPN’s new Chosen One, Brett Favre. It’s really all too much. Upon viewing Sports Center (Yeah I’m back on the horse), The Gunslinger’s name was talked about for a total of eleven minutes over the course of three segments. That’s over 1/6^th of the show was devoted to Number 4. Unreal? Not really, ESPN’s hard-on for Favre dates back to even before he played in a Monday Night Football game the night his father died.

Brett Favre is essentially the Evil Four Letter’s hometown hero, despite being from nowhere near Bristol, CT. Make no mistake about it; Favre is a first ballot hall of famer. He’s one of the best football players to ever live. But he’s a human being, with human problems, just like the rest of us. I’m not sure The World Wide Leader knows Brett Favre is a tax paying, addiction having, breathing citizen of the United States just as much as Bob Smith from Ft. Worth, Texas. There’s no real difference other than a job and some athletic skills. You can’t tell that to ESPN though. As far as they’re concerned Favre is the greatest man to ever live. Statistically, he’s an average QB, but his leadership on the field and 11 Pro Bowl Selections, 3 All Pro Selections, 3 MVP's, 1 Superbowl Ring make Favre a legend on the field.

The reason I’m taking issue with Favre, is his conduct off the field. You can’t go into every single off-season and debate on retirement. You can’t hold a team hostage the way he did the Packers, Jets, and Vikings. He’s a head case, and I’m not sure whether concussions have played a part in this strange behavior. It’s really not a hard choice to play or not to play. I get the idea that it’s hard to leave your teammates. Why not just say I’m planning on coming back, and if that changes I’ll be glad to do four days of a sentence at the ESPN campus for interviews on all of the shows? Is it really hard to be fair to your fellow teammates? I don’t think so.

Another question that comes up about Favre continuously coming back is do his statistics justify it? Last season’s numbers indicate his return is justified, 33 touchdowns, with only 7 interceptions, and 34 sacks. That’s a hell of a season but that number of sacks is scary. However in the season prior Favre had 22 touchdowns, 22 interceptions, and was sacked 30 times. A nearly forty year old man does not need to be sacked 64 times in two seasons. That’s the kind of pain that can’t be good for anyone of any age.

His career totals include 497 touchdowns, 317 interceptions, and 503 sacks. Those are astounding numbers from the NFL’s only active grandfather. Eventually his body is going to break into pieces and when it happens it will happen quickly, maybe over night. I don’t know that you can justify his price tag of 12 million a season, at age 40 even with 33 trips to the end zone. If I’m the Minnesota Vikings, a team with an All-Pro Running Back (Adrian Peterson) and a top notch receiving corps, I’m scouring the world for a young Quarterback that I can sub in for Lord Favre. There’s no way to trust Favre or really any other “experienced” athlete to play the situation the same way he plays the game.