One of the legends of our time, Brett Favre, retires...again. Or, to be more precise, flirted with the idea of coming back to the NFL and ultimately decided to remain retired. Bravo! I don't mean that as a dig either. He's absolutely one of the best quarterbacks ever (I don't necessarily think he is the best ever, but he's definitely in the conversation). But it was time and I'm glad he recognized it.
Here's the deal, you saw him come out and have an awesome 1st half of the season last year with the Jets and then fade a little toward the end when they were in the playoff hunt. He's 39 and will turn 40 in October. He's taken a lot of hits. I actually think he would've gotten the Vikings to the playoffs if for no other reason than having the best running back in football on his team. But those December games in Minnesota and those January games (or game) in the playoffs would not have turned out well. I am a legend fan - meaning I root for the legends to go out as heroes riding off into the sunset on their own terms.
Even though he had a 'good' year with the Jets, after all the hoopla every day (will he or won't he? will he or won't he?), not to mention the verbal rips back and forth with the Packers, and then to see him fade in December took a little bit of the luster off of his legacy for me. Just a little. You can only lose so much luster when you lead the NFL all time in touchdown passes, completions, yards passing, most consecutive starts and regular season victories (and interceptions...but we'll gloss over that for now) But you have to admit, it was a little disappointing to see how things played out last year.
If you're a Vikings fan, this news sucks. I mean, you have 2 serviceable quarterbacks with Rosenfels and Jackson but neither has shown themselves to be a franchise quarterback. And then of course there's John David Booty, remember him? But Favre wasn't your long term answer here anyway. The Vikings organization has to do something at some point to get a younger, long term solution at the position.
This brings me to why I'm happy for Brett. First of all, he decided to call it quits. This was on his terms. He didn't get 3 quarters of the way through the season only to realize he couldn't do it anymore. He doesn't have to worry about any embarrassment during the season. Secondly, he comes off looking classy by letting the Vikings know before training camp (or at least classier than he looked during the Packers/Jets travesty last year) Thirdly, this is Brett Favre and we can officially close the book on this chapter of his life. (Until next year when the Broncos call him up...another team that desperately needs a long term solution at QB). We can now look back fondly over a career that was, to say the least, incredible. He is firmly entrenched as a legend of the game.
Here's to you Brett. A great quarterback who made a great read on this one. Enjoy you're retirement. Hopefully, relationships can be repaired with the Packers organization so that you can have some future involvement with the team that will be forever synonymous with your name.
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Greetings once again Jward! The "average Joe", who writing is anything but, if i must say so myself.
ReplyDeleteYou know something i failed to identify myself when i responded to your blog regarding Michael Vick and the reasons why i dont really care just yet. But for purposes of introduction, just call me the eclecticc. Why the xtra "c" at the end? Well, because i call them as i "c" them, i "c" them as they are and just what will come next from the patterns of thought i create you will just have to "c" to believe.
And now that we have been properly introduced let's talk about Brett Farve (and yes i spelled it incorrectly, let's be honest how many people, fan or otherwise would recognize that i did, not even considering how its pronounced, lol?).
Ya know, thanks to Barry Bonds and the boys of steroids i've coined a phrase, and i may not be the first to find an alternate usage for it, but its what i call the "asterisk years".
And i'm sure that you people of grey matter will see quickly where i'm headed. And yes, that's right where i'm going. That time in an athletes career that we have to try and find a way to disclude from a conversation because, while we can't ignore it, it doesn't necessarily deserve to be mentioned. Unfortunately for some athletes the "asterisk years" is all we can talk about because it is what they're most remembered for quite honestly. Now that i've defined my coined phrase...
I believe that per your citations in your blog, Brett has now reached said "asterisk years" and its time to call it quits. I HATE trying to explain, or discussing the not quite successful "comebacks" of Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Brett Farve perhaps? Uggh, please Brett, i beg of you, don't make me have to dance around your "asterisk years" as well.
I would really love for someone to tell me exactly why we sports fans work so hard to get to retirement and the professional athletes don't know when to? But in this case, (so far) we have only one "asterisk year" to insert into "who is the best quarterback ever conversation" that includes Brett Farve and as long as he stays retired iiiiiiiii belive i can successfully navigate that one inglorious year with talk of all of his other superhuman performances.
So right along with you Jward....i tip my tip cap to Brett Favre and say, "thanks for the years of conversations to come regarding your feats, enjoy the hall of fame and enjoy your family. Time with family, without the care and worry of a career stealing that time away, isn't that what we all aspire to? Whether professional athlete, corporate white collar worker or dollar per hour employee. And you know something, i would really hate to think when that time comes and we can walk away to enjoy our family and life without extreme worry or care, that we would say, "gee i really hate to have to leave work". To me that means that you weren't in it to make the best living you could, it was because it was life for you. I hope that Brett's better than that, as we all should be.
Happy Retirement Brett!
Another good write up Jward!
The Eclecicc