Back in the mid to late 90’s when Brett Favre was winning MVP’s, parting his hair down the middle and winning Super Bowls I never thought I would still see him in the league in 2010. Without a doubt a first ballot Hall of Famer Brett overcame injury after injury to put together one of the greatest streaks in sports as well as career numbers that few even have a chance at reaching. He was the Jack Bauer of the NFL. As soon as you thought he was dead he would come back stronger than ever with that “I am too good at this to quit” attitude. Well, finally Brett, it looks like you can quit.
It is no secret that Brett has had a dismal season this year, with a depleted receiving core and a suddenly inconsistent running game Brett began to look his age. And oh-by-the-way Brett was born in the 60's...'69, but still, the fact that he was born near the height of the Vietnam War and is still in the NFL feels odd. Okay, so he is old, broken down and still (after 20 years) makes some bad decisions, now we know. But some people are acting like they knew before the season started that he shouldn’t have come back. Saying stuff like “I knew he was too old” and “he should have just quit a long time ago”. I call BS, if Favre had a decent season this year and the Vikings made the playoffs the tune would have been different. There is no discernable difference this year in Brett’s play, he just didn’t have his bailout receiver (Sidney Rice), AP wasn’t AP and the Vikings have been playing from behind much of the year allowing teams to play the pass.
Favre’s annoying habit of retiring and then not retiring is an annual tradition we won’t miss. Kind of like NBC trying to re-create the magic they had with Friends and Seinfeld by releasing nearly identical shows every season, it is just old, uninspired and more hype than substance. Also, ESPN will finally have to retire their full “Favre Watch” graphics package, not sure what Adam Shefter and Shelly Smith will report on but something tells me Tom Brady might be getting a haircut.
Skipping training camp looked like it took its toll on Brett this year as well and while it was be important for him to rest it also turned half of the locker room against him. The Jenn Sterger thing didn’t help him or us (did we really need another “dong-gate”?) and it was just another distraction in a distracting season for the Vikings.
Bottom line on Favre, he bet on “scenario A”, that his body would hold out and he would be able to have a great season and lead his team to the Super Bowl, a storybook ending. Unfortunately “scenario B” happened, his body didn’t hold up, he played terribly and his team collapsed around him. So since “scenario B” happened people are going to say he should have hung it up after last year. Before the season I think a lot of people would have gambled on scenario A.
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