Brett Favre Archive

I thought we were done with this guy. Not even close.

Score 2 for Brett Favre; 0 for Addisports.

This old quarterback has become quite comical. And while he’s been a stellar athlete in his umpteen professional years (18 to be exact), the availability of his service became so much of a sideshow to the NFL, I honestly thought Michael Vick might be upstaged in media hours this week.

Oh no, not when it comes to Brett Favre. He had it to finally go ahead and make a decision, when all eyes and ears were finally off of the circus in Minnesota. Turns out, those two days of Vick coverage possibly jolted him back to reality — one where he knows he’s not the center of the universe and there are other more gifted, athletic and young quarterbacks waiting to take the throne he has held. Or, I should say, once held.

With 464 touchdowns (and 310 interceptions), a couple of Super Bowls and penchant for dawdling on retirement, Favre is myopic, iconic and problematic. (These things come in threes.) The cream of the crop of the old gun slingers, and he’s besieged by his own youthful demons. The only person benefiting from his continued existence as a professional football player in this mental capacity is Favre himself. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about team. It’s about him. And seeing how he’s not the amazing quarterback he was five years ago (maybe 10), he did the Vikings a favor by not screwing up their long term goals. Can we finally say, good riddance? I hope so. Because I don’t want another update on him and his wishy washy mind.

You never can tell with Brett Favre, but recent events are strongly hinting at another comeback. First, Favre had surgery to repair his throwing shoulder, which he blamed for a not so great first un-retirement from the Jets. His agent, Bus Cook, wouldn’t confirm or deny this, but offered this quote without prompting:

“I would think [the Vikings] would pull out all the stops if they want to get the guy,” Cook said. “I think Brett Favre just brings a whole new ballgame to any ballclub. That’s no reflection on the guys that are on their team at quarterback right now, but Brett’s in a different league than most.”

It’s recently been revealed that Favre’s family and friends have reserved 25 to 30 hotel rooms near Lambeau Field, strangely right around the time the Packers host the Vikings. This could be “just in case,” but that’s the strongest indicator I’ve seen yet, other than him being Brett Favre.

Pat Kirwan of Sirius NFL Radio, who has a close relationship with Vikings head coach Brad Childress, is convinced Favre is coming back and disputed a supposed decision deadline set for this week.

“I heard you talking about Brett Favre, every show has been talking about him,” he said. “I’ve got a couple of things to say. First off, let me make sure I’m clear on this to everyone who is listening. There is no deadline for Brett Favre to come in by Friday. There is zero deadline. The story was made up, it’s not true and trust me on that.”

He then made this confident statement:

“Favre is on his way to Minnesota and it may be around July 15,” Kirwan said. “It might be earlier. Remember how we said first Step 1, ‘Is he healthy enough to play?’ He’s in the process of having that resolved. Step 2, get a contract done. We don’t think that’s going to be a problem either so the first two hurdles are going to be easy to fly over and then come in and be part of this program.”

I would love to hear a quote from Favre himself that’s clear in any way as to whether he’s returning. Something along the lines of, “Yeah, probably. That’s what I usually do.” It’s more likely he’ll “struggle” with the decision right up until the preseason kicks off.

Come on, Brett. You know you miss it. You know you need it. You don’t want to spend the fall on your couch when you could be throwing touchdowns, high-fiving teammates, running around like a kid on the football field and sticking it to the Packers for getting rid of you last year. Retirement? That’s just a word. Nobody thinks you meant it. Hey, hang on, hang on, I think I’ve got something here – why don’t you make a comeback?!

I have now done a complete 180 on Brett Favre twice in my lifetime. I think I speak for a large portion of the population when I say I used to love the guy. He used to be one of my favorite quarterbacks for all the reasons John Madden has laid out time and time again. Now, I’m just sick of him. Can’t stand him.

But I’m serious about wanting him to make a second comeback. Last year, I wanted him to retire and stay retired. The comeback irritated me. But now that there’s talk of another possible comeback with the Vikings, my thinking is ’screw it.’ Let him come back and further tarnish his reputation. I hope he comes back, sets some sort of turnover record through four or five games while leading Minnesota to a sub-.500 record, gets benched for the remainder of the year, and laughed at. Maybe he could demand a trade too.

Some people have lost respect for Favre because of his retirement/unretirement/retirement/unretirement? I lost it a long time ago when he pulled this stunt with the Packers every offseason, always holding them hostage. They finally drafted their future starter in Aaron Rodgers with no clue of if or when he might ever play.

You know what else makes me laugh? This idea that soon-to-be-40-year-old Brett Favre is the guy that is going to put some team like the Vikings over the top. Ridiculous. These teams must be picturing a Favre who’s in his prime. Did they not see him play with the Jets last year? He was decent, I guess. Pretty good for his age, I guess.

But 22 touchdowns to 22 interceptions, and leading a team that choked late in the year to finish 9-7 and out of the playoffs doesn’t get me pumped up. Jason Campbell, Shaun Hill, Seneca Wallace, Trent Edwards, Matt Ryan, Chad Pennington (who Favre replaced in NY), Aaron Rodgers (who replaced Brett in GB) and Tarvaris Jackson (yes, Vikings) had better quarterback ratings than Favre (81.0).

Brett Favre isn’t the Vikings’ answer. He’s not putting any team over the top and into championship contention. But I hope they think he is. Maybe it’ll take a truly god-awful embarrassing season to show him he shouldn’t be playing anymore. I’ll gladly watch that. I’m rooting for it.