The following piece of writing is a once in a lifetime occurrence, the following piece of writing is rarer than Bigfoot and a unicorn put together, the following piece of writing is me agreeing with and defending the Green Bay Packers.
If this is the first you’ve heard about the Brett Favre retirement saga then you’ve been living in a hole the last three months. However just in case you are cloudy on the situation let me enlighten you on what is going on.
In early March Brett Favre announced his retirement from the National Football League, making way for former first round draft pick Aaron Rodgers to take over the reigns and build the Green Bay Packers for life after Favre. The Packers then went into the off-season to build the best possible team around their young quarterback, they used their top draft pick on a good wide receiver in Jordy Nelson out of Kansas State. They drafted Brian Brohm to bring in more young talent at the QB position and bring in competition for Rodgers so he doesn’t get “too” comfortable with his starting spot.
In the midst of the whole migration of the Packers from the Favre era to the post-Favre era, Brett Favre himself has managed yet again to hog the whole spotlight. He went back and forth for months until he said he’s not coming back, once that finally sank in he then said that he wanted to come back. This has been one of the most inconsiderate moves by a professional athlete I’ve seen in my years as a sports fan. Throughout this whole off-season Favre has been a huge selfish distraction looming over the Green Bay Packers and more specifically Aaron Rodgers. Amazingly the only excuse I’ve heard for this has been,
“He’s Brett Favre, he can do what he wants, that’s just Brett Favre.”
These are the same excuses we’ve heard over the last 17 years every time Favre threw a game losing interception, now as a retired player the endless and even more brainless excuses are resurfacing again. These excuses have always just been smoke screens to cover up the media’s love affair with Brett Favre, now as he attempts to come back they are making one last ditch effort to bail him out. It makes me incredibly happy to see that the majority of football fans and analysts all over the country are no longer falling for it.
What’s even more amazing is that the Packers aren’t even falling for it as they have informed Favre he may return “as a backup.” This shocked just about every cheese head in the world, it may have shocked Favre but it did not shock me. In fact if I were the Packers head coach I would have done the exact same thing.
Think about it Favre is 38 years old, he demands a 12 million dollar contract, and every year is an even slimmer chance that you will win the Super Bowl with him as your quarterback. Every year is also another year delaying the success of your future, apart from Favre the Packers are one of the youngest teams in the NFL, they have a talented young quarterback in Aaron Rodger who isn’t getting any better on the bench. The decision by the Packers to not allow Favre to come back in and hold the fate of the team for another year was the most sensible decision made in the NFL this off-season. They are a better team talent-wise and chemistry-wise with Favre out of the picture.
So Favre will not play 2008 in Green Bay, but will he play in 2008 at all? It’s possible but it’s doubtful. I just don’t see many teams that are just one quarterback away from the Super Bowl. A lot has been said about possibly going to the Bears or the Vikings but Green Bay will not allow Favre to go somewhere else in the sam division so Chicago and Minnesota are both out of the question.
I could see maybe Miami, Baltimore or perhaps the New York Jets giving Packer’s GM Ted Thompson a call but I don’t see the appeal of a $12 million, 38 year-old quarterback. The best thing for all parties considered would be for Favre to stay retired at the top of his game on his terms. It also gives the rest of us a chance to enjoy a football season without hearing his name every four seconds by every NFL media outlet in America. Brett Favre needs to act like an adult for the first time in his career and graciously step out of the spotlight and stop delaying the developing career of Aaron Rodgers.
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