It Was a Nice Run…

Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Just because I’m known to some of my friends and colleagues as the biggest Brett Favre fan among lifelong Vikings fans does not mean I need to be kept away from sharp objects. I am not in denial. I know the gunslinger has decided to retire.

I don’t know if I can say the same about my in-laws who live in Wisconsin and wore Packers gear to my wedding rehearsal dinner last fall. I have not heard from them all day and, quite frankly, I’m a bit worried.

Brett has decided to hang up the cleats, to put the gun back in the holster… to retire. I have come to grips with that and, as a Vikings fan, that’s good news.

As many have pointed out today, he’s played in more straight games, thrown more passes for more completions, more interceptions, more yards, and more touchdowns, won more games, and won more MVP awards than anyone who has ever played quarterback. Favre has all the records and accolades, he has a Super Bowl ring, and his bust is already being worked on in Canton.

The question then is: why retire now? After years of flirting with retirement, why retire after one of his best seasons with a team that almost got to the Super Bowl?

Packers’ general manager Ted Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy held a press conference this afternoon looking as though they hadn’t slept a wink. Asked why Brett decided to retire, they kept coming back to the fact that he was mentally tired.

How will his heir apparent, Aaron Rodgers, fill his shoes? You might be surprised to know that I’m not totally down on him. Rodgers knows the Packers offense well, has good size, an accurate arm, two Pro Bowl caliber wide receivers, the support of a solid running game (assuming Ryan Grant was not a mirage) and he looked good in his limited opportunities this past season. I would not want him as my starting quarterback in a standard 12-team fantasy league, but as a backup, I’m listening. Have you seen what passes for “quarterbacking” for at least half the teams in the NFL lately? Then again, maybe Grant, Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, et al. looked as good as they did because of ol’ number 4. In the end, none of them will be as valuable to fantasy owners.

Skeptics will point out that Favre conveniently waited until his name was atop the record books in several more prestigious passing categories to retire. I don’t buy it. He was still wrestling with the decision last week when he spoke to McCarthy and ultimately didn’t make up his mind until Monday. There are also those who will mock and chide Favre over the reports that he spoke with then-free agent Randy Moss last week and was prepared to play another year or two if the team signed him. And then when the Patriots re-signed the record-breaking receiver, he decided to take his ball and go home. Again, I’m not buying it. Favre made no mention of Moss in the infamous voicemail he left Chris Mortensen nor did he mention it to McCarthy or Thompson.

You can’t call me a homer for not believing the negativity about Brett because, again, I’m not a Packer fan. By all rights I should despise the guy after all he’s done to my Purple-helmeted warriors over the years, but I don’t. You didn’t have to be a Packer fan to enjoy watching Favre play the game with the youthful exuberance of a kid in his backyard for the past 17 years. You just had to be a football fan.

I know I’m just teeing myself up for ridicule from those I know, but I’m going to say it anyways. In my years of watching and covering sports, rarely have I truly, seriously missed watching a player perform after their retirement, but I’m going to miss watching Brett Favre. I wish him well.

It was a heckuva nice run.