Gary Lambrecht, The Examiner
2008-07-10 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

If Brett Favre is considering abandoning retirement to play quarterback again for the Green Bay Packers, four months after that teary good-bye, Favre will join an elite list of great athletes who were unable to stop feeding their addictions to competition, money or attention.

This act is kind of sad and played out, don’t you think?

Once Michael Jordan disgraced us with his second and final comeback, his highly visible failure as a Washington Wizard, the bar on ill-advised un-retirements was set at a new low.

For me, Sugar Ray Leonard created the modern “good-bye-hello” standard. In 1982, Leonard first walked away from the ring after he suffered a detached retina. That was followed by a comeback five years later and a controversial decision over middleweight champion Marvin Hagler, who promptly retired, moved to Italy and meant what he said.

Not Leonard.

He waved bye-bye again in 1991, after losing a junior middleweight title bout to a footnote named Terry Norris. Then, Leonard returned several years later, only to finish as a 41-year-old loser to Hector “Macho” Camacho.

By the time age and fading skills had reduced him to the ranks of the ordinary, Leonard was an annoying shell of his former self.

Since Leonard’s final exit, we’ve been treated to Roger Clemens, who has made more farewell tours than The Who.

The Rocket, with an assist from The Juice, did some otherworldly things for a major league pitcher in his 40s.

He won more Cy Young Awards in his twilight than he copped in his prime, and produced some achievements with amazing chutzpah. In his last go-round with the Yankees, Clemens was allowed to go home and hang out on the days he wasn’t pitching. He collected more than $1 million for each of his victories.

This is not to meant to disparage Favre on that kind of scale, if his comeback is truly taking shape. At age 38 and coming off one of the best seasons in his storied, 17-year career, the three-time MVP likely is capable of playing at a solid level by his standards, which is plenty good for the quarterback-starved NFL.

But everything about this apparent dance with Father Time and the Packers just feels wrong.

Favre had been wearing on the Packers for some time with his retirement flirtations. Then, after the most beloved passer in team history got the Pack to the NFC title game in January and finished with 4,155 yards and 28 touchdowns, he made it “official” on March 6 with the most replayed speech in the history of ESPN.

And suddenly, with training camp just around the corner and successor Aaron Rodgers ready to step in after preparing extensively as the starting quarterback, No. 4 is rumored to be itching to return. Favre reportedly has made Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson aware of his desire to return.

Has Favre spent enough time with his family to realize he needs a vacation already with his old teammates? Does mowing the lawn and doing laundry not quite measure up to being universally adored and performing heroically in a packed stadium? Is Favre still having nightmares about that last pass he threw, the horrible interception in overtime that opened the door for the New York Giants to continue their Super Bowl title march?

Only Favre knows.

And only the next few weeks will tell if the Packers will be forced to dance again, either by reinstating Favre and his $12.5 million salary — and relegating Rodgers into the backup role again — or by trading him or cutting him loose, thus setting a likely bidding war in motion.

I get the sinking feeling that, if Favre comes back, the man who holds records for touchdown passes (442), consecutive starts (275) and passing yards (61,655) will age in a hurry and fade fast.

I don’t want to see Favre pull a hamstring, or finally take that devastating hit that compels him to finish his comeback on the sideline in Green Bay or worse, someplace else.

I’d rather Favre have another good cry, hire a life coach to help him find a hobby, and stay where he went on March 6, his legacy unblemished.

Gary Lambrecht writes about the NFL, Major League Baseball and college sports. He can be reached at glambrecht@baltimoreexaminer.com