Brett Favre suits up for his third team in three years this season, landing
with the Minnesota VIkings. (AP/Hannah Foslien)
Dear Brett Favre,
Congratulations on signing with the Minnesota Vikings. I have nothing against you professionally. You have been a great quarterback—probably one of the best of all-time.
You never really hurt the San Diego Chargers directly—while you were the dominant player in the NFL, the Chargers were giving themselves self-inflicted wounds.
It was a joy to see you play with all that passion and boyish charm. The NFL loved you—the quintessential American boy, wearing those Wrangler jeans, gun-slinging his way into the hearts of America.
But now, you have turned your back on what made football fans (except for those in Minnesota and Chicago) truly love you.
And on the Monday night after your father’s death, all of America loved you.
That was six years ago and now you have shown us how much of a prima donna you really are.
No longer are you the man who was once mentioned in the same breath as Johnny Unitas, Roger Staubach and Joe Montana.
No longer is your character deemed to be fun-loving and magnetic.
After dissing the Green Bay Packers—who gave you a hero’s farewell—and ditching the New York Jets (they didn’t want you anyway), you end up with the Vikings, the team they you were supposed to hate for more than a decade.
But I have no problems with you signing with Minnesota—it gives the NFL ratings, it gives you publicity, it makes the NFC North exciting.
What I have (and had) a problem with is your penchant to feed your ego with this retirement game you play every year.
The minutia of your drama-filled offseasons have plagued the NFL for too long.
It’s really megalomaniacal of you. You want to be the hero—the quarterback who saves the day.
Which is why you left Green Bay, because Aaron Rodgers—the California golden boy—took your golden seat as the heartbeat of cheese-head-wearing nation and is now adored by those dairy-loving fans who still wear your No. 4 jersey.
You came to New York because it was like the second coming of Namath—you were supposed to lead them to the playoffs, but your NFL-leading 22 interceptions led to the Jets’ grounding.
You alienated the locker room and the Jets had to be rid of you. Now they turn to another former Pac-10 quarterback to lead the team’s revival.
And now you land in Minnesota, which has a primed defense and the best running back in the game. You’re seen as the last piece to the puzzle—a Super Bowl run now possible with you wearing your No. 4 jersey for the Vikings.
But the problem is that you’re a shadow of your former self. You’ll be 40-years-old in October, with your best years too far behind you.
The reason why the Packers let you go is the same reason why New York did earlier this year—you’re not the man they need nor want to lead them to the promise land.
It’s too bad that John Elway was wrong. After he beat you in Super Bowl XXXII in San Diego, Elway told you that there’d be more to come—that you’ll have at least one more shot at the Super Bowl.
He was wrong. And those waning years in Green Bay, it was never your fault that the Packers never returned to the world’s most-hyped game.
But you played them every year with the threat of retirement. You played the Jets with the specter of retirement. You almost left those two franchises, which gave you so much, hanging.
We just want to remember you for those good years you had—for the way you celebrated winning Super Bowl XXXI, for the way you grittily played through injury, for the way you played after the passing of your father.
We don’t want to remember this whiny brat that has become Brett Favre.
You should have just stayed retired.
More Examiner Coverage: Green Bay Packers Examiner Jesse Motiff laments Favre's return. New York Giants Examiner Zac Wassink compares Favre to Hollywood Hulk Hogan.
For more info: Visit our San Diego Chargers Examiner, Dave Thomas. For more on the NFL, visit our NFL Examiners, Jeff Bergen and Reid Kerr. Follow me on Twitter.
Comments
YOUR SAID "After dissing the Green Bay Packers—who gave you a hero’s farewell"
WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SMOKING? YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE NOT A CLUE OF WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. BRETT WANTED TO PLAY FOR THE PACKERS LAST YEAR, THEY BASICALLY TOLD HIM DONT LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT. GET YOUR FACTS CORRECT BEFORE YOU HIT THE "PUBLISH" BUTTON.....BUT THEN, YOU ARE PROBABLY THE SAME TYPE OF PERSON SHOWERING PRAISES ON VICK, WHILE CUTTING DOWN FAVRE....THIS ARTICLE SUCKS MONKEYS!!!
YOUR SAID "After dissing the Green Bay Packers—who gave you a hero’s farewell"
WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SMOKING? YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE NOT A CLUE OF WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. BRETT WANTED TO PLAY FOR THE PACKERS LAST YEAR, THEY BASICALLY TOLD HIM DONT LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT. GET YOUR FACTS CORRECT BEFORE YOU HIT THE "PUBLISH" BUTTON.....BUT THEN, YOU ARE PROBABLY THE SAME TYPE OF PERSON SHOWERING PRAISES ON VICK, WHILE CUTTING DOWN FAVRE....THIS ARTICLE SUCKS MONKEYS!!!
Just keep drinking the kool aid dude! Teh Vikes are gonna roll!
The Packers "dissed" him and I welcome him to Minnesota. Like he said today, it is a business. He "hated" the Vikings for years, but now he is on their team and will play the Pack the same way he played Minnesota. No one ever talks crap about baseball players switching teams 12 times in their careers. No one says anything about basketball players doing the same. And I have to say that I would be the same way being an athlete myself. After quitting, I would always wonder "what if I played another year?" You also have to remember that the Vikings coaching staff and owners played a major role in this. You know, like everyone else, he did not want to go through training camp so they told him to say he was going to stay retired. They didn't want his teammates to be upset about him getting out of camp. It was a setup...not just by him.
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