Brett Favre, possibly one of the greatest players to ever compete in the NFL, has announced is retirement. After 17 years he is going to hang it up and leave his beloved Packers.
Favre, like Unitas, and Montana before him, was different. Yes, he always had a super-human arm, but coming out of Southern Miss, Favre’s initial Q rating was not high. When the Falcons dealt him to Green Bay in February of 1992, it was not headline news in Atlanta or anywhere else outside of the Packer-mad state of Wisconsin.
Then we saw him play, a tough guy who not only loved the game but played it the way we thought we would if they gave us a helmet and a chance.
He didn’t play in fear of what the Monday morning quarterbacks, or the writers, or the radio hosts were going to say, and that kind of courage ultimately means more to the average NFL fan than the ability to throw the football from goal line to goal line. You wished you could be as tough as Favre, and you wished that you could do your job without a fear of making mistakes.
Seriously, I’m sitting here thinking how sad it is that I’ve seen Favre play his last game for the Pack. It’s unfortunate, Green Bay could have won it all this year, and their chances look good next year. Can’t believe he doesn’t want to take one more shot at the trophy, but really, he doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone.
I wish him good luck and hope he enjoys his retirement.