Yesterday, Brett Favre made a few comments that some in the media have taken to indicate that he is not returning for another season next year. "I had a blast working with these guys. It was a lot of fun", for example. Of course, any player on any non-playoff team could have made the same comment, and it would have just been standard end-of-season wrapup talk. When Favre says it, everyone picks apart each word of the off-the-cuff statement. He had a blast. Why didn't he saying he is having a blast? He must be retiring.
Here's the thing people tend to forget, or at least overlook. Brett Favre is a recovering addict and alcoholic. [NOTE: To my knowledge Favre has never described himself as an alcoholic, but his wife Deanna revealed in her book that he checked himself into alcohol rehabilitation in 1999. He has discussed his addiction to Vicodin.] While he hasn't had any public battles with addiction in many years, he almost certainly still possesses much of the same style of thinking.
For example, he procrastinates and he is indecisive. Why quit today when he could just quit tomorrow? He constantly resets his own deadlines, putting off any decision that might paint him into a corner or have some sense of finality. He is also very selfish, not caring what his actions do to the people around him. He seems to tend towards the pain he knows (playing) rather than take a risk on an unknown (retirement). Also, like a firefighter who dabbles in arson just to create rescue scenarios for himself, I really think Brett Favre subconsciously at times sets up rescue scenarios in games. He doesn't just want to win. He wants to win the way he wants to win.
When he finally did announce his retirement, I guarantee these thoughts kept popping into his mind. "It wasn't as bad as I remember. Sure, there was some pain, but it was fun too. I'm older and wiser now. This time will be different. I don't feel like I quit the right way. I still need to get it out of my system." He minimized the bad things and inflated the good.
And so it started with a little nibble, a little text message taste back to the Packers. It progressed into a full-blown football relapse. Favre was suddenly obsessed with playing football in 2008. It became obvious, quickly, that he wasn't going to be able to control how it would happen. His fantasy of leading Minnesota or Tampa Bay into the playoffs was smashed by the Packers. They essentially said, "We want you out of our life. We love you, but can't handle you anymore." Fans, not privy to the torture Brett forced the Packers' front office to endure, said the usual outsider stuff. "How could you turn your back on him after everything he did for you?" Others said, "He'll change his mind again rather than go play in New York. This can't be what he wanted." It wasn't, but Favre surfaced with the Jets, looking slightly nauseous but determined to prove that he was right all along.
Fast forward to today. As of right now, Favre is probably utterly convinced he is not going to play for the Jets next year, or anywhere else. His shoulder hurts. He looked pretty old. He played pretty poorly, especially late in the season. He didn't recapture the glory of those Super Bowl runs of a decade ago. He's probably coming to grips with the idea that he'll just never get that feeling back. So he probably will announce his retirement some time by the end of February.
By March, April or May, he'll start feeling really good again. The Jets will still be without a long-term quarterback plan, with Kellen Clemens tentatively preparing to be the Week 1 starter, barring a trade. Brett Ratliff, from Utah, is the only other QB on the roster, and the free agent market is looking very thin. They won't make any big moves because they'll wonder if Favre will want back in. The same thoughts will keep creeping into his head, and he'll know the door is open.
We fans will all know that he would be a moron for coming back again. We think in terms of tarnishing his legacy. It is extremely unlikely that the Jets could win the Super Bowl next year, as they would still have a lot of AFC teams to suddenly leapfrog to even be a legitimate contender. The media will fall for the new retirement hook, line and sinker, too. They love to compare him to Unitas, who spent his final forgotten year in San Diego. They always seem to forget that Joe Montana, Marcus Allen and Emmitt Smith played MULTIPLE years in exile.
I don't think Brett particularly cares about violating our notions of how a player is supposed to maintain his image and legacy. I think Brett cares about what Brett wants, and I think that Brett is going to want to play football again in 2009.
17 Responses:
I wish all the folks on the east coast who are enamored with this spoiled old jock the best. The article is correct-it's all about Brett.
He's the best I've ever seen from Tittle to now. NO-ONE and I repeat NO-ONE has ever done more with less. If he can still bring it, which I believe he can, I can't wait to see him suit up again. In today's era of the gun-totin', mouth-runnin', drug posessin' athlete.....even with his flaws, he's refreshing and a positive face for the NFL. Fire Mangenius. His mistakes and the lack of protection that that over-rated O-line provided Favre are a disgrace. Favre was sacked more times in the last 5 games than the last 2 1/2 seasons he spent in GB. Enjoy watchin' Favre while you can, cause one day he really will retire and the hole left in the NFL will be as vast and black as one can imagine.
Enjoy all that we in Wisconsin went through last winter...
I think it's pretty obvious he's got nothing left. He looks like half the man he was here.
Listen, the guy was with the team less than 5 months and had to learn a new system with new personel. Even eith all that, he won 9 games. Rodgers worked in the same system for 4 years and took a 13-3 team to 6-10. Yeah, let's all attacjk Favre,
The firing of Mangeni may suggest that Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum wants Brett back. One might argue that Mangini's dismissal had nothing to do with Favre. Perhaps, but I doubt it. On the other hand, it's also possible that Favre pulled of his "I may not be back" routine to force Jets managements hand into getting rid of Mangenius.
Favre didn't like Mangini, according to numerous NY and national reports. Supposedly, there was tension there.
I agree with Jason. Brett's all about himself. I for one am tired of his act.
However I also understand why Woody Johnson would want Favre back. He puts people in the seats of the new stadium and sells jerseys.
But why would Tannenbaum want him back? Would Mangini have been fired if Favre was still with the Packers. I don't think so.
Will the new coach be told that he has no input in terms of whether Favre is on the team? Supposedly, $owher is interested in the Jets job.
What influence, if any, will Brett have in choosing the new hire? Does $owher even want Brett back?
For a guy who throws a ton of picks, the Jets seem to be going through great pains to please him.
For the second anonymous guy who said Brett was the best ever. Sorry, but I've always felt he was an overrated prima dona. I think his appeal is to white, middle class, Southern and middle America, beer drinking, gun toting, truck driving, "Red staters".
I don't want to get into any sort of race or political discussion here but if he wasn't white, he would be considered a QB version of TO. He wouldn't get away with half the crap he gets away with if he didn't appeal to middle America.
Yeah, fool. It's not like he has any records or MVP awards. These Favre haters are laughable.
Listen..........Shortly after that game in Oakland afew years back when Favre played a TERRIFIC game the day after his father died, many annointed him as the second coming. Shortly aafter that, he lost his: father-in-law, his brother-in-law and his wife was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. Now we ALL have problems but this a bit much for anybody. The point is, if he kept us waiting a few seasons as to whether he wanted to play he or not....boo-&%$#@!-hoo, get over it. He deserved the right. Let's see where your head would be at going through those kind of challenges during the same short period of time. As for this season, Favre made some bone head throws BUT he doesn't play defense, doesn't call the plays, doesn't cath the football and certainly didn'y play on that over-rated offensive line. I agree with the 2nd poster, he's one of the best or THE best I've ever seen. And the INT record is BS too. Montana has ....what...159 INTS? Favre has 312 or so. Well, Favre has thrown the ball 5000 plus more times than Montana. You Favre haters should rethink your position. And as a lifelong Packers fan dating back to 1965, we all know that if it wasn't for him the rest of the country could've cared less about the Packers. He put us back on the map.
You're confusing 2 different issues. Yes, Favre has won a Super Bowl, has all sorts of records, and will be a first ballot Hall of Fame selection. I'm not a Favre hater. But I am tired of his annual "will he come back or won't he" crap. After throwing a pick against the Giants, essentially costing his team an opportunity to go to the Super Bowl, he then takes forever to decide whether he'll retire or not, then changes his mind 3 months later before training camp, then demands a trade when said team doesn't guarantee him a starting job and makes him earn back his starting position (Aaron Rodgers works his ass off all offseason and the Pack and they should just tell Aaron, hey we know you're doing everything we ask of you but sorry, we want to pamper this prima donna just because he's a superstar, right?), then he goes to the Jets and supplants Pennington, who had been the starter for like 6 years or so. Oh, unlike Brett, Pennington never once complained, moaned, or bitched about having to compete for his starting job in training camp. Then, in the last game of the year, he loses to Pennington and the Dolphins. But wait, it gets even better! He's going to think about coming back or retiring again for a few more weeks.
By the way, Favre has also won 3 fewer Super Bowls than Terry Bradshaw or Joe Montana, 2 fewer than Aikman, or 1 fewer than Elway. And if it weren't for Desmond Howard, he might be ringless. In which case, he would be no different than Dan Marino.
So Anonymous, I don't HATE Favre. Rather, I'm not enamored of him like so many others are. Furthermore, I'm tired of his act.
For the 2nd anonymous poster who pointed out all that Favre has gone through. I agree that he has been through a lot and I admire and respect his perseverance. But my biggest problem with Favre is that when he announced that he wanted to come back to Green Bay, he wanted his starting position given back to him right away. When Ted Thompson and Mcarthy told him he would have to compete with Aaron Rodgers, that was when he wanted to be traded to the Vikings. I'm not saying Packers management didn't handle everything perfectly. But I think Favre didn't serve himself well by his attitude during training camp.
Dude, Brett Favre shouldn't have been asked to compete with Aaron Rodgers for anything. Especially since he had a terrific season.
Pete
Pete, the Packers had already made plans to move on without Brett. At what point do they see if their investment in Aaron Rodgers is worth it? They made plans in mini camp and OTA's to have Rodgers as their starting QB. They passed on an opportunity to draft another QB in the draft or sign one in free agency, in the event they wanted someone to compete with Rodgers. No athlete, regardless of how great they have been, should be guaranteed anything, if they keep acting like an a-hole. Even the Wizards parted ways with Jordan, and he was a greater athlete than Brett Favre.
Nikhil
No matter what spin you put on it or no matter what argument you can you can come up with....you don't do that to Brett Favre. Favre earned and deserved a one time "Get Out Of Retirement Free" card. Statistically speaking he had one of his best seasons ever. And anyone in their right mind realizes that if Thompson had the Packers best interest in mind Brett was the guy to play. You put your ego on the side and field the best team possible. Rodgers maybe good one day, but he wasn't the best option at that time. As for Jordan, he was a terrific athlete, but Favre hasn't missed a game in 1000 years. Snap after snap and hit after hit. I wonder who the better athlete was/is. We can debate this forever, so I'll end my foray into this realm now and leave someone else to leave their opinion.
Pete
Nothing like Farve to bring out polarizing debate... Farve is an admirable competitor, and a heck of football player, but as a QB, he is VERY OVER-RATED.
The most important factor in Brett's SB status was REGGIE WHITE. The Packers were ALWAYS a RUN-FIRST team, and a passing team second. I've watched Brett all my adult life, living in WI, IL and MN throughout his career, and he's OVER-RATED. Why was it 9 YEARS between his appearance in the NFC title game (97-07, and he lost it in 07)? The NFC was the WEAKER CONF during that time period, and he couldn't lead to them to the title game. Answer, no Reggie White.
Jonny
To the guy who brought up MVPs, get a clue. The MVP is voted on by THE MEDIA, and one of those MVPs was shared w/ Barry Sanders, who ran for 2,000 yds for the LIONS, and that alone should win him the MVP outright.
But Barry avoided the media, and Brett is very friendly w/ the media. BIAS. He's a likeable guy, but they should hand out the MVP based on likeability.
Brett made a better story, and what is the MVP if not a canned article for a writer at the end of the yr. "Here's who I think was the most valuable player, and why" and the best part is, its an opinion, SO YOU CAN'T BE WRONG, but that doesn't mean you're right either. There's always a debate before the MVP, who should it be. Every ESPN show debates the MVP in every sport, on NFL Live, or PTI or ATH, or Mike and Mike. Peter King has an MVP watch in his MMQB column beginning at midseason. Its filler for writers.
But once the vote is in, we suddenly forget that there were any other candidates at all. So that's junk. Brett may have won 3 MVPs, but he never won a single one in my opinion. I would have voted for Sanders or Young, or Elway.
Jonny
For all the people who are blindly in love with Brett Favre, like Pete. Please read below. Now, I'm sure you'll say the writer was biased, it's the media's fault, yatta yatta yatta.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/ny-spfavre0101,0,147368.story
Farve is a Massive Massive CUNT
http://arsensox.blogspot.com/2008/12/occasional-digression-475-favre-ruins.html
I hope he comes back so the Patriots can cut his nuts off. But he won't .
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