He Just Wants to Play the Game

Anyone who has shown a slight interest in the NFL in the past seventeen years or who has seen the movie There's Something About Mary probably knows who Brett Favre is. He is a three-time NFL MVP, winning the award three consecutive years, he has started 269 straight games, which is unprecedented for a quarterback, and he is considered by many to be one of the best quarterbacks of all time. His hard work and love for the game have earned him a place in the heart of many who follow football. Favre even has the distiction of being the only man to make John Madden weak in the knees.

But as of late, the media has ceased to have an adoration for all things Favre. This can all be traced back to March 4, 2008 ,when after bringing the Packers to the NFC championship that season, Favre announced that he would retire from football. The plot thickened several months later, when Favre decided that he didn't yet have it in him to step away from the game and furthermore that he was pressured by the Packers to make a decision before he was ready. So in July, the quarterback asked the Packers if he could come back, they said no and additionally refused to release him from his contract. Finally, in August, though refusing to release him, the Packers agreed to trade Favre to the New York Jets, where he played this past season, bringing a team that was 4-12 the previous season within one game of the playoffs. 

Now Favre certainly wasn't the same quarterback he once was, throwing eight interceptions to two touchdowns in his final five games (though it now appears that this could have been the result of a shoulder injury). But he certainly showed that he can  be productive in the NFL. Still, in February Favre retired for the second time and he was released by the Jets in May. Shortly after though, as has become common with the man, Favre allegedly had a change of heart and was reported to be in talks with the Minnesota Vikings, a big rival of his former Packers. He has reportedly sent X-Rays of his shoulder to the Vikes and now is debating whether or not to get surgery and make the comeback. 

This ongoing saga has earned Favre quite a bit of flack, to say the least. His constant wavering on whether or not to end his career has always drawn criticism, and now with some speculating that Favre is just seeking revenge against the team that betrayed him, many are saying that Favre has tarnished his legacy. But it seems that even the experts sometimes forget that the best athletes are humans too, humans who have emotion and change their minds. Whether or not part of Favre wants to come back so that he can get some revenge on his former team, it obviously is not the only reason. It seems clear to me that Favre is still in love with the game, and that if he's not ready to walk away from it and thinks that he can still play, then he should be allowed to do just this without any criticism. In fact, I applaud him for not being afraid to change his mind and for going with his heart.

To conclude, like I've done just a little too often in this blog, I will bring it back to John Madden. In talking about what made Favre unique Madden said, "some guys had to be reminded it is a game and you should have fun playing it. He had fun playing. He had fun practicing it. He had fun in the locker room, the bus, the airplane." I say that if Favre wants to have some more fun, nothing should stop him.