I don't know about you, but I literally can't remember a time when Brett Favre wasn't the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. I suppose that speaks to my youth, but it makes what happened today hurt that much more.
Just four months ago I watched Brett retire, with tears in his eyes. It was different than in years past, when there was doubt whether or not Favre would return. We were always hopeful, but understanding. But announcing his retirement seemed pretty concrete to me. It felt like a fitting end to an amazing career, we had gone to the NFC Championship game and had our best season in years. After the news stories died down the pain of losing the greatest quarterback the NFL has ever seen started to fade away.
Over the past few months there have been rumors here and there about how Brett wanted to come back and try once more to get back to the Superbowl, even telling David Letterman that once training camp rolled around "something would happen". I never gave much thought to these, if you followed Favre's career the way we do in Wisconsin you knew Favre wanted to come back... he'd would always want to come back... but rumors about coming back are one thing and announcing your retirement from the NFL is another.
Other sports greats have retired and wound up returning to the sport they love. Michael Jordan came back to the Bulls, then played for the Wizards for a while and eventually faded away. Reggie White, the second greatest Packer legend in recent years, returned to football several years after retiring, played for the Carolina Panthers and also faded away.
For some reason I took Brett's word for it when he told us he was done, that it was over, that I would finally know what it's like not to have Brett Favre start every single game for the Green Bay Packers. Last season was the greatest we've had since going to the Superbowl, plus he broke pretty much every single quarterback record there is. What more does he want? Asking to be released from the Packers feels like being stabbed in the back by your best friend, when you least expected it. Favre always seemed different, like he would never do something like this to Green Bay and it's fans. Reading Tom Silverstein of Jsonline.com's article about today's events, something stood out, something I never expected from Favre:
"According to ESPN.com, which has become the medium through which Favre and his agent most often reveal their intentions, Cook's letter to the Packers suggested that the Packers owed it to Favre to release him so he could sign with the team of his choice." - Tom SilversteinHe's half right, the Packers do owe Favre for his years of leadership and our first Superbowl victory in 30 years. But to expect us to simply release him of his contract so he can play for whichever one of our competitors he wants is ridiculous. If Brett wanted to play football next year we would have taken him back with open arms, just not after four months of "retirement". The Packers should get as much as they can for Favre to make the team even better next year.
I never thought I would say this about Brett Favre, but good riddance.
