Some Thoughts on Brett Favre and the NFL

I’ve been communicating via e-mail with a friend of mine on the subject of football.

I’ve known this person since our college days at the University of Arkansas, and we both confess to being lifelong Arkansas Razorback fans.

To borrow her own words, being a Razorback fan is part of our DNA.

When it comes to pro football, she’s been a Packer fan for the last several years, largely because of Brett Favre, who retired in March, tried to un-retire once training camp opened and he decided he wanted to play after all, and has resumed his career as a New York Jet.

I, too, am a Packer fan, although my roots go a little deeper — I’ve been a Packer fan since I was 6 and Vince Lombardi was roaming the sidelines. ("A whole lotta water under the bridge," as Dooley Wilson said upon being reunited with Ingrid Bergman in "Casablanca.")

Favre, as I pointed out to my friend, hadn’t even been born when I became a Packer fan. And Favre’s about to turn 39 this fall.

Anyway, my friend says she is no longer a Packer fan. She’s angry with the Packer organization for letting Favre go, and she’ll be watching more Jets games this year.

As much as I enjoy watching Favre play, I don’t know how many opportunities I’ll have to see a Jets telecast in Dallas, Texas — unless the Jets happen to be playing the Cowboys! (Incidentally, the Cowboys do not play the Jets during the regular season.)

But I’ll watch him when I can. As long as he is out there playing, Favre will be entertaining to watch. I wish he was still a Packer.

And I continue to be a Packer fan. I appreciate what Favre did for the team — believe me, after suffering through some of the Packer seasons I’ve suffered through, it was a real joy for me to see them play in two consecutive Super Bowls in the 1990s.

But I, along with my colleagues in the so-called ”Packer Nation,” waited 30 years to see the Packers return to the Super Bowl. If it turns out to be another 30-year wait, well, we’ve already put the first 10 years behind us.

That’s how long it’s been since Favre played in a Super Bowl. And, as he takes over the offense of a team that went 4-12 last year and has to play the New England Patriots twice during the regular season, it’s doubtful that he’s about to return to the Super Bowl.

In 2008, anyway. Beyond that, I’m not prepared to say.

Because Brett Favre is a freak of nature. What else can you call a man who has played the demanding position of pro quarterback for as many consecutive games as he has?

(I’ve heard sportscasters say that Peyton Manning would have to play in every game for the next six years to match Favre’s career mark. Even if the Colts didn’t make the playoffs in any of those seasons, that would still require Manning to play in nearly 100 straight games to match the mark Favre has now — and the meter is still running, if Favre plays in the Sept. 7 opener in Miami.)

For all I know, Brett Favre could wind up playing pro football until he’s 50.

But he’s going to need some good fortune to get through the 2008 season. Before it’s over, he may decide that he might have been wise to do his impersonation of Rocky Marciano and retire on his own terms — unblemished and unbowed.

By the way, the Patriots will be the Jets’ second-week opponent. It’s the Jets’ home opener — I’m guessing that one will be televised nationally. The following week, Favre and the Jets will travel to San Diego to play the Chargers on Monday night.

Welcome to the AFC, Brett. Good luck.

Anyway, I guess this is an appropriate point to offer my 2008 predictions.

• AFC East: The New England Patriots. Who else?


• AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers


• AFC South: Indianapolis Colts


• AFC West: San Diego Chargers


• Wild cards: Cincinnati Bengals, Miami Dolphins


• First round: San Diego 30, Miami 7; Pittsburgh 21, Cincinnati 17.


• Second round: New England 28, Pittsburgh 14; San Diego 17, Indianapolis 16


• AFC Championship: New England 23, San Diego 20

I’m not predicting a 16-0 season, though!

And, in the NFC …

• NFC East: Dallas Cowboys


• NFC North: Chicago Bears


• NFC South: New Orleans Saints


• NFC West: Seattle Seahawks


• Wild cards: New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings


• First round: New York Giants 20, Seattle 17; Minnesota 16, New Orleans 7


• Second round: New York Giants 21, Dallas 14; Chicago 10, Minnesota 9


• NFC Championship: Chicago 24, New York Giants 3

And that leaves us with a Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears — a rematch of Mike Ditka’s championship nearly a quarter of a century later.

But with a different result — New England 23, Chicago 13

So Long, Brett

Nearly two months ago, as Brett Favre and his Green Bay Packers teammates were preparing to meet the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game, I wrote a little about Favre's career and how ridiculous it was to wait until his career was over to induct him into the NFL's Hall of Fame.

Turns out, his career was just about over. We just didn't know it yet.

That Sunday, Favre and the Packers lost to the Giants in overtime. New York went on to the Super Bowl two weeks later and upset the previously unbeaten New England Patriots.

And today, Favre called it quits.

My immediate response was, "Oh, no!"

I'm a Packer fan. I've been a Packer fan since I was a boy and Vince Lombardi was walking the sidelines.

That, by the way, was a couple of years before Favre was born.

And, as a Packer fan, I've been through many difficult seasons with many subpar quarterbacks -- years when Terry Bradshaw and the Pittsburgh Steelers were dominating the NFL, years when Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers were the best team, and all the other years, when the championships went to Griese and the Dolphins, Staubach and the Cowboys, Stabler and the Raiders, McMahon and the Bears.

About a quarter of a century passed between the last time that Lombardi walked off the field as coach and the first time Favre walked on the field in a Packer uniform. And, in most of those years, the Packers were terrible.

Suffice to say that, when Bradshaw, Griese, Staubach, Stabler, McMahon and Montana were winning Super Bowls, the Packers were being led by quarterbacks who were completely forgettable.

You won't see their busts in Canton, Ohio. Although you might see some of them on the NFL's blooper reels.

So, like most Packer fans, I've gotten a little spoiled with Favre at the helm for nearly two decades. The guy's never missed a game. He's rewritten most of the NFL passing records. He played in two Super Bowls and he won one of them.

I knew this day would come. I was just hoping it was still a couple of years down the road.

It seems that mere words can't do justice to what Favre has done in his career. But that hasn't stopped the nation's sportswriters from weighing in.

Rick Morrissey writes, in the Chicago Tribune, that Favre's departure is "our loss."

"I know that's probably heresy to most hard-core Bears fans," Morrissey says, "but it's true. Anybody who enjoys football, who likes flair and emotion and effort, liked Brett Favre. The NFL just became a colder place with word of his retirement ... He looked like a kid who was enjoying a game, and even the most cynical among us had to appreciate that, especially in a sports world in which greed and self-absorption seem to be the most prevalent natural attributes. "

That's the thing that always appealed to me about Favre. It was always so much fun to watch him play. And I will miss that very much.

But kids don't stay kids forever. They grow up. And growing up brings with it new issues.

Another season just wasn't worth the grind for Favre, writes Peter King in Sports Illustrated.

But that doesn't mean that Favre doesn't love the game.

And football fans love Favre, says Pete Prisco of CBS Sports.

"We loved watching him play," writes Prisco. "He was fearless. He was daring. He was the every man, the Southern kid with the aw-shucks, down-home attitude who happened to have a rocket for a right arm. He also had flaws, which we all do. ... Maybe that's why so many loved Favre so much; fans saw themselves in him."

Without Favre, says John Clayton of ESPN, the Packers may still be a playoff team, a team with loads of young talent and a quarterback in Aaron Rodgers who has been groomed to succeed Favre.

But without Favre, Clayton says, the Packers won't be the same team. "[I]t's hard seeing the Packers back at that Super Bowl level this season without him. They are just another NFC team that has a chance."

Clayton says the Packers are going to miss Favre's magic.

And so will I.

So long, Brett. Thanks for the memories.