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Favre’s decision to walk away from the game in March was met with the type of pomp and circumstance normally reserved for the passing of heads of state.
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Dave Myers |
You couldn’t turn on a TV or radio or pick up a newspaper without being inundated with tales of Favre’s unparalleled exploits on the gridiron, and explanations of just how much he would be missed. It seemed like there were more teary-eyed testimonials for Favre than there were for Princess Diana.
Everywhere you turned you were hearing about how much Favre meant not only to the Packers and the NFL, but to fans across the country. His status as a larger-than-life salt-of-the-earth hero was his legacy.
Now his legacy is that of a player who didn’t know how to walk away from the game, who put his wants and needs above his team. His legacy is that he lacks the integrity to take ownership of his doubt, uncertainty and regret.
Instead of coming clean when recent reports surfaced about him looking into the possibility of a comeback, Favre dismissed the reports as “all rumor.”
The rumor mongers in this case were Chris Mortensen at ESPN, Jason Wilde at the Wisconsin State Journal and his former teammate Al Harris, just to name a few.
While this wouldn’t be the first time ESPN ran with a story before they flushed out all the facts (see Kirk Herbstreit insisting LSU football coach Les Miles was taking the Michigan job), Wilde and Harris have done nothing to make us doubt their credibility.
On the contrary, Wilde is an award-winning sportswriter for a newspaper that has covered the Packers in an exceedingly positive manner (something not found in many other NFL markets) for years and Harris is a former teammate who certainly doesn’t benefit from more speculation or questions about a possible Favre comeback. Just ask the Philadelphia Eagles players how helpful it was to spend most of the 2005 season answering questions about Terrell Owens (another player who wasn’t suiting up and helping them win games).
But according to Favre these people are just spreading rumors about him.
Clearly the former Packers quarterback doesn’t like the idea of having his career as an NFL icon lowered into the ground and covered with the frozen tundra. But that is exactly what eventually happens to each and every player in the NFL.
However, in the NFL — just as in nature — death is accompanied by the birth of something new.
In Favre’s case the death of his career means the birth of a new era for the Packers and his replacement Aaron Rodgers.
Or so they thought.
After enduring years of “Should I play or should I go?” the Packers thought they finally were ready to move on. But as we all were reminded Wednesday, this isn’t over until Favre says so. And evidently his saying so doesn’t actually make it over either.
While I have great deal of sympathy for Favre and what he’s going through — closing the door on a great chapter of his life that included competing on the biggest stage in American sports and receiving the unconditional love and adoration of millions of football fans — perhaps we should reserve some of our well wishes for the biggest victim in all of this: Aaron Rodgers.
As if it wouldn’t be hard enough for Rodgers to replace arguably the most beloved Packers player in history, Favre is making it pretty clear he doesn’t want to be replaced.
Even though Rodgers’ temperament could best be described as a little Jeff Spicoli-ish, it seems the ever-present specter of Favre is already beginning to weigh on him.
Exhibit A: Rodgers’ recent remarks during an interview with Sports Illustrated. “I don’t feel I need to sell myself to the fans, Rodgers said. “They need to get on board now or keep their mouths shut.”
At first glance this seems like an unnecessarily hostile way for Rodgers to approach skeptical Packers fans.
However, I suspect that a psychologist or psychiatrist might describe this as a prime example of transference.
I think it is obvious it’s Favre’s mouth that Rodgers wants shut, not some fan’s.
But publicly telling Brett Favre to shut his mouth might not be the best way to endear one’s self to Packers fans.
In reality the best thing for Rodgers and the Packers is to have Favre speak up.
A simple “I want to play again,” or “I will never play again,” would go a long ways.
Continuing to be coy about having an “itch” to play or reminding people that you’re still good enough to compete keeps you in the limelight, but the Packers deserve better than that.
After 17 magnificent seasons in the NFL, Brett Favre’s legacy should be about the tremendous things he accomplished on the field, not how hard it was for him to leave it.
Dave Myers can be reached at (608) 791-8202, or dave.myers@lee.net.
