Brett Favre Set to Retire

ESPN.com is reporting that Brett Favre, the Packers heart and soul, is retiring after a 17-year career filled with ups and downs. It's not the news of his retirement that shocks me but the comments that people are putting behind it.

Born and raised in Wisconsin, I have watched the Packers play for as long as I can remember. When Brett took over the reins, it was an exciting time for the Packers. They had been sub-par for many seasons but had never lost following by fans. Brett brought a spark with him ... he was fun to watch and even better than that ... he was good!

People questioned him from the get go ... was he too much of a gunslinger? Was he too unpredictable? He proved himself in 1997 when he took the Lombardi trophey back home to Wisconsin. The following year, Packers fans were crushed by the 4th quarter defeat in the big game by the Broncos. But still, Brett was a fan favorite. Traveling around the U.S. in college, the first thing I would notice was that no matter where I went, there were always Favre jerseys. People either loved Brett or they hated him. The one thing most people would agree on though was that he was a good quarterback and they didn't like when "their" team had to play them.

The past 5 years have been a series of questions about whether he was still capable of professional play and when would he retire. The first question was answered this past season. Up until a fatal error in overtime against the Giants, the Packers were set to represent the NFC in the Superbowl. No one predicted that Favre could get them there but he did. He inspired the young guys to play like a champion. Yes, he made a mistake ... a critical one that ended those Super Bowl Dreams, but think about it? Who expected them to get that far in the first place? Definitely not me and I LOVE the packers.

The second question was answered today. Brett will officially leave football. But now amongst all the hoopla of retirement people are raising different questions and comments about how people are taking the news. It has always been known that Packers fans would be sad on the say he retired regardless of how well he was playing at that time. Outsiders are saying that they are taking it too hard ... that's debatable.

I have read comments about people saying that he isn't a great, that the Packers would have been better off without him, that he is arrogant and selfish among other things.

In defense of my beloved team and the quarterback that I will always think of when I think football, here is my response. He is a great and he is a legend. He has surpassed so many records of players that are undisputably some of the best to have ever played the game. While he might hold the interception record he also holds the touchdown record. The way he played was sometimes carefree and borderline sloppy but it was exciting to watch. When Brett was on, he was unstoppable and when he was on, we wanted him to throw the deep ball.

As for the Packers being better off without him, I think that is a naive statement. Not only was he a great player for so many years but he was reliable and dependable and the type of guy that a team got built around. It's funny how many little boys in Wisconsin are named Brett after him not because he has a great arm but because of the type of player he was and the type of man he is.

The leads into the arrogant statement. I think a lot of people take Brett's soft-spoken and slow-to-answer Southern "charm" as arrogance. Really he's just a man of few words and doesn't talk himself up. When all the hype was going on this year, Brett kept it in prospective. He didn't rub it in how good they were, but said what everyone was thinking deep down, "how did we get here?!?" An arrogant and selfish man would not hold the record for most consecutive games started (a record that will most likely never be broken) because an arrogant man would sit out to recooperate. Brett played hurt not only physically but mentally. The Monday night game after his father died was one of the most remarkable performances by any quarterback. Most men would not have played in that game but he said he did it for not himself but for his dad and for his team.

I'm sad today ... a great man and a great quarterback is retiring. I'm disappointed though, of what people are turning it into.
Good bye Brett ... we'll miss you ...