Brett Favre: Where Good Meets Bad

The legendary athlete Brett Favre has made a decision to leave professional football, more than likely forever. Brett Favre was one of the most complete football players ever, however in a non-traditional way. Favre himself was a novel right out of the Charles Dickens memoirs, a tale of two players. Favre was everything good you wanted in a football player and conversely everything you didn't want, a yin and yang in a battle so intense that we get them confused. From touchdowns to interceptions and throwing technique to quirky sidearm passes, Brett Favre was an extremely unconventional player that made football worth while for fans, the supporters and the opposition.

The most accurate assessment of Brett Favre is simply stated by two of his major records, he holds the career touchdown record as well as the career interception record. Favre willed his way to touchdown after touchdown with his rocket arm mentality. There are three types of people in the world, those that make something happen, watch something happen, or those that don't know what happened. He came to work everyday looking to make something happen, whether it happened or not was not due to lack of effort. They can never say he didn't try hard enough, especially after starting 257 consecutive games which is unfathomable in such a physical sport. He single handedly rejuvenated a franchise that was dormant and brought a special type of magic. Even late in his career he still exercised his magic demonstrated by his underhand flip while he stumbled to the ground amidst the snowfall on the frozen tundra in the 2007 playoffs. Plays like that will cause a coach to lose his hair but Favre took the bad and made it a positive. Moments like these epitomized Favre's oxymoronic career.

Brett was easy to love because he was so human. Of course his life was documented and seeing him go through problems with alcohol and multiple family problems including death of his father make it a little easier to relate to him on an emotional level. Most people will never know what it feels like to get millions of dollars and be recognized all across the nation for being a NFL quarterback; it is just not an aspect that most can connect with. But life occurrences and emotions are universal. There is also something that people grasp when other people fail. Perhaps that is why tabloids still sell. Favre stumbled off and on his whole career, one minute he is playing phenomenal and the next minute the Lambeau faithful are standing there with their hands on their heads and mouths wide open. But the people never lost any amount of love for Favre. He was viewed as their hero and the guy they rooted for because they understood his plight on a personal level.

The Brett Favre that most people knew was the intrepid gunslinger (primarily because that is how the media portrayed him). He was indeed talented and exhibited a level of leadership that earned him respect throughout his career. He did not get the touchdown record because he was conventional and safe. He got the record because he had the gumption to put a team on his shoulders when the game was in the balance and take a chance to make a play; often times it worked out and sometimes it did not. There is something to be said for a man that is willing to take chances to help the team excel to the next level. Generally Favre never had a superstar cast, perhaps the most talented pass catcher he had was tight end Sterling Sharpe, but he brought the most out of everyone that he played with. Often forcing receivers to catch passes thrown with the strength of Thor because if they didn't it was going to hit them in the facemask with such velocity it would spin their helmet sideways. Also, do not be misled Brett understood the game as well. Although he was rarely as active at the line of scrimmage as a Peyton Manning, he thought well on his feet.

From beginning to end Favre did it differently and achieved results none before him had achieved whether good or bad. Whether you loved him or loved to hate him he made football worthwhile for so many fans, sometimes for good reasons and sometimes bad ones.