The Brett Favre Debate

Gordie Howe finally hung his skates up.

George Blanda eventually ran out of ways to get paid for putting on shoulder pads.

Sooner or later, Brett Favre will retire.

Thus, the question: where does he fit in the pantheon of All-Time Greats at quarterback?

I understand that I am asking the most subjective of questions, because guys like Sammy Baugh and Otto Graham almost never receive any sort of consideration. Then again, the NFL was a different animal when they dominated the game; little things like face masks and zone blitzes didn't exist back then. Still, the question has some merit, if only because it gives Joe Six-Pack and Billy Barstool something to debate while ignoring the Pro Bowl.

So, what about Brett?

There's no question he's a Hall of Famer. His career is littered with bold black numbers (meaning he led the league) in important categories, like completions (twice), yards (twice), percentage (once), TD passes (four times), and that ridiculous three-peat MVP run from 1995 to 1997. He has never completed fewer than 300 passes in any of his 18 full campaigns (he barely played as a rookie in Atlanta); he has thrown for 4000 yards six times; he has nine (!!) seasons of 30 or more TD passes;he has quarterbacked exactly one losing team (Green Bay, 2005) in his entire career; and he is currently holds the NFL's career record for TD passes in a career (497).

He is also the NFL's career leader for passes intercepted (317), and he has led the league in interceptions 4 times. By comparison, Joe Montana and John Elway have never led the league in interceptions.

That's the thing that keeps coming back to me. Those interceptions.

Brett Favre has more interceptions than Joe Montana has TD passes.

It's not just the amount that troubles me. It's the timing. In his last two trips to the playoffs, Favre has gotten his team one game away from the Super Bowl, only to throw game-killing interceptions with time running out.

Troy Aikman never beat himself like that. (It's funny how 3-time winner Tom Brady gets so much more love than 3-time winner Troy Aikman, but I digress.) Neither did the aforementioned Montana. John Elway in an AFC title game was as certain as death and taxes, and his early Super Bowl losses are somewhat forgotten in the glow of those back-to-back Super Bowl victories that close his career.

Perhaps more to the point, consider the play that won Pittsburgh's sixth Super Bowl championship. Ben Roethlisberger, refusing to be beaten, throws an all-timer to Santonio Holmes in the corner of the end zone, in the only place that his guy could have caught the ball. It's the throw that makes this play, as Roethlisberger tosses a soft spiral just over Holmes' right (outside) shoulder, away from the defender. Throw it short, throw it inside, game over, Arizona Cardinals are the champs. With everything on the line, Roethlisberger tossed a beauty.

In the same situation, Brett Favre likely throws into triple-coverage and gets picked. Game over.

I see you jumping up and down, Mr. Madden, and I acknowledge the point: yes, that was hypothetical.

But isn't it fair to ask that one of the all-time greats is more of a gamer with the game on the line?

He has appeared in as many Super Bowls as Kurt Warner, and has as many victories, yet there's no way I take Favre over Warner if I had a choice. Warner in the playoffs is an utter assassin. Don't forget, if it's not for that beauty that Roethlisberger threw to Holmes, Warner would have had the game-winning touchdown pass when he found Larry Fitzgerald running free through Pittsburgh's secondary.

That's the thing about Favre. It seems like I can always find someone better, even though he's been really, really good for a very long time.

Still, the Hall of Fame beckons, and rightly so. Favre will find his place among football's immortals.

For me, though, and perhaps for many, it comes down to this: who would I pick if...?

If all players living or dead are considered, some answers are still pretty easy. If I absolutely had to have a strikeout, I'd look at Bob Feller, Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, or Randy Johnson. I could hear arguments for a couple of other guys (Mariano Rivera comes to mind), but there aren't 20 other pitchers you'd consider over these guys. If it's basketball and I had to have a game-winning shot, I'd look at Jerry West, Hondo Havlicek, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, or Kobe Bryant, period. There's no one in the history of the NBA I want even touching the ball with the game on the line unless it's one of those five guys.

But if I absolutely have to have a TD pass to make the playoffs, to get into the Super Bowl, to win the championship?

I'd look at a lot of guys before I'd look at Brett Favre.