When the Player is Bigger Than the Team: Why Brett Favre's Legend is Already Tarnished

For an athlete who's not yet 40 in a sport where 29 is considered by many to be too old to play, Brett Favre will leave an interesting and unfortunately tainted legacy. That legacy, of course, kicks in when and if he finally decides to retire. Favre is seen by many football fans as one of the last of the gunslingers in the sport: shoot first, ask questions later. Shoot from the hip, hope that your running back/wide receiver can come up with a miraculous catch. Make every other man on the field know that you own it by your very presence - a presence that you've carefully cultivated over the decades as a good ol' boy who was blessed with incredible skill.

Brett Favre is and always will be the face of the Packers organization. Right now, the organization that has supported him, nurtured him and allowed him to make a kingdom out of his fans is being held hostage by Favre's apparent inability to make a commitment. After throwing an interception during the team's final post season game - a throw that knocked the Packers out of contention for the Super Bowl - Favre went into what seemed like a state of massive depression. Initially, he shouldered the blame (and rightfully so). He urged Packers management to provide him with "better" receivers, practically stalking Patriots' free agent Randy Moss in a campaign to bring Moss to the Midwest. Days after Moss re-signed with the Patriots, Favre staged one of the most interesting press releases by an athlete (or any figure in the public eye). Watching Favre cry at that televised March press conference was more than a little unsettling. It was evident that he was running on raw emotion rather than a carefully thought out game plan. Many in the Packers' organization felt that his announced retirement from the game was the petulant response of a player who was angry at them for not having secured Moss. If he couldn't have his receiver, he'd take his ball and go home - for good. To be honest, I found the sight of a grown man crying and blubbering his way through a rambling talk about not having "it" any more both dishonest and beneath someone of his stature. Cry when Deanna was diagnosed with breast cancer; cry when a parent or close relative passes away. Don't shed crocodile tears because you're too mentally worn out to think clearly because your team couldn't get you a player that you wanted on your team. It was a sign of weakness, emotionally and mentally, and gave us insight into what Favre has been doing for the past three years to the franchise itself: waffling. I don't think that many of us believed a word that he said about retirement. It was an awkward, embarrassing scene.

The starting quarterback for the Packers for the past 16 years has been playing this game with the team for the past four years. He's dropped hints publicly and privately about not returning. In the meantime, journeyman rookie quarterback Aaron Rogers has waited patiently in the wings. It's important that people remember, when Rogers was drafted by the Packers, that Favre stated in a press conference that it "wasn't his job to train him". Nice guy, that Favre. Hang the kid out to dry from the start.

By announcing publicly that he's changed his mind about retirement and "thinks" he wants to play, Favre has hung an awful lot of people out to dry. There's Rogers, who's taken the high road throughout this whole fiasco. The guy has been working since Favre announced he was retiring to become worthy of the quarterback's job. (Favre didn't even bother contacting Rogers before letting the rest of the world know that he wanted his old job back.) There's Brian Brohm, the quarterback drafted as Roger's backup and understudy. There's an entire offense that's been reshaped to what would - and should - eventually happen: Favre leaves the field. You also have a front office that's moved forward with their plans for the future of the franchise, as well as the stockholders of the Packers organization, the fans. I thought it was quite telling that a "rally" among fans to bring Favre back drew only slightly under 100 people, many of them adolescent boys.

The Packers shouldn't release Favre. Favre should do the honorable thing and abide by his publicly announced retirement. You're 39 years old, Brett, and that day has come. Apparently the gunslinger mentality that he's prided himself upon for so many years produces a scatter shot effect, literally wounding as many people as he possibly can in his path along doing it his way. The city that honored you for nearly two decades deserves better. When you had lousy seasons going back to 2004, 2005 and 2006, they stood by you. They also knew that help was on the way in the form of Aaron Rogers and, eventually, Brohm.

To play for another team would be the ultimate insult to the fans of the Packers. And that, apparently, is what Brett Favre really wants to do. With that internal and physical clock ticking, he wants another shot at a Super Bowl ring. If he can't get it in Green Bay, he's willing to sell himself to any other team that has a shot. As of July 23, 2008, the Green Bay Packers' front office is investigating calls made by Favre on his team-issued cell phone - calls that were made to Brad Childress and others with the Minnesota Vikings. While Childress has a long and personal relationship with Favre, he didn't initiate the calls: Favre did. According to sources close to Favre, the only team he wants to play for other than the Packers would be the Minnesota Vikings. Since teams haven't exactly been beating down the doors of Green Bay's head office inquiring about trades, Favre's status is further diminished. Why would a team agree to take on Favre's hefty contract for a quarterback who may play just one more year, or - worse yet - hold them hostage as well over the next two or three years as to whether or not Favre wants to continue playing or retire yet again.

Stay retired, Brett, and enjoy the rest of your life. There should be no place in professional sports for an aging athlete with a bad case of Peter Pan syndrome.