Trust me, I'm tired of Favre Watch, too, but I have to talk about it..
Brett Favre. Should he come back? Will he come back? Does he have enough in the tank to come back? Brett Favre has been "retiring" year after year, but somehow, he still comes back.
I can't rag on him too much, as he is possibly the greatest Quarterback to ever step foot on a football field. But, why put teams through this? If he doesn't come back this year, the Vikings will have to start underachieving Tarvaris Jackon or Sage Rosenfels. The QB position is by far the most important position on the field and with Jackson or Rosenfels at the helm, the Vikings could be in for a long season. Waiting on Favre to come back, the Vikings failed to draft a solid QB in the draft or pick up a quality one via free agency. The Vikings deserve to be treated better than this. Favre should come back just for that simple reason alone.
Favre started off playing collegiate football at Southern Mississippi University, the only college that offered him a scholarship. Southern Miss wanted Favre to play Cornerback, but instead, he played Quarterback (great decision). Favre led numerous upsets in his Golden Eagles days against perennial powerhouses, Florida State and Alabama. In the 1991 draft, Favre was taken 33rd overall by Jerry Glanville and the Atlanta Falcons. Glanville disapproved of drafting Favre and once said that it would "take a plane crash for him to put Favre into the game". Favre quickly fell out of Glanville's favor and was soon dealt to the Green Bay Packers, after going 0-4 with o touchdowns and 2 interceptions in his rookie season. He was expected to be the backup to Don Majkowski, Green Bay's starter at the time. In the second game of his sophomore season, the Packers played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and were trailing the Bucs 17-0 at halftime. Mike Holmgren benched Majkowski in favor for Favre and the Packers would up still losing the game, 31-3. The next game, Majkowski tore a knee ligament and was forced to miss four weeks. Favre was yet again thrown into the mix and led a comeback win against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The next week, Favre was effectively named the starter against the Steelers and the rest is history. He finished the 1992 season with a Pro Bowl berth and leading the Packers to a 9-7 record, barely missing the playoffs. In 1993, Favre led the Packers to their first playoff berth since 1982. Favre was expected to become a free agent, but Ron Wolf, the GM at the time, signed Favre to a 5 year, $19 million contract. In 1995, Favre won his first of three MVP awards and led the Packers to an 11-5 record, their best record in almost thirty years. However, for the third straight year, they were beaten by the Cowboys in the playoffs. The following year, 1996, Favre and the Packers advanced to the Super Bowl, and defeated the New England Patriots 35-21 (Desmond Howard was SB MVP). The next year, Favre took the Packers to the Super Bowl again, only to be defeated by John Elway and the Broncos, 31-24. Favre has not returned to the biggest stage since then, but has provided some of the most amazing skills any person has ever seen from a Quarterback.
On March 1, 2001, Favre signed a "lifetime" contract extension with the Packers, which technically was only a 10 year contract worth somewhere around $100 million. The Packers were mediocre in the early 2000's and they couldn't regain the form they had in the mid 1990's. On December 22, 2003, one day after Favre lost his father to a heart attack, the emotional Favre led the Packers to a 41-7 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Favre threw for an amazing 399 yards and 4 TD's in the game, even getting applause from the Raider faithful. After the game, Favre commented, "I knew that my dad would have wanted me to play. I love him so much and I love this game. It's meant a great deal to me, to my dad, to my family, and I didn't expect this kind of performance. But I know he was watching tonight."
The 2007 season was a milestone season for Favre. On September 16, 2007, Green Bay defeated the New York Giants, 10-6, to earn Favre's 149th win in his storied career, surpassing John Elway. On September 30th, Favre threw his 421st touchdown to Greg Jennings, passing Dan Marino as the NFL's all-time leading touchdown passer. On November 4th, Favre became only the third player ever to defeat all other 31 teams in the NFL (along with Peyton Manning & Tom Brady). Later that season, against the Lions, Favre threw three touchdowns for the 63rd time, surpassing Marino yet again.
However, the Packers would lose in the playoffs to the eventual champion, New York Giants. Favre threw for 236 yards and 2 touchdowns, but threw an interception in OT to set up the Giants to win the game. His Green Bay days were pretty much over and it ended on an interception. On March 4, 2008, Favre announced that he would retire from the NFL. He wanted to come back, but felt that if the Packers didn't win the Super Bowl, it would be a worthless season. On July 11, he sent a letter to the Packers front office, wanting his unconditional release, so he would be able to sign with another team. Ted Thompson announced that he would not grant Favre his wish and would move into the Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay. He also publically announced three days later that his retirement was too soon and he didn't feel comfortable walking away from the game he loved and dominated.
After months of the "Favre Watch", the Packers finally dealt Favre to the New York Jets for a conditional 4th round pick. His New York tenure started off well with an 8-3 start and defeating the previously undefeated Tennessee Titans. However, the Jets lost 4 of their last 5 games and finished the season with a 9-7 record. He finished the season with 22 touchdowns and 22 interceptions, while complaining of shoulder pains. In the last game of the year against the Dolphins, Favre ended a potential game-tying drive with his third interception of the game. The Jets would miss the playoffs and his Jets career ended with an interception. New York Jets GM, Mike Tannenbaum, said after the season was over that the Jets wanted to take another direction and Favre's stint was over. On February 11, 2009, Favre told the Jets that he was officially retiring from the NFL.Even though he was retired, Favre expressed interest in playing for Green Bay's long time rival, the Minnesota Vikings. On July 28, 2009, Favre announced to the Vikings that he would remain retired. But, on August 18, it was reported that Favre would un-retire and sign with the Vikings.
On October 5, Favre would play against the team he spent the majority of his career with, the Packers. In a thriller, the Vikings won the game 30-23, and Favre would become the first player ever in NFL history to defeat all 32 teams. On November 1, Favre returned to Green Bay for the first time. Amidst cheers and boos, Favre led the Vikings to victory once again with a 38-26 victory. The game drew 29.8 million viewers, which was even more than the Phillies and Yankees Game 4 matchup in the World Series. The Vikings started 10-1, but lost 3 of their last 4 games and finished the season 13-3. The Vikings went into the playoffs on a bad streak, but they defeated the Cowboys, 34-3, in Favre's first playoff win against Dallas. They advanced to the NFC Championship game, where they would lose to the eventual champion, New Orleans Saints. With time running down, Favre's last pass was an interception and the Vikings would have to go home in disappointment. Perhaps my favorite statistic ever, all of Favre's final throws for all 4 teams ended in interceptions. Definitely not a great way to go out for perhaps, the greatest QB ever.
Favre has yet to decide if he will come back. It's still up in the air whether he still has the ability to play the game. There is no doubt in my mind that he could lead the Vikings to more wins than Jackson and Rosenfels, but he still has to come back to even attempt it. The Vikings have one of the best overall teams in football with Favre coming back and they could probably go back to the NFC Championship game, and maybe win it. He should come back just to try for one last ring before he retires. I mean, he's such a great player, so why not?Does he have enough in the tank? I say no, but with the heart he has, it can overcome anything. Favre has battled injuries throughout his entire career and he has still conquered some of the toughest feats. There is no doubt in my mind that he can still compete.
Will he come back? I think he will. Despite surgeries and injuries, Favre still has the heart to play football. With such a great team surrouding him, they can make it deep into the playoffs. Favre has even gone on to say that he wouldn't mind beating the Saints. With that statement, it seems to me that he wants to come back and if he has the ability to return, he will. Even Green Bay fans want to see him return. Statistically, he is the best Quarterback ever, so everyone would want to see him play. I believe that if he didn't have such a good team, he wouldn't come back. But, with the team he has, there is a very distinct possibility that he will return to the spotlight.
Like mentioned above, the Favre Watch gets me extremely annoyed, but it provides news in the NFL offseason. But, I'm excited to know Favre's decision because one way or another, it will change something in the NFL. It doesn't matter where he goes, just as long as he's in the NFL. It may be too good of a career to end just yet.
NOTE: If Brett Favre wanted to play the 2010 season, he would have to go through minor ankle surgery. He chose to do so and Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery earlier this month. Favre also injured his shoulder in 2008 with the Jets (Week 11), but New York failed to report it to the NFL ($125,000).
