By George Ofman
Heeee’s back – again. Just when you thought it was safe to consider the NFC North a two-quarterback division, you still can. Brett Favre, waffling as often as Charles Grassley on health care, has declared his love for the Vikings and his desire to pummel the Packers and Bears. Maybe he’ll gain his revenge against Green Bay, but he’ll never get a chance against the Bears. That’s because Favre will be a non-factor by then. Either he’ll have been sacked into yet another retirement, his right arm will fall into one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes or teammates will simply offer him a road map to Mississippi. The Vikings don’t play the Bears until November 29th, at which time Favre will be watching Tarvaris Jackson heave interceptions instead of himself.
I’m all for comebacks, but this one will fail. Again.
Wasn’t Favre’s return to the New York Jets greeted as a ticket to the Super Bowl? They were 8-3 and then . . . poof! They lost four of their last five and missed the playoffs.
And Favre. . . he threw only one touchdown pass in those losses and seven interceptions. A late-season arm injury contributed to his and the Jets’ demise.
Favre eventually informed the Jets that he was retiring again. But not before former Bears running back Thomas Jones offered a not-so-pleasant parting gift: “We’re a team and we win together but at the same time, you can’t turn the ball over and win. If somebody is not playing well they need to come out of the game.”
Ouch. And Jones wasn’t through.
“You’re jeopardizing the whole team because you’re having a bad day,” he added. “To me, that’s not fair to everybody else. You’re not the only one on the team.”
Would you be shocked if Adrian Peterson utters similar words when the Vikings’ ship starts to sink because Favre can’t steer anymore?
Favre was treated like a king by Jets brass. But as the season wore down, so did Favre. Maybe the crown he had worn for so long was tarnished and maybe, too, his reputation.
The king is dead, long live the king!
I’m not fazed by Favre’s ego or desire to re-invent himself. If he wants to avoid most of training camp, all power to him. He’s not the first NFL player to try this stunt.
And I don’t care that Favre has lied about retiring. We’ve all lied, though most of us haven’t announced we’re retiring, and more than once!
And it doesn’t bother that me he’s held the nation hostage by his whining and waffling. In fact, he’s created enough story lines to revive the newspaper business.
Don’t blame Favre for being selfish. Let’s remember, it was Packers who decided to bring him back, thus retarding the progress of Aaron Rogers. And it was the Jets who felt Favre could be the difference-maker.
You can’t deny Favre is one of the greatest and flashiest quarterbacks in the history of the league. He was a gunslinger who could elude a pass rush and unload pinpoint spirals to suddenly open receivers. Of course, he also unloaded an extraordinary amount of interceptions but he didn’t capture three MVP titles and win a Super Bowl because of mistakes.
The bottom line, though, is that Favre is going to bottom-out even if the Vikings possess a better running game and better receivers than the Jets. Sure, their offense is more tailored to his game, but his game faltered badly last season and the vaunted Jets folded. It wasn’t all Favre’s fault, but blame isn’t always a shared responsibility. He was sacked 30 times, the most since the 2000 season.
Yes, even with a weathered rotator cuff, Favre is still better than Jackson and Sage Rosenfels. Doesn’t say a whole lot about those two guys. But all it takes is one good hit and Favre will be dreaming again about his hammock in Mississippi. Concussions have no conscience.
While George Bernard Shaw once penned “youth is wasted on the young,” age has its limitations, especially on a gridiron.
The Vikings are gambling the gunslinger still has some bullets to fire. It’s a mighty big gamble, which is why I feel safe enough in telling Bears fans not to worry. You’ll never see the guy on the field when the teams play in late November and again in the next-to-last game of the regular season on December 28th. Favre will be watching the game from the bench at a frozen Soldier Field, turn to a teammate and again utter these now redundant words: “I’m retiring.”
See you again next year, Brett.
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George Ofman, an original member of The Score and a veteran of NPR, has covered more than 3,500 sporting events over the course of his career. Comments welcome.
Posted on August 26, 2009