NFL becoming National Brett League
Published 8:33 am Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Enough already.
Up-to-the-minute updates on where Brett Favre is, what he’s doing, what kind of car he is driving is getting to be a bit too much to handle right now. It’s as if the sports page suddenly became “US Weekly.”
No other sport commands as much attention as the NFL and often it’s not the best kind of attention. This whole Favre drama is the latest example.
Favre was already a heavyweight when it came to coverage. Every little detail of his life has been subject matter for the media.
Favre deserves some of the attention, but not at the levels he has through out the years. He is a future Hall of Famer, he owns a number of NFL records, universally accepted as the toughest man in football, and rarely disparaged in the press.
But this time all of the attention Brett Favre has commanded with his current soap opera has been a huge detriment to the Packers.
Aaron Rodgers has patiently waited his turn to become a starter in the league, and now he has to face this kind of media attention. Assuming the starting role from a future Hall of Famer was certainly a tall task, but now as he attempts to rally a team behind him, he has the Brett Favre situation weighing on his mind and the rest of the players’ minds.
When a player transcends the game it’s normally a compliment, but not in this case, not with Brett Favre, his indecisiveness and selfishness.
Peter King of Sports Illustrated recently spent some time with Favre in Mississippi and reached the conclusion that it was going to come down to which side was going to blink first. It didn’t sound like Favre was going to blink at any point until he got his way.
Favre would like to be released from the Packers, that’s probably not likely. What’s more likely is that the team will trade Favre and right now it sounds as if it will be Tampa Bay. What happens if Favre doesn’t want to play for the Buccaneers — a possible scenario considering Jake Plummer pulled the same move last season when he was traded to Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers were a 9-7 team last season and had the best defense in the NFC. The offense was ranked No. 18 in the league without Cadillac Williams. Adding Favre does not make Tampa Bay an instant Super Bowl contending team. The Buccaneers were the beneficiaries of a weak NFC South last season and played a soft schedule.
What is at the crux of the situation is Favre and his selfishness. What does the 38-year-old have left to prove?
It seems often times players near the end of their careers try to prolong their playing days under the guise of searching for a championship or they have such a passion for the game that it’s really difficult to give up. Favre’s body of work is unparalleled when that type of reasoning is used with the constant talk of Favre playing with the enthusiasm of a kid or Brett being Brett when he tries to squeeze a pass through three defenders. But those clichéd reasons are not applicable in this case — this time it’s just for Brett.
There are countless examples of athletes trying to hang on to their career — that’s not the point.
Favre has struggled with retirement for the last couple of years leaving the Packers in limbo. This time around the Packers had enough of it and decided now was the time to give the ball to Rodgers, and rightfully so. Why should one player hold so much weight with the organization? Favre’s accomplishments on the field demand respect, but he should not be able to have a team having to wait and see if he is going to return. There are 52 other players the team has to worry about.
The Packers had to move on and made the right decision by trying to break away from Favre. The team needs to move on as an organization and cannot be held hostage by an aging quarterback who might be serviceable for a season.