Sports Arena
The Final Hail Mary
Should Brett Favre have packed it in as a Packer?
Brett Favre retired on Wednesday. Probably for good this time. Did he make the right decision? Hard to say. He’ll probably be asking himself that question for years to come.
Some say Brett overstayed his welcome. Better to leave on a high note, like John Elway. He ended his career with two consecutive Super Bowl victories — the first of which came at Favre’s expense, ironically.
Fate handed Favre a similar opportunity in 2007. Two years after a disheartening 4-12 campaign — the only losing season in his pro career — the Packers surprised everyone but themselves and went 13-3. The playoffs began with a resounding victory over Seattle in snowy Lambeau Field.
The New York Giants were to be the next victim. But they didn’t read the script. They picked off Favre’s final pass as a Packer, triumphed in overtime, and went on to win the Super Bowl.
So it goes.
Still, there’s no shame in losing to the champs. This was his chance to go out on top. And he tried to. It had to be hard walking away like that, knowing he could still play. So he came back for more.
But the Packers had moved on. Aaron Rodgers was the starter now. There was no longer a place for Brett Favre in Green Bay, strange as that sounds. After much drama and even more hard feelings, Brett began his comeback 2008 season wearing a New York Jets uniform.
It looked funny, to be sure. But at times, it also looked right. Brett kept making the same old plays. He threw a career-high six touchdowns against the Super Bowl-bound Arizona Cardinals. The Jets started the season 8-3, and looked like Super Bowl fodder themselves.
Then the collapse. The middling 9-7 finish. No playoff appearance. Not all of it was Brett’s fault; there were 52 other players on the Jets’ roster. Even so, the starting quarterback is by far the most important player. Some of the blame is his to bear. Should he have stayed home in Mississippi?
It seemed like it by the end. Favre finished the year in pain, and found himself consistently underthrowing receivers. Opposing defenses took advantage. They snagged nine interceptions and allowed only two touchdown passes in the final five games.
Now we know that Brett played those last games with a torn biceps tendon in his throwing shoulder. With surgery, Favre could be ready to play next season.
No, he said. Enough. No surgery. No football.
No storybook ending, either. But then, Brett Favre is not John Elway. He is his own man.
Favre is retiring when he wants to, not when the media demands it. Sports pundits routinely scorn Emmitt Smith’s lost years as a Cardinal, and Joe Namath’s pathetic finish as a Ram. Brett was added to that list the day he was traded to New York.
Why the contempt? There is no shame in doing what you love. Brett did that in 2008. Most people should be so lucky.
About the Author
Ryan Young is Fellow in Regulatory Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
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David Govett| 2.13.09 @ 1:08PM
Like most men, I am disconcerted by the mere juxtaposition of "foot" and "ball," so I'll keep it brief: If there is time in this suboptimal world to argue about a football player's career, things must be going passably well. Otherwise we would be concerned about problems of consequence.
Charles Sharpless| 2.13.09 @ 2:15PM
I suppose it's because of the sports media's irrational love-affair with Favre that I have resented him for so long (that, and his inability to pronounce his own name correctly). To me, he's been the most overrated QB in my 37 year lifetime.
The "winning drive" stat was popular a few years ago when Montana and Elway were in their prime...measuring how many 4th quarter comebacks or winning drives they engineered. I'd love to see the statistics on that for Favre, and then juxtapose it with the number of his game-losing interceptions
Alan Brooks| 2.13.09 @ 4:59PM
yeah, Dave, it is good we can watch ball games and not nuke wars on the tube.
Bruce Germain| 2.14.09 @ 8:11AM
I get so sick of hearing people harp on Favre's interceptions. He threw the ball about 9500 times. Over 5000 of those throws went to the right guy...about 300 to the other team. His interception percentage is on par with Marino's and better than many other Hall of Fame QB's. The legency will be just fine. I could care less what the talking heads at ESPN have to say.
S. Harrisson| 2.14.09 @ 6:57PM
Thank you for the final, and appropriate, homage to a man who has brought fans of the sport of football so many hours of pain, pleasure and passion.
Alan Brooks| 2.15.09 @ 1:02AM
Elway,
those were the days.
Bugg| 2.15.09 @ 2:32PM
As a Jets fan and season ticketholder, I wish Favre well. When we were 8-3, the future looked great. Note on that 6 TD day, he outplayed Kurt Warner, who came within 3 minutes of winning the Super Bowl.Somewhere between the injury and bad coaching it went wrong. But those aren't things Favre controlled. And as Dolphins fans found out, Favre right now is a better QB than Chad Pennington(though in fairness Pennington is and always will be a class act and a gentleman).It was a chance worth taking.
Good luck to Brett Favre.
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