Sports Arena
The Final Hail Mary
Should Brett Favre have packed it in as a Packer?
(Page 2 of 2)
There is something to be said for going out on your own terms. Not ESPN's terms. Yours.
Retiring after the miracle 2007 season might have made for a happier ending; the inevitable NFL Films hagiography couldn't have asked for a better plot. But Favre wanted another shot, and had the determination to pursue it.
One more shot seems to have been enough. Last season was a difficult one. Brett's legendary right arm finally seems to be going out on him. Now is the right time to say goodbye.
Some say Brett tarnished his legacy by coming back. I say he added to it. Remember, his terms. Not SportsCenter's. Favre's career, like his playing style, wasn't always aesthetically pleasing. But he gave his all, and he did it his way. That deserves respect.
At 39, Brett is at that odd age where he's old for sports, but young for most anything else. What's next for him? Nobody knows. Not even him. But if he approaches it with the same tenacity as he did football, watch out.
About the Author
Ryan Young is Fellow in Regulatory Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (24) | Leave a comment
Leave a Comment
Related Articles
More Articles by Ryan Young
More Articles From Sports Arena
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/02/13/the-final-hail-mary
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- The Collapse of Jon Corzine
- The United Nations' Rogue Agency
- Down in the Desert
- Digital Subscription (Save 78%)
- Buy a single issue (Save 50%)
- Send Spectator as a gift
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
weight| 11.12.09 @ 2:06PM
hi
hgjhgj| 11.24.09 @ 8:59PM
DVD Copier For Mac,
DVD To DVD Copier Mac
nbhcn| 2.21.10 @ 9:28PM
Tod Converter
kjuy| 2.23.10 @ 1:12AM
Convert DivX to DVD,
DVD to ISO Ripper
lv outlet| 4.29.10 @ 3:24AM
Video Splitter for Mac is a powerful Mac video splitter software, that can split video on Mac OS X. This video splitter Mac also functions as a video cutter, movie trimmer for Mac users to split videos of any format.
iPad Transfer Software?is professional iPad managing software which has unbelievably powerful functions. It can transfer music, videos, photos and playlists from pc to iPad without using iTunes