Sports Arena
Come So Favre
Only to watch the Brett Bowl set Green Bay back.
I admit it: I am a Green Bay Packer fan. And when the Brett Favre-led Vikings beat my Packers 38-26 on Sunday, it stung. Still does. The over-under on the time it takes me to get over a Packer loss is usually about ten minutes. But this one feels a little different. This one felt personal.
The Packers have endured far worse (Fourth-and-26, anyone?) in recent years. Why does losing this one still burn?
Chalk it up to cognitive dissonance. I can’t forget how much Brett Favre has done for the Packers. It still outweighs how much he’s done to the Packers in the two times he’s beaten them. His contributions to the team go well beyond his hall-of-fame statistics and durability. Those would be quite enough on their own.
The Green Bay Packers were a mediocrity from the end of the Lombardi/Starr era until Favre replaced the injured Don Majkowski in 1992. That’s more than two decades in the wilderness. An entire generation.
Then along came Brett. All of a sudden playoff appearances became routine, almost expected. The team won its first Super Bowl in 26 years with Brett leading the way. In Brett’s 16 years in Green Bay, the team only had one losing season. That level of success is almost unheard of, especially for a small-market team in the Midwest.
Brett’s quality play and penchant for come-from-behind victories had another, under-appreciated effect: his presence made the rest of the team better. Packer draft picks once mourned their fate, and bided their time until they could move to another, more glamorous team. Now they celebrated — especially receivers.
Just as important, big-name free agents like Reggie White and Charles Woodson started coming to Green Bay of their own free will. Before Favre, nobody wanted to play in Green Bay. The weather is enough of a turn-off for most people. But if the team is lousy, why bother? Players play to win, not to lose and be cold.
Brett Favre made Green Bay relevant again. How many players have done that for a team? That’s the real reason why Brett was so loved by his fans. Yes, he has a colorful personality and a compelling life story. If he wasn’t a winner, nobody would care.
No, Sunday’s loss hurt to watch because the person who brought my favorite team out of the NFL’s basement was working his hardest to throw it back down there.
As for the actual game, it also hurt that the loss was avoidable. A personal foul by defensive tackle Johnny Jolly after a key third-down stop in the red zone directly allowed a Viking touchdown instead of a field goal. That’s four points right there — half the margin of defeat — on one penalty.
Then there was defensive coordinator Dom Capers’ game planning.
The best way to force poor throws out of a quarterback is to apply pressure. Even Brett Favre gets rattled if 300-pound men are in his face on every passing play. That means you blitz hard, and blitz often. The standout Packer secondary allows Capers to blitz with little loss in coverage ability. Yet Capers rarely sent more than the standard four pass-rushers.
There were also offensive issues. The Vikings have an excellent defensive line. That means you give your quarterback extra protection, especially given Green Bay’s porous offensive line. The Minnesota secondary is that team’s weakness, especially with its best player, Antoine Winfield, out due to injury.
That means that keeping an extra player in to block, who could otherwise be an open receiver, comes at a small price. The Packers did little to max-protect, and even less to pick on a depleted secondary.
The lack of protection meant six sacks. Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers was limping by the end of the game. That could hurt the team well beyond this game; Rodgers has proven to be a more-than-worthy successor to Favre.
The game itself was painful enough. But the real pain was in seeing the player who made the Packers matter again doing his all to undo all that.
About the Author
Ryan Young is Fellow in Regulatory Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
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erichack| 11.3.09 @ 7:00AM
I guess Ted Thompson should't have trade the best player in Packer's history. Best TV shot of the day, cut to TT up in his suite sitting all alone looking like a dear in the headlights.
Priceless!
taddinski| 11.7.09 @ 6:04PM
1) please learn to spell
2) Favre is an exposed egomaniac. We are hurt cuz we thought he was just a little less controlled by the business/$/personal records side of it--(is the NFL now no different than the NBA now?) ala his quote "I would rather quit than play for anyone other than the Packers".
JP| 11.3.09 @ 7:45AM
Favre just goes to show how thin the talent pool at QB is for the NFL. Nothing against Favre; he obviously loves the game, and at or near 40 years old he towers above his peers 15 years younger. But something is amiss. Every autumn hundreds of 18 years old freshmen, trained to perfection enter university football programs. These would be Roger Starbach's are as large as 1970 era defensive ends; they've got the best equipment money can buy; and since they were 10 they attended numerous elite summer camps hosted by the game's greats. They can bench half a ton and can throw the ball 80 years downfield and hit a dime. They spend thier university years at some of the great football schools (USC, Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma). These robo-quarterbacks then get drafted into the elite NFL.... and consistently get outplayed by someone old enough to be thier father.
james miller| 11.3.09 @ 8:51AM
for you favre worshippers-check nationalfootballpost.com and read how favre wanted to leave the packers and go to vikings all along-only mistake thompson made was not trading favre to vikings for #1 draft pick - think percy harvin playing for pack instead of viks would have made a difference?!
Richard Baker| 11.3.09 @ 9:18AM
Packer fans still love Favre. It's the Packer front office that didn't care for him. Guess they decided wrong.
taddinski| 11.7.09 @ 6:09PM
Packer front office didn't care for an all-about-self player who wanted to skip all the practices and live in his own locker room. Remeber how we smashed Barry Bonds for having his own barcalounger in the clubhouse? Favre was way worse. GB has always tried to be character over selfisheness. Favre wanted Moss and couldnt believe he was told no--Thank God and good riddance.
Pingback| 11.3.09 @ 9:37AM
Breaking Down Brett Bowl II « Inertia Wins! links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Howard| 11.3.09 @ 9:46AM
Next year Favre is retired, and Rodgers still has 10-12 years left. Think long-term. It's hard to rebuild with far too many teams soaking up the talent pool. The Pack should be good for years to come.
Lito| 11.3.09 @ 11:16AM
You sure bout that? I'm from the Lynn Dickey era 1981. They started winning in 1993, so 12 years of losing is at hand the way they play right now.
Patrick| 11.3.09 @ 6:17PM
If Rogers keeps getting sacked that often, he might not last quite that long.
Bo Darville| 11.3.09 @ 10:17AM
Packer fans are the glue sniffing ACORN volunteers of football fandom. Favre on the Vikings playing well is sweet, sweet justice. Now only if Bart Starr could suit up for the Bears.
Grampa Guy| 11.3.09 @ 12:06PM
With their socialist scheduling, designed to reward mediocrity; their politically correct, lying commissioner; their acceptance of a growing criminal element in the pool of players, ( I could go on), the NFL is SO lucky to still have Favre around. Interviewed by the sports babe after the game ( something else Max McGee and Fuzzy Thurston were spared), Brett was asked what he had to say to Packer fans. His answer: "I hope they love me as much as I love them." That, along with 299 consecutive starts and every record in the book, makes number 4 what he is. A living legend worthy of all fans admiration.
P.S. Pack fans had some classy and funny signs on display. My favorite: "Brett, Halloween is over. Take off that silly purple costume."
janet| 11.3.09 @ 12:29PM
Revenge is the SWEETEST reward! Favre rocks.
Eric Damon| 11.3.09 @ 1:27PM
Brett Favre meant a great deal to Green Bay, but for me as a non-fan of neither Favre nor the Packers, let me give a somewhat objective take on this situation.
Brett Favre is the reason Brett Favre is no longer with the Packers; as much as some want to blame Ted Thompson, the fault actually lies with Favre. No team can mortgage their future on the whims of a player who constantly muses, in public, about whether or not he wants to play another year. At some point the team has to move forward, and even when the Packers were just about at that point they gave Favre the chance to continue with the team. He was the one tearfully saying how he didn't want to play anymore, that he just didn't have it in him to go through the grind anymore. When he held that press conference it should have been all over...but it wasn't. And when Favre started hinting that he wanted to come back, the Packers were right there with open arms. But Favre then started making demands he had no right to make; remember him demanding to be reinstated as the starter after Aaron Rodgers had taken all the first team snaps in OTAs, minicamps, and training camp?
As for the idea that Favre is the only player to make the type of difference with a team that he did, that is a joke! Was Indianapolis any place a player wanted to go before Peyton Manning?Did anyone want to play in San Francisco before the Montana/DeBartolo era? And it wasn't just Brett Favre who won the Super Bowl...Reggie White was just as big a factor in the renaissance of the Packers as Favre.
Maybe now that Brett Favre has sated his lust to beat Ted Thompson and stick it in his face, he'll retire and not come back.
scott| 11.3.09 @ 5:50PM
Thats funny Eric you don't sound objective "Maybe now that Brett Favre has sated his lust to beat Ted Thompson and stick it in his face, he'll retire and not come back. " Whatever Favre's motivations, he's free to retire and unretire as often as he wants provided he still has an employer willing to pay him. My personal opinion is that Ted Thompson has done everything he could to alienate his former star QB because he really did want him gone so that he could put his stamp on this team. He wanted to be rid of all the Ron Wolfe guys in order to make any Packer success "his success." Well its not looking so good now is it Teddy boy?
Mark30339| 11.3.09 @ 2:08PM
Favre is still a narcissist, a sellout and a traitor. His screw-ups ended the 2007 Packer season and the 2008 Jets season. His fibs about who said what to whom are pathetic -- especially in regards to giving the Lions inside info to boost the chance of a Lions victory. The Vikes make him look pretty good right now, but some of us remember what a lying sack of s*** he is. How many other class NFL guys lie about being retired as a strategy to land a spot with a division rival? Favre may become the first person inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame as a Packer while being refused induction into the Packer Hall of Fame. Call Pinnochio a hero if you want, but just ask yourself one question: What would Lombardi call him?
Hawk| 11.3.09 @ 4:18PM
Both Eric Damon and Mark30339 are spot-on-target here. In the end, the NFL is but a glitzy business. Green Bay fans worshipped Farve. And then it became evident that Favre has an enormous ego and the fans be damned. Years from now, when the history of the Packers is updated, Bart Starr will likely shine far brighter than Brent... 'er Brett Favre. Starr put the team first. Farve put himself first. Packer fans have their priorities straight here.
scott| 11.3.09 @ 5:13PM
Lombardi who retired from the Packers so he could later coach the Redskins? He'd call Favre a winner. The guy took a team that had become a perennial loser and help make them perennial winners. Favre has had one losing season in his storied career. Your boy Rodgers has already equalled that tally and will soon be surpassing it. Hell hath no fury like a QB scorned. More power to him!
Jager| 11.3.09 @ 2:32PM
I have been a fan of Favre since 1992. He's the reason that I fell in love with the game of football. Packer fans showed how classless they can be on Sunday. Favre wore his heart and soul on his sleeve for 16 great season in Green Bay and that was the welcome he received?!?! The fans embarrassed themselves on national TV and then Favre embarrassed the Packers. The organization is an embarrassment as well by not letting Favre compete for his job, trying to bribe him to stay retired, and then sending to the opposite conference with the Jets (with a poison pill if he was traded to the NFC North). Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy will be in the unemployment line soon!
scott| 11.3.09 @ 5:14PM
Amen to this brother Jager!
Dawn | 11.4.09 @ 1:06AM
Jager- your words are my unwritten symphony.. Favre didn't deserve Ted Thompson's actions.. I agree with everything you said.. Favre is the reason I watch the game too.. At least his 'Greener" pastures for grazing are now purple and he will retire with the right crew on the right ship!! Thanks for your truthfulness. Long live Brett Lorenzo Favre!!
Pete| 11.3.09 @ 3:07PM
I am neither a Packers fan nor a Vikings fan. I like Favre fine, but don't worship him. I think the Vikings made a mistake signing him. Given their defense and running game, a lesser QB like Sage Rosenfels would have done just fine and cost a ton less money. The Vikings have very little chance of winning a Super Bowl this year, so that money would have been better spent elsewhere - unless, from a business standpoint, team revenues from attendance and merchandise rise and compensate for that direct cost, I suppose.
scott| 11.3.09 @ 5:54PM
Only time will tell on the Super Bowl but from an investment perspective, the money spent on Favre has already been recouped in TV ratings and merchandise sales. Have you seen the number of #4 jerseys in the stands at Vikings games. His jersey is the #1 selling jersey in the country not just Minnesota. Favre is under paid!
Richard Baker| 11.3.09 @ 6:25PM
Bo Darville:
If Starr could return, would Jerry Kramer be available at Right guard?
pickingpros | 11.4.09 @ 4:09PM
I was actually really surprised to not see a standing O for him at the end of the game. Was a tough loss though, to see favre doing so well elsewhere...
Pingback| 11.6.09 @ 10:03AM
Friday Fun: Brett Bowl II | OpenMarket.org links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Shep| 11.10.09 @ 10:16PM
Late on taking a look at this.
But my feeling all along is that this was the poorest buisness move ever in the NFL. This was destined from the get go. Take a risk in Rogers, who has definatly proven himself, but the long and the short is that Brett and his awesome coaching staff (built by Ron Wolf) consistant of many HUGE names throughout the NFL and TV analysts now, made the Packers who they were. Brett was the only piece of the puzzle to let go. Ted Thompson is proving again this season that he is not going to be able to make the change and that is evident looking at last season and the start to this season. I was a believer that Mike Sherman should be ousted, Ray Rhodes was a mistake, yet nobody has brought any real name players to GreenBay since the Holmgren/Wolfe Era. Mike McCarthy is a "yes" man and enjoys his status as an NFL coach and will agree and do anything that upper management (Ted Thompson) says to do. Holmgren left because he isn't built like that and had great seasons with Seattle. The long and the short is that if GreenBay doesn't wake up and take a look at upper management they are going to be rebuilding their whole program, like the Lions in the next 5 years - if not sooner.
Brett got ousted, his love for GreenBay has been proven, maybe too loyalty to GreenBay, every other player in the NFL would have left GreenBay way before he did for more $. His down home loyalty is what kept him in GreenBay when everyone else left.
Advise for GreenBay upper management is to get an NFL educated GM (like they did in Wolfe) and get Gruden out of the booth for ESPN to coach. This guy will work at 110% for a program that could win a SuperBowl. He has proven that with the Raiders and Tampa.
Shep
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