Brett & I - 2008

I think the official word came today. Favre is not returning to football and is going to retire, or for all you haters, retire for real this time.  I completely understand that many people are not a fan of him. Some of you may have never been. After all, most people didn’t hop on the Green Bay band wagon until they started kicking ass, and most hopped right off when they stopped. This is probably why a lot of you feel you have the right to bitch about him too. Others may have really appreciated him, or not really appreciated him, and are sick of him due to his wishy washy nature he’s had lately, and I guess you may have a point with that reason, though I feel there are two sides to every story and he’s really not as wishy washy as you may think. Go ahead, you can convince yourself I’m only saying that because I am his biggest fan and slightly addicted if it will make you feel better. I completely understand. However, his career post Green Bay has been pretty stressful for me. Growing up as a Green Bay Packer fan, and then due to circumstance and amazing talent, becoming a Favre fan has almost torn me in two.

I’ve been watching football for as long as I can remember. Of course when you’re little, you really aren’t sure of what is going on, but are simply caught up in the excitement and the yelling and the cheering. There wasn’t much excitement when I was younger though, but I still stuck with my roots. For us cheeseheads, it’s in our blood. Right around the time I really started to concentrate on understanding football was middle school, which is when Brett started his first season with Green Bay and his second season in the NFL. He’s really the quarterback I grew up watching and the team leader I learned to love and respect. He’s all I really knew at the time.

You can jeer him and say anyting negative you want, but the fact of the matter is he’s one hell of a quarterback. He’s set amazing records and led plays that have been the cause of epic victories. He was a team leader and a motivator.

It was tough when he left and then headed to the Jets. I won’t relive that experience or re-share my thoughts on that as this might end up being a novel. It did become a little ridiculous for him to go into retirement again only to debate playing for the Vikings, however, given the circumstances I think he was in when he left Green Bay, I kinda understood.  My opinion has always been that he should’ve sat out last season and then came back and played when he had more options on the table.

But, I digress.

I agree with him not playing for the Vikings this year and I’m glad he made the right decision despite all the pressure he had been getting and his love of the game. At the same time, it’s all very unfamiliar to me. Football without Favre? I’m gonna miss that guy. He has been a big player throughout my life and a lot of awesome memories revolve around him and the rest of the Green Bay team.