Why Did Brett Favre Come out of Retirement … Again?
Why did Brett Favre come out of retirement?
Having just written about Brett Favre’s wise decision to stay retired, I was shocked to browse across this article [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/american_football/8208522.stm] from the BBC, of all sources. I was doubly stumped — how did Brett Favre put on such a good show of retiring for good not even a month ago? AND, how did a British news service know about this before I did? You guys should see what they call “football” over there.
I was only embarassed about his move for a second. I don’t know Brett Favre personally — why should I feel ashamed to have already written him into a permanent retirement? How did Favre decide to sign with the Vikings after all the drama of this summer, and why didn’t he just sign when the media was reporting he would, why wait until now?
Apparently, the story broke early on Monday morning. I didn’t see it, but Jay Glazer, an NFL reporter for Fox, blogged about a possible Favre signing with the Vikings — this is weeks after the football world wrote Favre off entirely. Glazer, for his part, may have broken the second biggest sports story of the year (no way this is bigger than the return of Michael Vick) and in doing so basically crowned himself the king of NFL reporters. Glazer’s speculation turned into hardcore reporting around the country as of this morning, when Brett Favre and his wife Deanna showed up in Minneapolis with Vikings owner Zygi Wilf in tow. The presence of the Favre’s in the land of the Vikings was big news and difficult to misinterpret.
Three weeks ago, Favre informed the Vikings establishment that he was not interested in coming out of retirement. People were convinced, and as time passed and training camps started up it seemed more and more likely that Favre was finally done. As Tony Moss of the Sports Network put it — “We won’t believe [Favre] the next six times he retires either.”
Favre signed a contract on Tuesday with the Minnesota Vikings that will earn him around $12 million for one season. Before you go thinking this is a onetime deal — the contract Favre signed includes an option for a second season.
As soon as Favre and crew landed in Minneapolis, the sure-thing Hall of Fame quarterback was escorted into a vehicle to be taken to the Viking’s training complex. Brett Favre was set to take a team physical before signing his contract.
This event marks the second straight offseason in which Brett Favre exited retirement to take another shot at finishing his playing career in a winning way. Favre’s retired twice already, and now he’s come out of retirement for the second time. This guy holds more press conferences than an adulterous governor.
Earlier this summer, Favre entered a kind of de facto retirement after declining an invitation from the Minnesota Vikings to attend their training camp in July. At the time, Brett Favre siad he wasn’t certain that he could play a full season at this point in his career, at least not at the level of performance he expected from himself. Coach Brad Childress indicated to the press at the time of Favre’s announcement that Minnesota was not going to be pursuing Brett Favre again. I think we can assume that was a lie.
For Favre’s part — he left open the possibility of “changing his mind” if the Vikings needed him sometime during the regular season. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it sounds like Favre just really didn’t want to go to training camp. Either way, he’s stuck now — he is supposed to appear in this Friday’s preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs. I don’t know about you, but I think Favre in Viking Purple will be the shocker of the year.
Brett Favre comes with a bit of wear and tear — his age is one handicap, and the slight tear in his left rotator cuff (just recently discovered) is another. Many are worried that Favre’s time with the Vikings will be another failed experiment, much like his time with the Jets — a time that proved that good numbers aren’t enough for Brett Favre to earn the kind of long season he’s looking for.
Let’s be honest for a second — if this experiment of Favre’s fails everyone will be faulting Childress for taking this guy on — the news and sports media, the fans, sports radio. I won’t blame them — Brett Favre was happy tossing passes to high school kids, then all of a sudden he wants to come be your starting quarterback? Doesn’t make sense to me. It is entirely possible that the Minnesota Vikings have hurt their chance of a successful future by not giving 31 year old Sage Rosenfels the start. Now is the time to get Rosenfels on the road to the kind of longterm QB force that Favre, at his age, won’t be. Rosenfels isn’t ever going to be Brett Favre, but let’s face it. Brett Favre isn’t exactly Brett Favre anymore.
Obviously the Vikings think that Brett Favre is the element they need to have a chance of winning the club’s first Super Bowl in 2009. When all you’re hoping for is a single year of great success, you don’t need to worry about an aging and injury prone has been. (Hate mail to: w dot f dot roby at gmail dot com)
Favre will turn 40 years old this October, but that’s a HARD forty years. Having beaten a drug addiction, plenty of injuries, and hard hits for a seriously big number of consecutive starts, Favre’s 40 year old body may hurt in ways we can’t imagine. Also, there’s no way that Brett Favre could possibly form the kind of chemistry necessary to run a team successfully. Favre met this teammates on the 18th of August.
Don’t forget that he’s got a torn rotator cuff.
So it’s probably obvious that I’m not excited about Favre’s return. I think the guy’s seen his best years already and he’s going to be an embarrass himself. This is a guy who I remember watching with fondness throughout the late 90s — a player with the second longest consecutive start streak, a player that owns every passing record worth a damn.
Maybe it really is better to burn out than fade away.
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