Why Favre deserves to fail but Smoltz deserves to succeed
John Smoltz has a massive ego. He won’t retire. He believes he still can help a team win a championship, even though people think he’s nuts. Gee, you would’ve thought he was Brett Favre.
Big difference.
Smoltz will officially sign with the St. Louis Cardinals today after he clears post-release waivers at 1 p.m. eastern time. Here’s a guy to pull for at the end of his career, not a guy to mock.
Smoltz will sign with St. Louis because the Cardinals are giving him a chance to be a fifth starter. That’s something that wasn’t afforded him after his collapse with the Boston Red Sox. He also presumably won’t have to rehab in the minors, which the Red Sox also wanted.
So you might say, “Smoltz is getting his way. How selfish. He’s just like Favre.”
Not even close. Favre has managed to get his way and signed with the Minnesota Vikings Tuesday, which is what he wanted to do two years ago. But in getting there, he stepped on three NFL franchises along the way and scorched any remaining bit of character left in his soul. He cried crocodile tears at a retirement press conference in Green Bay after the Packers gave him a prolonged period (again) to make his decision. Almost immediately, rumors circulated that he wanted to come back — and never intended on leaving. The idea all along was to force the Packers to trade him to Minnesota, a division rival. The Packers dealt him to the New York Jets. A similar chain of events occurred in New York after last season, except that the Jets, convinced Favre had really retired, just released him. Then came the Minnesota abomination.
It’s one thing to get your way. It’s another to do so without regard to the teammates you’ve played with or the ones you’re about to play with.
Nobody can say that about Smoltz. Whether you believe he can still pitch or not, he never damaged the Braves’ franchise on the way out the door. He still has universal admiration in that clubhouse, and it’s the same in Boston and around baseball. Favre is not embraced the same way. Players, coaches and management have come to recognize him for what he is.
As for Smoltz, while there was little tangible evidence in Boston (2-5, 8.32 earned run average) to lead many to believe that he can still pitch after major shoulder surgery a year ago, some high profile teams obviously still believe he’s worth the risk. The National League West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers and wild-card contending Florida Marlins both expressed interest. Ultimately, Smoltz will sign with the Cardinals, who are contending for the N.L. Central title. It puts Smoltz back in the National League, where he spent his entire major league career with the Braves.
It also puts him in a potential face-to-face meeting with the Braves, who go to St. Louis for a weekend series Sept. 11-13. And I guarantee you when the Braves meet the Cards, every Brave will wish him luck. Can you imagine a similar scenario when Favre plays the Packers? Didn’t think so.
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115 comments Add your comment
PenelopeJones
August 19th, 2009
3:39 pm
Farve is a media hog and is a nuisuance to the sporting world. No one wants to hear about Brett Farve. He is old news and is no longer capable of playing on a high level. Farve should retire and wait patiently for his induction into the HOF. There were 3 or 4 great sports stories and Farve’s news of his signing with the Vikings overshadowed all of it. Ying’s upset victory over Tiger Woods. Michael Vicks signing with the Eagles. Rick Petino and his problems. These stories were at the top of the sports pages and Farve comes in like a worldwind and overshadows these important stories. I’m just sick of Brett Farve and how he holds teams hostage.
Wes
August 19th, 2009
4:11 pm
No Smoltz isnt as bad as Farve, but, lets face it….retire while ur on top…..
BigGAdawg
August 19th, 2009
4:23 pm
Much success to Smoltz!
Hard to believe how Favre totally bent on destroying his legacy as a player. He is now going to be remembered more for his cry baby news conferences and his wishy-washy ways.
“I’m quitting, No I’m gonna play, No I’m quitting for real this time, No I’m gonna play, No really I’m gonna just screw with everyone’s head and show up get a lot of money and play a half-a$$ed second half of the season and the probably retire, or not, again. Because it hurts so much. Waah Waaaah Boo Hoo Waaaah Waaah I’m Frowny Favre, I’m so Special.”
Jay Mooney
August 19th, 2009
4:49 pm
As a Red Sox fan, my problem with Smoltz is we gave him $5 million and a really good chance to prove he could pitch in the rotation. But sending him out there several times even though he was getting pounded, we lost several games we could have won, games that may be important in the wild card race. Now, we want to designate him for assignment, he clears waivers, but won’t go down to the minors to work on his preparation to see if his surgically repaired shoulder can get warmed up fast enough to pitch out of the pen. He was giving the Sox a good one or to innings. He was getting butchered beyond that. So, it was clear he might be able to give us something out of the pen, but could he get warmed up quickly? That’s what the minor league thing was for. But Smoltz wants to start. Ok, well, maybe he can start in the NL with no DH, but after being given $5 million by the Sox, maybe the thing to do was to try what the Sox wanted, i. e., go to the minors and see if the pen would work. I think it is all ego here about wanting to start. Probably if we could have let him close, that might have worked to. But long relief, not so much? No, I think Mr. Smoltz is definitely hurting his reputation. To me, the honorable thing would have been to try what the Sox suggested. That would have shown some integrity. But, no, take the $5 mill and run. As for Favre, yeah, he’s looked stupid with his actions, but, the bottom line is, he did want to go back to the Pack, they wouldn’t let him and other teams wanted him. Would it have been better for his image to retire after the Pack? Yeah, perhaps, but who’s he hurting here? I guess TJack and the other QB, but if Favre is at 85 percent and can be just a little more careful with the picks, isn’t he better than those guys. Yes, he’s looked foolish. But he hasn’t taken money and run like Smoltz. He takes money and plays every game, maybe not as well as he’d have liked (those last few games with NYJ weren’t great), but he plays them all.
WolfmanJack
August 19th, 2009
4:58 pm
I don’t have a problem with Smoltz because Smoltz has plenty left in the tank. Smoltz will be pitching two decades from now. Smoltz is the #1 best (all time) conditioned athlete. Smoltz has kept himself in tremendous shape in the offseasons and will always be ready to answer the bell whenever spring training comes. Smoltzie can pitch as long as he wants to. Farve on the other hand is washed up. If you saw Farves last five games with the Jets last year, they were a complete disgrace. The Jets had been in a position to make the playoffs (with Farves great play in the first 11 games) and they continued to lose (in the last five games) until they were no longer in contention. That tells me that Farve is through and should quit while hes ahead. Farve feels as if he has transcended the sports world AND transcended life. Farve thinks he is bigger than life and bigger than all sporting events combined. Farve should quit now and give back his signing bonus money. Farve no longer has the ability to play football and should turn in his resignation. Farve should take his talents and sign up with Dancing with the Stars. He would contibute more there than on the football field where his tank is empty.
TeriBeau
August 19th, 2009
5:34 pm
Why do I have the feeling if I looked back on your blog here, I’d find you pleading for poor ole Mike Vick to get a “second chance”? It baffles me. Sickens me. I wonder if you understand that the mentality that would drive a man to ENJOY torturing and slaughtering innocent animals isn’t that different from the mentality of a serial killer. Jeffrey Dahmer started out by torturing animals too.
But Favre, the NFL’s poster boy for sportsmanship, just needs to “go away.” Well, Gee, why haven’t y’all been RABIDLY been demanding T.O. “go away” and stop being such a prima donna? Or all those other players with egos the size of the Grand Canyon? No, it’s just Favre. When GB treated him like crap and pushed him to retire, everyone said “It a business,” but when Favre wants to play, he’s a traitor. Y’all just don’t actually appear to have any real standards of fairness or decency … just BS.
I’m real sick of the sports media, and I don’t think y’all have a clue how popular Favre is. Remember how many NY jerseys he sold?
Anyway, I’ve been pretty disgusted with the Packers since they treated the man who pulled them out of the ditch they’d been laying in for 30 years, like he was standing in their way. They wanted to be rid of him, but didn’t want him to play for ANYONE else. This, the year after he was arguably the No. 2 rated QB in the NFL, behind Tom Brady, who didn’t even play last year.
Frankly, I just can’t root for foam cheese and a color scheme, when I’ve lost respect for the team’s management. Murphy with his dirty bags of bribe money, and Thompson with all of his half-truths and outright lies. I hope someday soon, Murphy and Thompson are fired. I mean, the team sucks due to their fine judgement. I have nothing against Rodgers, but he’s just no Favre, and I think he gets hurt too much, but we shall see.
I can’t see myself wearing any Vikings jerseys though. That’s a bridge to far for me, but I will be rooting for Favre! He’s one in a million, and I’m be thrilled and privileged to watch him play another year.
Tami
August 19th, 2009
6:33 pm
I hope ole’ John does well enough so he can retire the way he wants….just not against the Braves.
The Grinch
August 19th, 2009
7:13 pm
The only difference between John Smoltz and Brett Favre is that Smoltz COULDN’T hold a franchise hostage every year because he isn’t relevant enough. Believe me, if he could, he would. You don’t think he’d eat up every second of helicopters buzzing around his house to catch a glimpse of him on his lawnmower and try and read his face to see if he was coming back? Or the baseball equiv. of Chris Mortensen buying a freakin’ house next door so that he could be on the lawn for any breaking news with a mic? Smoltz would give his eye-teeth for that kind of crap, where he could wander around with a troubled look on his face and give cryptic answers for three months a year about whether some team, any team of his choosing, deserved his sainted presence.
The difference is, after the first 48 hours, nobody would care. They’re both tarred with EXACTLY the same brush, and both deserve EXACTLY the same career face-plant followed by lifelong ostracism from the sports they supposedly cared about almost as much as themselves.
The Grinch
August 19th, 2009
7:16 pm
The one thing that makes me happy about both of them is that they’re SO freakin’ full of themselves, the stacks of cash they’ve robbed won’t even soothe them, though I could see either one wearing a diamond encrusted hubcap sized necklace that said “ME.”
defazken
August 19th, 2009
9:59 pm
Don’t attempt to compare “apples” to “oranges”. The magnitude of responsibility in the equation of ownership to success for football and baseball is completely different. There is no 5 man starting rotation for quarterbacks on football teams. A football team has one starting quarterback who is the single most pivotal position on the team. He has the greatest burden of responsibility in the success of the offense.
Baseball pitchers on the other had are responsible for 20% of their team’s success.
Brett Favre has MUCH more impact with the Vikings than Smoltz does with the Cardinals. It has nothing to do with either athlete. It has to do with the dynamics of each game.
Oh, and Luke, you need to go get some anti-psychotic drugs buddy. You seem a little tense.
tree rollins
August 19th, 2009
11:52 pm
I don’t see as much difference as you do Jeff. As you state, they both have huge egos. They both love the game they play. They both drive their teams crazy with their “do it my way” attitudes. And they both immediately rushed off to other teams when they felt their longtime hometown teams didn’t kiss up to them enough.
Now what was the difference again??
National League Offers Safe Haven | Tipsheet | STLtoday
August 20th, 2009
8:40 am
[...] We sense the Red Sox will pull for Smoltz, since letting him go was somewhat painful. Those who covered Smoltz in Atlanta understand the qualities he could bring to St. Louis. [...]
JessicaChevalier
August 20th, 2009
12:50 pm
Jeff: Your article is right on the money. I feel exactly the same way. I’m pulling for Smoltz to succeed and I’m hoping Farve fails. As Ive said before, Farve should quit while hes ahead. Farve is beginning to feel that HE IS BIGGER THAN THE GAME ITSELF. Pete Rose once felt that way about baseball which is why Pete had no respect for baseball. That is also why baseball in turn didnt show respect for Pete either after Pete violated cardinal rules of baseball and breached baseballs trust. And now we come to Brett Farve. Farve feels he will continually lie about his retirements whether he is coming or going and we should believe him; until he pops out of retirement, the same way a clown pops through a jack-in-the-box and we are to welcome him with open arms. The Green Bay Packers got tired of his antics and told him to get lost. The New York Jets said good bye to Farve. And now the Minnesota Vikings have fallen into the Farve monster. What Farve is doing right now is actually criminal. Farve is holding the entire sports world hostage because Farve is basically calling the shots as to what story about himself will be aired each night. I wish Farve would just disappear so we dont have to deal with him anymore. Just retire or just move to the moon or something but please go away so we dont have to hear your name anymore. Farve is so insanely hungry for media attention that he will do and say anything to create chaos and disrupt the sporting world. Farve you are yesterdays news, you are a has-been and it will be revealed by the first month of the season that you are completely, and thoroughly WASHED UP.
CoryWilson
August 20th, 2009
4:49 pm
I know there have been comparisons to Farve and Vick and most have been unjustified. They are completely two different head cases. Farve is a narcasisstic, egomoniacal jerk, who holds planets hostage over his ever changing mind games. Vick is a sick puppy (pardon the pun to the PETA people and the dog pound folks). Vick has been given a clean slate by the NFL. Hopefully Vick will make comeback player of the year and help the Eagles soar to the Superbowl. Both of these guys, regardless of how strange they are, when they are playing great football, they will elevate the NFL to a higher level. I’m glad Roger Goddell decided to let them play this season because I am a fan of both of them. It would have made more sense for the Vikings to acquire Vick because then Vick could be Farves backup and learn to play qb properly from the great Brett Farve.
defazken
August 21st, 2009
6:05 pm
What a poor comparison; Favre vs. Rose. Granted both have egos. That’s where the commonality ends. One is a first ballot Hall of Fame entry and the other is a un-prosecuted felon who will never see the inside of Canton.