The Favre monster returns … and returns … and returns
He’s Freddy Kruger. He’s Jason without the hockey mask. He’s Jaws from the James Bond movies, not to be confused with Jaws the former Philly quarterback who now works for ESPN, which exists only to inform the weary public of this bizarre man’s latest bizarre move.
He is Brett Favre, and he will not stay down. And he is, apparently, back in the NFL. Which is a good thing, for as we know there was no NFL pre-Favre and there can be none when finally he leaves. Which he’ll never do. He’ll be hemming and hawing and dithering at the age of 95, sure there’s one last stupid interception to be thrown.
He is the most overrated athlete of our era and maybe any era, and he becomes more overrated every time he un-retires. He was reported — by ESPN, natch — en route to Minnesota on Tuesday to sign with the Vikings, which is bad news for the Vikings. Because as bad as Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels might be, they aren’t as bad as the way-past-it Brett Favre.
He burned his bridges in Green Bay and then New York, and he has kept the media — meaning ESPN, which essentially is the media regarding sports anymore — on tenterhooks all spring and summer. He wept when he left the Packers, but he’s not the one weeping now. I am. If there’s one guy in sports I cannot abide, he’s the guy. John Madden’s guy. ESPN’s guy. Peter King’s guy. The Wrangler jeans guy.
The guy who’s too egomaniacal to know when to quit. And now he’s in the process of un-quitting again. He has done it before. He’ll do it again. This Nightmare On Elm Street has a dozen sequels — at least a dozen — yet to be made. Heaven help us all.
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134 comments Add your comment
Chris
August 18th, 2009
12:22 pm
Those Lee jeans commercials crack me up. At first glance, like anyone you think ‘yeah, just a bunch of guys playing good old pick up football in the mud’ and then you realize he’s running around with a bunch of male models.
jeffrey d
August 18th, 2009
12:28 pm
This is my day off. I’d like to watch SportsCenter, but their Favre coverage is going on (literally) an hour and a half straight. We’re getting guest analyists, Packers Jets and Vikings records, and just about every ESPN staff member giving their opinion.
Does ESPN really think this is what people want to see? As if we’re huddling around our TVs waiting for the latest news break like there was an assassination attempt or something?
jeffrey d
August 18th, 2009
12:29 pm
Besides, when are they going to talk about Tim Tebow and David Wright?
Mark Bradley
August 18th, 2009
12:29 pm
There aren’t many athletes I actively root against. But this is one.
Herschel Talker
August 18th, 2009
12:31 pm
Amen Mark. This guy is old news. Ya’ll should stop writing about this clown. Great blog entry!
Gail
August 18th, 2009
12:32 pm
Ummm — that would be Wrangler jeans.
DNR
August 18th, 2009
12:33 pm
I don’t dislike Brett Farve yet, but I am certainly getting there. Why do they think the entire nation cares about this? The last thing I want to hear about is crusty-armed Farve going to the Vikings. This isnt news, it’s a soap opera.
Michelle T
August 18th, 2009
12:36 pm
I wish everyone would get off Favre’s case. He’s a good guy who obviously loves the game, his job and wants to keep going as long as he can. At a minimum, at least Favre is a welcome distraction from the Vick/Eagles media circus. I’ve had enough of that already and the season hasn’t even started yet.
ghostwriter
August 18th, 2009
12:37 pm
This has gotten ridiculous. He’s still obviously going to be in the Hall of Fame and he’s still arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, but, at this point, he’s become a joke. Now, whenever someone mentions Brett Favre, they think of his drama with retirement and not his accomplishments. It’s too bad.
butch t
August 18th, 2009
12:42 pm
What’s the downside of this for Brett? It’s a win win situation with a very good football team and an offense that he knows well. If he takes them to the promised land, then he’s a hero. If he fails, then he’s an old guy just trying to hang around, which everyone assumes already. I say, go get the money, Brett. Does anyone rememeber Joe Montana with the Chiefs, or Jerry Rice with Oakland? No way. His numbers will always define his career. I’m pulling for the guy, even while I am just as sick of the spectulation as everyone else. Is he arrogant? Of course, he is. He wouldn’t be where he is, if he wasn’t.
David Smith
August 18th, 2009
12:43 pm
I used to enjoy seeing Brett Favre giving his teamates a piggy back ride in celebration of another one of his many historic feats. I’m tired now of his retire/unretired mess after every season (Insert crying press conference here) and wish he would just find another hobby to indulge in and save us all from this madness every year.
GT Falcon
August 18th, 2009
12:44 pm
What a big baby….I don’t want to do training camp. What an A-hole. I hope he falls on his face.
Bubba
August 18th, 2009
12:45 pm
Can someone PLEASE put the Favre Monster out of our misery?!
Mark Bradley
August 18th, 2009
12:46 pm
He’s not “arguably” the greatest quarterback of all time in my view. I’ll argue — for the next eight hours, if need be — he isn’t in the top 10.
Al Cervik
August 18th, 2009
12:49 pm
I can’t decide what I’m more tired of–Brett Favre or the douche’s who scream “It’s in the hole!” at a golf tournament…especially teeing off on a par 5. Top two most annoying things in sports today. I am sick of Favre and will now actively root against him and the Vikings. I hope they fail miserably. Childress has made a deal with the devil and has hitched his wagon to this megalomaniac.
ghostwriter
August 18th, 2009
12:49 pm
Brett Favre has become a complete joke. Now, when people think of him, they don’t think of his accomplishments on the field, they think of his drama with retirement. If he wants to play, then he can play, but why must be consistently “retire” only to come back? Sure, he’s still going to be in the Hall of Fame and he’s still arguably the best quarterback ever, but I can’t take him seriously anymore.
Michael Scharff
August 18th, 2009
12:51 pm
Guys, just for the record, he shills for Wrangler, not Lee…
Herschel Talker
August 18th, 2009
12:53 pm
Brett Favre likes men. And painkillers.
Herschel Talker
August 18th, 2009
12:54 pm
MB – while I agree with you that he’s both a scumbag and overrated, name 10 better than him.
George C
August 18th, 2009
12:57 pm
Just when I think I’m out, they pull you back in!
mitch
August 18th, 2009
12:58 pm
Dear Mr. MB–come on, don’t hold back. Let us in on your deeper feelings about Favre. Your pal, Mitch
George C
August 18th, 2009
12:59 pm
Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorence on this thing, because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing is frowned upon… you know, cause I’ve worked in a lot of offices, and I tell you, people do that all the time.
Brew
August 18th, 2009
12:59 pm
If you want to blame Brett, that’s fine, but don’t forget that if he hadn’t been pushed out in Green Bay, he would have never retired in the first place. If he hadn’t been pushed out, and if the Packers hadn’t placed restrictions on trading him, he wouldn’t have had to settle for the Jets. If the Packers had manned up and said “we don’t care if you go to Minnesota. You’re not good enough to start for us, so you can’t hurt us,” then he wouldn’t have retired, gotten traded to the Jets, retired again and finally landed where he should have been allowed to go all along.
The drama with Favre will end as soon as there are 32 QBs better than him in the NFL, and obviously right now, there’s not. That’s not an indictment of Favre; it’s an indictment of the NFL.
butch t
August 18th, 2009
12:59 pm
MB, the depth of your conviction hints that it might be personal with you. He was and could be still a great quarterback. The numbers just don’t lie.
Anotherdawg
August 18th, 2009
1:02 pm
It will be interesting to see if he is able to play a whole season without being hurt or limp armed. I suppose the Vikings could sign John Smoltz as a closer.
George C
August 18th, 2009
1:02 pm
Slip him a mickey!
10?
August 18th, 2009
1:02 pm
Unitas. Marino. Montana. Young. Elway. Graham. Manning. Brady. Bradshaw. Aikman. More?
Paddy
August 18th, 2009
1:03 pm
Mark, I am with you on this Farve fiasco. He has found a way though to get more paychecks. His reputation is gone but the cash still rolls in. There will always be one team to sign these clown.(insert your favorite hasbeen here)
Favreboy
August 18th, 2009
1:03 pm
Favre is not a monster! He’s not! Just a man who likes to play football on Sunday. Give him a break! The media hypes this all up. Brett is a sensitive man who does not like to get his feelings hurt. The Packers hurt his feelings. The New Yorkers couldn’t understand Brett’s feelings. I heard the Vikings have not only reflected but confirmed his feelings and so now he wants to play football again. It’s that simple folks, too much analysis going on that is way off track.
GeoffDawg
August 18th, 2009
1:06 pm
Let me take a shot at your ten best:
Montana
Marino (does the lack of a Superbowl disqualify here?)
Elway
Manning (Peyton, not Eli)
Brady
Young
Staubach
Unitas
Starr
Moon maybe? Same qualifier as Marino
I would say in his prime, Favre is a definite top tenner. The average over his career though keeps dropping him farther and farther down the list.
GeoffDawg
August 18th, 2009
1:07 pm
BTW – I don’t begrudge anyone playing as long as they like if they can find someone to pay them. The non stop media adulation is very tiresome though.
GW
August 18th, 2009
1:07 pm
Too many hits to the noggin’…Favre thinks he is a boxer. He knows how to dodge training camp though. I can see HOF voters making him sweat over these retirements when he becomes eligble in 2022.
BravesFan79
August 18th, 2009
1:08 pm
As a Farve fan i was glad to watch him lead the Packers, and then the Jets. And ill watch every game i can if hes leading the Vikings. Go Falcons, Go Vikings!!
Face it people, Farve may have a tough time making up his mind, but hes no scumbag with 10 fatherless kids by 10 women like Travis Henry/ Elijah Dukes. In otherwords hes not out spreading little black fatherless kids like the majority of the blacks in the NFL. (its hard to find quality ones like Warrick Dunn)
See this is where the lack of morals and values are screwed up in this country….more people will root for scumbags like the woman beating Denver reciever Marshall, and the family dog killer Vick than will root for Farve.
George C
August 18th, 2009
1:08 pm
George is getting frustrated!
TBizzle
August 18th, 2009
1:09 pm
@Brew – Favre was pushed out of GB because he couldn’t make up his damn mind. He played the “will I, or won’t I, retire?” game for two offseasons prior to that. The Packers lost their patience with his little game and gave him an ultimatum. Since that time he has “retired” and unretired TWICE.
The Favre drama has gone on for almost 5 years now. It’s pathetic, annoying, and takes away from real sports stories.
BravesFan79
August 18th, 2009
1:10 pm
I cant WAIT to see Farve go ONE more season! This news makes the NFL season SO much more interesting this year and gives me another team to root for besides the Falcons.
Minn vs. Green Bay is going to be HUGE! Stick it to em Brett!!
Malted Falcon
August 18th, 2009
1:11 pm
GeoffDawg, where the heck is Fran Tarkenton? No respect
Mark Bradley
August 18th, 2009
1:12 pm
Top 10 (not in order): Montana, Marino, P. Manning, Brady, Starr, Unitas, Baugh, Staubach, Aikman, Van Brocklin, Tarkenton, Warner, Bradshaw, Waterfield, Luckman.
That’s actually 15. And I’d put them all ahead of ESPN’s guy.
10?
August 18th, 2009
1:13 pm
@ Bravesfan79…are you kidding me? “In otherwords hes not out spreading little black fatherless kids like the majority of the blacks in the NFL?”
Pathetic, untrue generalization. Its sad to see nonsense like this continuously posted on these AJC blogs.
GeoffDawg
August 18th, 2009
1:15 pm
Geez, you’re right Falcon. I don’t know what I was smoking.
George C
August 18th, 2009
1:16 pm
I did it! MY BOYS CAN SWIM!!!
DWS
August 18th, 2009
1:19 pm
GET OVER IT!!! The man is still better than half the QB’s playing in the NFL. Who are we or the media to say when he has to quit. I’ll look forward to watching him play…class act!
Herschel Talker
August 18th, 2009
1:22 pm
MB – I think you’re bias is shining through. His stats are far superior to most of those guys. I think you’re being a bit irrational there. I bet most NFL couldn’t even name Waterfield and Luckman. Warner is ridiculous. You lose all credibility there.
Famuan
August 18th, 2009
1:23 pm
Bravesfan, you need to check yourself. Favre is a drug addict that nearly killed himself and was in the NFL’s drug program. He’s a druggie. Favre’s sister was arrested for a drive-by shooting as well as shoplifting down in Missisippi. You know nothing about Favre obviously, other than the myth created by Bspn.
BravesFan79
August 18th, 2009
1:23 pm
Next on Mark Bradleys list: 15 Braves pitchers that were better than Smoltz.
Sad you let such a minor detail like coming out of retirement affect your view Bradley, when theres far worse scumbags in the NFL than Farve.
GeoffDawg
August 18th, 2009
1:25 pm
Out of curiosity Mark, who are the other athletes you root against? Mike Vick? John Rocker? OJ Simpson?
Mark Bradley
August 18th, 2009
1:28 pm
Because latter-day fans couldn’t name Sid Luckman and Bob Waterfield, that makes them no good?
Oh, and I forgot Bobby Layne. And Steve Young.
Mark Bradley
August 18th, 2009
1:30 pm
I actually liked O.J. a lot as a player. And I like Vick. Didn’t much like Rocker, as you’ve probably guessed.
And also forgot Elway on my list. See what happens when I do things off the top of my head?
PMC
August 18th, 2009
1:30 pm
Hey man, seriously, If you can get paid 15 million dollars to come out and throw awful interceptions… God Bless you. Go get it.
The Vikings have a chance with him and they have no chance without him… why not? Childress is incredibly desperate, if he dosen’t win this year he may never be a head coach ever again.
MN Possum
August 18th, 2009
1:31 pm
Add Namath and Fouts.