Wrong about Favre? An epic fail enables me to rest my case
I’d been hearing it lately: “Ready to admit you were wrong about Favre?” And I admit I was almost – almost, I said — wavering. The man I’d described as the most overrated athlete of our time had had a brilliant regular season. I didn’t see that coming. I didn’t think he had anything left. And now he stood one game from a Super Bowl, and the thought of a two-week ESPN Favre-fest was enough to turn my stomach.
But I held out hope. Even when the Vikings had the ball in field-goal range, I keep saying to myself, “He can still mess this up.” Lo and behold, he did. Which is why Brett Favre is …
The most overrated athlete of our time.
The Vikings kicked the Saints all around the Superdome but neglected to win the game. Favre had much to do with that — a blown handoff on the goal line, a forced interception in the second half, an unbelievable INT inside the final 20 seconds of regulation in a tie game. Even after a splendid season, the Favre I know and loathe blew it at the end.
Naturally, the sycophants on ESPN declared Favre a man’s man for trying to Make A Play, but the first rule of NFL quarterbacking remains: Protect the Doggone Ball. But he couldn’t do it because he’s Brett Favre, the man’s man who never saw a dare he wouldn’t take.
(Oh, and if you’re interested in some intriguing variations on the ESPN Favre phenomenon, check out the roundly irreverant #ESPNFavreRulesforAll on Twitter. One submission: “That’s the thing about NBC executives. They aren’t afraid to yank Conan off the Tonight show. Gotta respect that.”)
So now I can rest easy, at least until Favre retires and unretires again. He’s done for this season. His last pass was a postseason interception, same as in January 2008. Being Brett Favre, he teared up in the postgame interview because he’s a man’s man who isn’t afraid to cry. Or wear Wrangler jeans. Or throw the ball to the other side.
Ready to admit I was wrong about Brett Favre? Look, I’ll admit I’ve been wrong about pretty much everything in my so-called life. But not about Brett Favre. Never about him.
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385 comments Add your comment
Ross
January 25th, 2010
5:56 am
I told my buddy flat out that before the game was over, Favre would make a critical mistake by trying to force one into coverage. Every big game he does this. I remember a playoff game with the Rams in which he had 6 interceptions.
As to Favre himself – I actually feel sorry for him. This is not a happy man, and retirement will be his undoing. There is something deeply neurotic is his behavior.
-drl
Jonas Grumby
January 25th, 2010
6:12 am
Favre being great and overrated are not mutually exclusive concepts. The fact that Terry Bradshaw, who’s basically an idiot, calls him the greatest QB ever doesn’t make that a concensus. Donovan McNabb is the more overrated QB. Favre is not nearly as overrated as Terrell Owens. In fact, Favre is not even the most overrated player on his team. That would be Adrian Peterson. As for most overrated athlete, I have to go with Allen Iverson … the caveat that I know or care nothing about hockey.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
January 25th, 2010
6:28 am
While Farve is not the most overrated as Bradley states, he certainly is not the greatest ever either. I cringed every time they displayed a graphic showing Farve breaking another Montana record. Do we really think Farve as better than Montana? No, its a matter of accumulating stats over a 19 year career.
Is Farve a Top 10 QB of All-Time? Unquestionably, as he essentially restored Green Bay as a relevant football city after disappearing in the ’80s. Where he falls in the Top 10 is up for debate but he is in the conversation for sure.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
January 25th, 2010
6:29 am
Sorry Favre—-wow coffee hasn’t kicked in yet!
George
January 25th, 2010
6:30 am
No. It was Troy Aikman who said, “Favre HE threw to the one guy being covered.” Aikman is going to be your first student in this English tutoring thing I mentioned earlier.
Now if you will allow me, I will make a sporting comment. Favre had what can be described as a great year. That he committed the one error that arguable kept his team from the Super Bowl is forgivable and does not diminish his great year, or great career for that matter. Would that the Falcons had kept him all these years. The things that might have been.
Topp Dogg
January 25th, 2010
6:32 am
Man i can not believe how many people want to have sex with Brett, most being men.Mark you are right he is overated but at 40 he can still play the game.
Dawg stuck in Bham
January 25th, 2010
6:44 am
Mark, I graciously disagree with you. But for the life of me, I can’t come up with someone that would replace him. Maybe that means you’re right. I don’t know…
So, for all of us that disagree with Mark, we can’t rant and rave against Mark’s view unless we have someone that we believe is more overrated. So, folks, let’s put up or shut up. Who else could it/should it be???????
Al Franken
January 25th, 2010
6:55 am
Even though I can’t stand the Saints, I’m glad that Minnesota lost. Anyone that would vote me (a clown) and Jesse Ventura (a big mouthed washed up wrestler) into office, doesn’t deserve to have a team in the Super Bowl.
Andrew DeLarge
January 25th, 2010
6:55 am
What’s overrated is Mark Bradley’s blog. He has a vendetta against one of the most successful QB’s of all time. Did he get dissed by Favre??
Go to Wickepedia and compare Favre’s QB ratings with all the other greats. He stacks up quiet well.
mike
January 25th, 2010
7:00 am
Well the morons are entitled to their moronic opinions. One thing about ole Brett. He will be in the Hall of Fame long after you haters have posted your last ignorant Brett post. Sort of silly hate from people who never had the talent or skills to accomplish anything like Brett.
SkinsFan
January 25th, 2010
7:01 am
Hey, George, since you are into correcting grammar, I would kindly point out that the word is “arguably” not “arguable.” I’m just sayin’.
Jaime
January 25th, 2010
7:02 am
Bradley: What have you ever done?
KOOLAID DRINKERS
January 25th, 2010
7:04 am
Brett Favre is no where as good as the KoolAid drinkers at ESPN and some of the readers of this blog think he is. He’s a good quarterback but he makes poor decisions at the end of ballgames. There is one play that kept them from going to the Superbowl. The interception he threw ended the Vikings season.
All this drama that surrounds him and his constant retirement / unretirement is silly.
I would rather discuss the NFL overtime rules. They stink! The team that wins the toss wins the game most of the time.
Archie Manning
January 25th, 2010
7:05 am
Yes! I get to do all the interviews I can and talk about myself, N.O., and my son….again.
Call me.
Cherokee
January 25th, 2010
7:07 am
Mark….You are the one that is over-rated. How do you keep your job?
Cracker Jacket
January 25th, 2010
7:09 am
Favre is a great quarterback but far from the greatest! He probably is overrated but that is how the national media works now! The media thinks Obama can walk on water too!
RixKix
January 25th, 2010
7:11 am
Favre isn’t the most over-rated athlete, he just tries to do too much and has an over-rated opinion of himself. This isn’t his fault. It is the fault of the “cult of personality” society we unfortunately live in nowadays. When people tell you that you are great, you start to believe it. You know who’s over-rated? Julia Roberts. David Letterman. Most Hip-Hop artists. Obama.
peterabbit
January 25th, 2010
7:12 am
Now I think about as much of you as I do Terrence Moore.
Mark
January 25th, 2010
7:13 am
Favre is a fantastic quarterback. No blown game by Farr, Handoff look at replay bad pocket by Mr. Peterson. 6 fumbles not one Farr fault. He had two interceptions. Last one was due to coach sending 12 players on the field immediately right after a time out within field goal range. He was trying to throw back across the field to get the field goal kicker in the middle of the field. I knew after 12 men on the field they were in trouble….. They were the better team but lost. Colts will route the Saints. …
Stupid UGA fan
January 25th, 2010
7:14 am
MARK WHY YOU ALWAYS BASHING UGA MAN ????
Georgia native
January 25th, 2010
7:15 am
Brett overated sure Mark.
What about the throne you worship?
The over ratedVince Dooley.
Please Mark just one more feature on Vince and his love of roses or his self promoting wife.
SatchelBuzz
January 25th, 2010
7:20 am
Couldn’t disagree with you more on this one. Brett Farve is one of the GREATEST to ever play the game. You’re flat out wrong if you think otherwise.
Travis
January 25th, 2010
7:21 am
Mark, what game did you watch? The game that I watched showed several turn overs, several questionable calls. In deed the interception was a bad turn of events, but it was the 5th turn over and the second of 2 in the red zone. The first turn over in the red zone would have sealed the win for the Vikings. Get on the page of reality! The loss was nothing short of a series of mistakes and calls. Not all being the result of Brett Favre. He’s undoubtably one of the greatest quarterbacks that’s played the game…you on the other hand will only be remembered by a select few. Most of which will think you’re nothing short of out classed, one dimentional, wanna be sports writer. One that didn’t make a real impact on reporting the facts or making a difference on anything real. That cannot be said about Brett Favre.
atl-xmen
January 25th, 2010
7:23 am
your still wrong Mark B..wasnt his fault they lost. he has completed that pass over and over again…did it last week against dallas..no way is he overrated. the man can play qb and to take a beating like he did last night and still throw for over 300 yards is awesome. so once again mark, your wrong.
Spurrier
January 25th, 2010
7:25 am
Adrian Peterson lost that game on the 5 yard line.
BravesFan79
January 25th, 2010
7:26 am
Mark…i usually agree with you, but your a moron for this article! Vince Young / Jasuckis Russel are Overrated…. Brett Farve is a LEGEND!!! Him coming back made this NFL season so much more exciting, and gave me another team to root for besides the Falcons.
The Vikings would of been a 1st round playoff exit without Farve! Thanks Brett for all the great memories, lets hope he comes back to make next year interesting also.
Chris Broe
January 25th, 2010
7:27 am
Bradley is….WRONG! Favre won that game. He creamed the saint’s secondary.
But it’s football. And nobody can beat the ghost of Wrong-way Harrigan.
Nobody.
John Steele
January 25th, 2010
7:27 am
What about the overrated quarterback that we have playing for the Atlanta Falcons?
Bears Fan
January 25th, 2010
7:30 am
Vikings kicked the Saints all over the field? What are you smoking? Did you see the game. The Vikings lost that game. Not Favre. The whole freaking team. Injuries depleted the secondary. Fumbles by you top running back and wide receivers. The defense only had 1 sack and barely any pressure on Brees. The Vikings O-line might as well be matadors the way that they let the rush knock down Brett. Okay I will give it to you about ESPN and the love fest for Brett. But that is less about his playing and more about his playing style. Tell me one other QB that would have stuck around for that punishment, hobbling around. Peyton? Hell no, not the golden child. Brett plays old school football the way it should be played. Hard and for the fun. I am a Bears fan and I hate everything about the Packers and Vikings (albeit not as much) but I know where to give the respect and admiration.
whachagot Loren
January 25th, 2010
7:31 am
Mark, once again you have fallen into the trap that a lot of journalists do and that is to not allow the facts to get in the way with the truth. You failed to mention that the Minnesota defense shut down the saints totally in the second half. And a field goal gotten out of anyone of those fumbles by Peterson wins the game for them.
How about the courage Favre showed throughout the game? I love Peyton Manning, but did you see his game. He would see someone coming at him and he would lay down. Favre stood there and received his hits, wanting to do nothing but win. I appreciate your opinions. But I totally disagree with you on this one.
Sure, the fanfare was and is a bit much as it relates to Favre. But look at the facts of this game. Minnesotas defense had shut New Orleans down and it was Petersons 4 fumbles that cost them. Not Favre throwing the interception.
Jim
January 25th, 2010
7:31 am
Bradley has this thing about Mississippi and Mississippi guys, Guess he is just jealous he never had the opportunity to live there, Bradley is a jerk. Farve may have lost this game but I would bet at 40 Bradley would have never been able to run out on that field I rest my case, Mississippi produces some of the BEST college and pro athletes.
John
January 25th, 2010
7:36 am
Mark, the only way you could write this column is to justify a foolish position you took earlier. The reason the Vikings lost the game was the multiple fumbles. Favre played a good — not great — game. The offensive line let the Saints pound him. Most players — of any age — would have retreated to the bench after some of those hits, and especially after the ankle injury. We have lived in an age of great quarterbacks. I’m not ready to say Farvre is the greatest, but he is one of the best. His enthusiasm for the game and heart cannot be questioned.
You are far from the greatest sportswriter of our time.
John
January 25th, 2010
7:37 am
Enter your comments here
Brenda
January 25th, 2010
7:40 am
give us a break. Favre got them within 30 seconds of the super bowl. something matty ice cant even dream of yet. only MV7, thats right, MIKE VICK has gotten the falcons this close.
is matt sanchez a failure too?
Chris Broe
January 25th, 2010
7:44 am
The Vikings lost because two hundred years ago they made a pact with the devil. It WAS N’awlin’s, you know.
Voodoo and The Ghost of Wrong-way Corrigan. The Vikings are cursed.
Someone call an exorcist. Ban Pea Soup from their training kitchen.
All of Favre’s beautifully obnoxious ego is melting. Gone. Wasted. What a world.
What a world.
milee
January 25th, 2010
7:44 am
mark
i think you are a jerk, pure and simple. maybe you are jealous of number 4’s achievements. maybe you are a sore loser. none the less, an overrated jerk commentator.
Peadawg
January 25th, 2010
7:52 am
Facts are facts. In Brett Favre’s last 2 NFC title games, he’s thrown an interception to blow the game for his team. OVERRATED clap clap clap clap clap OVERRATED clap clap clap clap clap
russdawg
January 25th, 2010
7:54 am
Farve most overrated ? No that is Dale Jr.
Farve kept them in the game then cost them the game with that late pick so it is a wash
any other QB and that game is a blowout
Just PLEASE spare us another season of cryin and drama
We got Tebow the cryer to look forward to.
Brett's Lover
January 25th, 2010
7:59 am
Most overated? Nah, but close.
Man can take a hit? Check
Great play action? Check
Thread the needle passer? Check
Smoking hot wife? Check +
Choked on the one play that really counted? Check
I admit, I had a mancrush, but it now merely a crash.
BL
Habersham Dawg
January 25th, 2010
8:03 am
Wow, Mark. At 1AM this morning did you ask yourself “What can I write that’ll make 4 out of 5 people call me an idiot?” If so, you nailed it.
Peadawg
January 25th, 2010
8:03 am
“Thread the needle passer? Check”
Yeah, like when he threaded the needle into triple coverage(interception btw)?
Chris Broe
January 25th, 2010
8:03 am
Favre reminds me of YA Tittle. The greatest icon photo of all time is the one of him kneeling and bleeding from the head on the field after the loss to Chicago in the Championship Game in 1963. Even though it was 46 years ago I can remember every detail.
The Beatles had just become a sensation in America. Kennedy had just been laid to rest. A dance craze called the twist was finally kaput, opening the way for the Mashed Potatoe, and all the other the dance-of-the-month crazes that swept america from 1964 to1966 when it finally died out. If you went to a lot of Jr. High School dance parties, and danced last month’s craze instead of the latest craze, people talked about it. Once I did the alligator instead of the crocodile and I never heard the end of it. Cost me a date with a cheerleader. I cried. Fact. Jack.
Anyway, America needed a hero.
Well, YA Tittle was driving the Giants down to the red zone. Chicago Bears were reeling. One more TD pass would give the Giants the V.
But Da Bears smothered, covered and clobbered the Giants and, and now you know the REST of the story.
59bulldawg
January 25th, 2010
8:04 am
Mark, either you’re just stirring the pot for response or you’re a very cynical man. No way Brett is the most overrated athlete of our time. Not even close! However he is probably one of the most beloved athletes of our time and a sure Hall of Famer. I was never a Green Bay fan or a Jets fan or a Minnesota fan but like a lot of people I pulled for Green Bay and New York and Minnesota because of Brett. Why? Maybe it’s the concept of proving someone wrong who tells you that you can no longer do what you love any longer because you’ve reached a certain age. Maybe it’s the idea of proving your critics wrong. But there are thousands, perhaps millions of football fans who respect and adore what this man has done over the years. He’s not perfect but he’s a winner . . . one of the greatest to ever play the game. And for some unknown reason cynical media types like yourself can’t stand the guy. Sure he’s made mistakes but you know he’s won a heck of a lot more games for his teams than he’s lost over the years. The man is tough as nails and he possesses a great deal of heart . . . something cynics like yourself will never understand and always belittle. Perhaps you should try writing with a little less cynicism. Reading your column would be much more enjoyable if you did!
the truth....
January 25th, 2010
8:05 am
You are a blithering moron, and an a**hole at the best…you of all people talk about “over rated”…you are so mediocre as a sports writer/reporter that you should be banned from even mentioning Favre’s name….
Too bad you don’t have the opportunity to say the crap you write to the folks face to face that you write about…Favre would simply kick your tail….even if he were 80 he’ll still be able to do it…
Wausau Dame
January 25th, 2010
8:07 am
Even in his prime (which was sometime in the 90s) Favre made bonehead after bonehead play. Is there any other player in any other sport who holds so many individual records yet isn’t mentioned as one of the all time greats?
LAKE OCONEE DAWG
January 25th, 2010
8:07 am
Brett Favre is a 1st ballot Hall of Famer….Only an idiot would bash a guy who has performed as well as he has….He had nothing to lose when he threw the interception at the end of the game…All they had was a 56 yard field goal if he throws it away…To to try to blame this game on #4, you must be drinking from the same glass as Fran Tarkenton…Minnesota lost this one because they were playing basketball during a football game, bouncing the ball all over the yard….If you can’t recognize this guy’s abilities, you indeed have no clue about pro QB’s……
Gravedigger
January 25th, 2010
8:07 am
Not a Favre lover or hater, but if anyone on this blog has ever done anything close to what Favre has done with his career I would like to know about it. Got to give the man his credit, he did it his way, like it or not.
Jim
January 25th, 2010
8:08 am
“Favre Rules For All” is classic! Thanks for the tip, Mark.
Of course if we get one more season of commentary local college football commentary like the last one from you and Schulz, there could be a “Paul Johnson Rules For All” page. As in, “Yes, Brody blew up the shark, but that shark is really on the rise, I’m telling you. Brody’s on a downward trajectory.”
Chris Broe
January 25th, 2010
8:08 am
The Vikings lost in the playoffs last year to the Falcons because of a bunch of crazy happenings too. The ball inexplicably squirting toward the Falcon’s end zone like it was being carried by the Ghost of Wrong Way Corrigan. Remember that?
Maybe the Vikings really are cursed. Maybe they really DID make a pact with the Devil in 1750 like what Pat Robertson said they done did do.
(insert Twilight Zone music here).
Bank Walker, Texas Ranger
January 25th, 2010
8:09 am
you’re Mark, I’m really glad we don’t have Favre here in Atlanta and put up with all that winning only to lose in the Championship. I’m really embarrassed for the Minnesota fans who had to put up with this team all year. Peterson is overrated too