Yeah, I cried a little bit.Not the weeping and wailing genre of crying, but there were enough tears that I needed to excuse myself from the room.
Brett Favre is leaving the NFL.
He’s leaving the game with a Superbowl ring, three league MVP trophies, and all the passing records that matter. Between his first NFL start for the Packers until now, he has never missed a game. He dominated in the National Football League with not much more than a smile, a swagger, and a shotgun right arm. In fact, I would argue that of all the elite quarterbacks the NFL has seen in the modern era- Joe Montana, John Elway, Dan Marino, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady; Brett Favre did the most with the least amount of help on offense.
(Save for perhaps pre-2007 offenses of Tom Brady, but that’s an argument for another day!)
I was six years old when I became a Green Bay Packer fan. Joe Montana, whom I had previously ridden as my favorite quarterback, was basically put on the chopping block in San Fransisco. He was on his way to Kansas City. My dad was angry about this, as he had loved Joe but hated the Chiefs. We were also very much a Denver Broncos household. So that anger kind of "rubbed off" on me, as I wasn't old enough to actually make my own informed sports opinions. All I knew was that I needed a new favorite player.
So how did I choose? I booted up Tecmo Super Bowl and scanned through the teams until I settled on Green Bay.
Why?
I liked that they had a receiver named Sterling Sharpe. I had a couple of his football cards and he seemed pretty good. More importantly, there was a cute girl down the street who was from Wisconsin and I figured wearing the green and gold would get me in.
Yes. I was six.
I remember when the team signed Reggie White the next year and I celebrated by going out and buying his jersey. There was a special deal if you bought two jerseys and the only other Green Bay jersey they had in stock was some guy named Favre. I was confused at the spelling, but happy to have TWO jerseys of my new favorite team.
I began my pop warner football career as a defensive end, so it surprised me when Brett Favre, and not Reggie White, would become my hero.
It’s become tired these days to say that Brett Favre is just having fun out there, but that’s what first pulled me in. I gravitated to his passion. I liked seeing someone enjoy themselves. It felt like every time the camera swung his way, whether it was on the sideline or mid-cadence, Brett was smiling. I remember one particular play that will forever be etched into my mind that defined Brett’s approach to football--
It was a playoff game between the Packers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the jawing between Favre and the Bucs’ Warren Sapp was near historic. On fourth down, the Pack lined up and tried to draw the Bucs offsides. Brett leans over center Frank Winters and begins taunting Sapp to jump. The camera was zoomed in on the Wisconsin-cheesy grin on Favre’s face as he hassled his friend. Sapp held firm, and the defeated Favre calls a timeout and brings in the punter, but not before giving Sapp a playful head slap.
There’s a reason that this stupid, silly play is placed into my favorite memories of my favorite player. It’s up there next to the Monday nighter against the Raiders after his father passed away. It’s with the bomb of a pass hitting Andre Rison in stride to kick off the Superbowl XXXI. It’s with the snowy theatrics of last year’s playoff game against Seattle. It’s there because it showed me the most important side of football - the love of the game.
That’s what made Brett Favre special to me. You could tell every week how much he loved the game of football. I can only hope to show the same passion and devotion to whatever I get myself into in my own life.
Brett Favre is leaving the NFL.
He’s leaving the game with a Superbowl ring, three league MVP trophies, and all the passing records that matter. Between his first NFL start for the Packers until now, he has never missed a game. He dominated in the National Football League with not much more than a smile, a swagger, and a shotgun right arm. In fact, I would argue that of all the elite quarterbacks the NFL has seen in the modern era- Joe Montana, John Elway, Dan Marino, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady; Brett Favre did the most with the least amount of help on offense.
(Save for perhaps pre-2007 offenses of Tom Brady, but that’s an argument for another day!)
I was six years old when I became a Green Bay Packer fan. Joe Montana, whom I had previously ridden as my favorite quarterback, was basically put on the chopping block in San Fransisco. He was on his way to Kansas City. My dad was angry about this, as he had loved Joe but hated the Chiefs. We were also very much a Denver Broncos household. So that anger kind of "rubbed off" on me, as I wasn't old enough to actually make my own informed sports opinions. All I knew was that I needed a new favorite player.
So how did I choose? I booted up Tecmo Super Bowl and scanned through the teams until I settled on Green Bay.
Why?
I liked that they had a receiver named Sterling Sharpe. I had a couple of his football cards and he seemed pretty good. More importantly, there was a cute girl down the street who was from Wisconsin and I figured wearing the green and gold would get me in.
Yes. I was six.
I remember when the team signed Reggie White the next year and I celebrated by going out and buying his jersey. There was a special deal if you bought two jerseys and the only other Green Bay jersey they had in stock was some guy named Favre. I was confused at the spelling, but happy to have TWO jerseys of my new favorite team.
I began my pop warner football career as a defensive end, so it surprised me when Brett Favre, and not Reggie White, would become my hero.
It’s become tired these days to say that Brett Favre is just having fun out there, but that’s what first pulled me in. I gravitated to his passion. I liked seeing someone enjoy themselves. It felt like every time the camera swung his way, whether it was on the sideline or mid-cadence, Brett was smiling. I remember one particular play that will forever be etched into my mind that defined Brett’s approach to football--
It was a playoff game between the Packers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the jawing between Favre and the Bucs’ Warren Sapp was near historic. On fourth down, the Pack lined up and tried to draw the Bucs offsides. Brett leans over center Frank Winters and begins taunting Sapp to jump. The camera was zoomed in on the Wisconsin-cheesy grin on Favre’s face as he hassled his friend. Sapp held firm, and the defeated Favre calls a timeout and brings in the punter, but not before giving Sapp a playful head slap.
There’s a reason that this stupid, silly play is placed into my favorite memories of my favorite player. It’s up there next to the Monday nighter against the Raiders after his father passed away. It’s with the bomb of a pass hitting Andre Rison in stride to kick off the Superbowl XXXI. It’s with the snowy theatrics of last year’s playoff game against Seattle. It’s there because it showed me the most important side of football - the love of the game.
That’s what made Brett Favre special to me. You could tell every week how much he loved the game of football. I can only hope to show the same passion and devotion to whatever I get myself into in my own life.
One more thing that Brett Favre showed me: perseverance.
I was blown away at how Brett handled adversity throughout his career. Overcoming his addictions. Rebuilding his marriage. The loss of loved ones. When Brett showed up to play in the Raiders game after his father passed away, it touched me that he was doing it because his father loved to watch him play football and he didn’t know any other way of handling his loss than doing what he loved to do.
I guess it’s fitting that my hero will now ride off into the sunset.
Thanks for all of the memories, Brett.
Thanks for hanging in one more year.
And thank you for showing me the love of the game.
Go Pack, Go!
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