Shhhh…Brett Favre is speaking
“The obvious is he’s pushing for his enshrinement in Lambeau and he wants to start making nice so he can re-establish his legacy in Wisconsin overall. Also so it isn’t super awkward when the Packers decide to retire his number and people are booing.”
It’s not exactly important what someone says, but why they are saying it. Brett Favre snuck back into our lives the other day when he suddenly became open and honest about his swansong in Green Bay. Favre admitted he bungled his exit from the Packers and wished he’d handled it differently. He also praised the QB who replaced him after some not so positive words about him just a few years prior. Hmmm. Ok.
If you recall, Green Bay had a shiny new toy named Aaron Rodgers it wanted to try out and were waiting for Favre to make his decision on whether he was going to play another season, retire, or move on. It was a classic “shit or get off the pot” question and Green Bay was getting tired of asking Favre something so personal. The Packers could have gotten at least two more good seasons out of Favre – as we saw in his time with the Jets and Vikings – and would have probably let him play if he hadn’t jerked them around so much by retiring and then un-retiring in 2008. But Favre played a cute game of hard to get and the Packers moved on much to their benefit: Rodgers brought a Super Bowl title back to Green Bay a mere three years later.
Favre was being difficult and as his unceremonious end to his career suggested, there were perhaps more things going on in his life than just football: sending dick picks to strippers/game day hostesses/masseuses. So after a bit of an absence, Favre is back and saying all the right things. He was at fault. Really? Yeah, no shit. Glad he could admit it now, well after the fact. Then he commented that Aaron Rodgers would outdo him as Packers QB. A far cry from when he said Rodgers should have won a Super Bowl earlier and that he “just kind of fell into a good situation.”
So why now? Are the statute of limitations running out on him being a douchebag? The obvious is he’s pushing for his enshrinement in Lambeau and he wants to start making nice so he can re-establish his legacy in Wisconsin overall. Also so it isn’t super awkward when the Packers decide to retire his number and people are booing. Favre went out with an embarrassing whimper and sees the value of re-establishing his legend in the place that gave birth to it. But if you’re a Packers fan, do you really want to retire his number?
Imagine if John Elway pulled a diva act like this late in his career – keeping the Broncos waiting as he decided whether he wanted to play or not, forcing the team’s hand in a trade and eventually ending up playing for the Chargers. Would you, as a Broncos fan seriously consider taking him back? I can’t imagine any scenario where you would with the kind of shenanigans Favre pulled. He held the team hostage and ended up with a division rival. Not to mention several sexual harassment suits that were mysteriously settled for unknown sums that have, more or less, sullied his fine career. It’s the kind of sports treason that will get you a lifetime ban from the hard core fans. And it’s precisely why he’s going on a goodwill tour, trying to repair any damage he may have caused with his exit.
Favre is the cheating ex-husband who’s so concerned with his image, he’ll do anything – aside from not cheating – to make himself look good. Even if it means half-heartedly admitting he was in the wrong. But as talk radio perks up at the very instance of Favre speaking, they immediately echo his sentiments like trained seals. Favre thinks Rodgers is better, so talk radio naturally has to debate it. It’s a brilliant move because it obscures the reasons why Favre is speaking at all. I’m all for forgiving the guy and moving on, but it’s obvious what he doesn’t want is for anyone to notice why we’re forgiving him in the first place.
