Goodbye, Brett

I'm a big sports fan, and I was shocked as any sports fan on Monday with the report that Brett Favre was retiring. The gunslinger quarterback of the Green Bay Packers was setting 'em down. Even though he was coming off the best season he had in several years, the all time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, and even more impressively, games started, one of the legends of the NFL decided that it was time to pass the baton and call it a career. I almost didn't believe it at first. Brett over the last five years had talked off and on of retiring, to the point that the Packers were driven crazy by his indecisiveness on this issue. Even as the reports started coming Monday on the various news sources, part of me wanted to hear this from Brett's own mouth.

Well, today I got my chance. I listened to Brett Favre announce it himself. (There is a link on the home page at espn if you would like to listen to the news conference online.) Although I will miss seeing his exuberant leadership on the field, I totally respect his decision to hang it up. Brett basically said he wasn't willing to do what he had to do to get ready for the upcoming season. He felt like he could still play, but he "wasn't sure I wanted to." Football, especially at the NFL level, takes much more time than putting on spikes on a Sunday afternoon. It takes a physical commitment and also a very great mental commitment. And remember, Brett Favre has started 275 consecutive games. That's over 15 years of regular season games and playoffs. Fifteen years of week in and week out having 275+ pound linemen and linebackers trying to take off whatever body part they can get their hands on. That's over a decade and a half of running and throwing and deciding and having everything you do scrutinized to the umpteenth-most degree.

Some said that he may regret it and try to come back later. Others said he was upset that the Packers had not landed a prize free agent. In listening to Brett's emotion-laden voice, he had no ulterior motive. It was time to go. And so, the Mississippi born-and-bred quarterback is riding off into the sunset, unsure of a specific future, but fully aware that he has given the fans of the Green Bay Packers, National Football League, and fans of clean competition everywhere everything that they could possibly hope for. So long, Mr. Favre, and God bless you.