Say it ain't so, Bret
It's mourning in America today ... at least for me.
The Green Bay Packers' Bret Favre is retiring. The star quarterback with the bionic arm and the little kid's grin shocked Packer Nation (of which I am a citizen) by calling it quits Tuesday, even though his body and his arm are still in magnificent shape.
It's his spirit that apparently convinced him it's over. Favre said he's tired. His heart is not in it anymore.
As much as I wish it weren't so, there's grace, honesty and courage in knowing when to walk away.
So many athletes hang on past their prime, when their spirits are willing but their bodies no longer are able.
Another Packer, Reggie White, comes to mind.
White retired, then unretired to play for the Carolina Panthers. He was only a shell of his former self. It was sad to watch.
Joe Montana quarterbacked in the twilight of his career ... in Kansas City. A broken, battered Broadway Joe Namath finished way, way off Broadway as a Los Angeles Ram.
Among the saddest of all, boxing great Joe Louis and even wrestled well past his prime, not so much because he wanted to but because he had to.
Hounded relentlessly by the IRS, Louis was forced to disgrace himself (he even danced onstage in an entertainment act) to pay onerous back tax bills.
Favre could change his mind (and, of course, I'd be overjoyed) but there''s something to be said for going out after the banner season he had in 2007, leading a young team just one game short of the Super Bowl.
But, man, he'll be missed. He made football fun.
Comments (13)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
I totally agree with you, Mr. Johnson. Even though i completely support our local Panthers, part of me has always appreciated the work of Mr. Favre in Green Bay. Brett played with a passion and enthusiasm rarely seen among today's athletes. That's really the saddest part of it all. It seems like we just lost another athlete who actually played his sport for the love of the game and not just for the paycheck. Thanks for the memories #4!
Posted on March 5, 2008 1:11 PM
Favre is the most overrated QB in the history of the game. The translation of "gunslinger," I think, is "throws stupid interceptions at crucial moments by forcing passes into double coverage." Now, I love Favre and hate Joe Montana, but will anybody tell me they'd pick Favre in the clutch?
Posted on March 5, 2008 4:14 PM
I would. He's made his share of dumb plays, but he's also won games on sheer talent and nerve.
Of course, I'm biased.
Posted on March 5, 2008 4:17 PM
You mean after stating he's considering retiring for I believe what seems like the last ten years, he's actually leaving?
Finally, we'll be able to put that story to rest.
Posted on March 5, 2008 4:41 PM
Maybe. There's still plenty of time for him to change his mind. But I doubt he will.
Posted on March 5, 2008 4:55 PM
I hpoe so!
Posted on March 5, 2008 8:09 PM
I have it on reliable sources that Mr. and Mrs. Favre were so upset to hear about these destroyed files in GSO that they decided to stop and check it out for themselves.
Posted on March 5, 2008 8:54 PM
Allen, it's people like you who make Favre lucky to have played in Green Bay. If he played in NY or Philly, he'd have been run out of town about 6 years ago. In terms of popular consciousness, he's an interesting case, I think: one of those mythical sports figures for whom the myth supercedes the reality. I've watched it time and again on TV: his failures are due to "a lack of talent around him," his "gunslinger attitude," his "trying to do too much." I.e., his failures are recuperated as mythological virtues. Kurt Warner got this treatment for a while, until people realized he had just lost it. For other QBs--think Donovan McNabb--failures are just failures. An anthropologist could do an interesting study of quarterbacks and tribal mythologies.
Posted on March 5, 2008 11:42 PM
Allen, it's people like you who make Favre lucky to have played in Green Bay. If he played in NY or Philly, he'd have been run out of town about 6 years ago. In terms of popular consciousness, he's an interesting case, I think: one of those mythical sports figures for whom the myth supercedes the reality. I've watched it time and again on TV: his failures are due to "a lack of talent around him," his "gunslinger attitude," his "trying to do too much." I.e., his failures are recuperated as mythological virtues. Kurt Warner got this treatment for a while, until people realized he had just lost it. For other QBs--think Donovan McNabb--failures are just failures. An anthropologist could do an interesting study of quarterbacks and tribal mythologies.
Posted on March 5, 2008 11:42 PM
Allen, it's people like you who make Favre lucky to have played in Green Bay. If he played in NY or Philly, he'd have been run out of town about 6 years ago. In terms of popular consciousness, he's an interesting case, I think: one of those mythical sports figures for whom the myth supercedes the reality. I've watched it time and again on TV: his failures are due to "a lack of talent around him," his "gunslinger attitude," his "trying to do too much." I.e., his failures are recuperated as mythological virtues. Kurt Warner got this treatment for a while, until people realized he had just lost it. For other QBs--think Donovan McNabb--failures are just failures. An anthropologist could do an interesting study of quarterbacks and tribal mythologies.
Posted on March 5, 2008 11:42 PM
Oh, I doubt that, Brian. Packer fans are as tough as any and more knowledgeable than most.
This is the place that ran the legendary Bart Starr out of town when he didn't win as a coach.
This also is a place where someone killed th dog of short-time coach Dan Devine.
Most Green Bay fans are good people, from what I've seen from visiting there. But football is all there is to nearly all of them. Green Bay IS the Packers.
PS: I'll bet fans in Philly and St. Louis and Chicago and a dozen other towns would love to have Favre behind center, right now.
Posted on March 6, 2008 9:20 AM
Let's see if I understand it. People who make millions but blow it all, should not be held responsible for their taxes. He had a name and that opened doors that could be profitable. How are we to determine which people that have made a lot of money but cannot or will not pay their taxes should be absolved of the liability. Is this not welfare for the rich.
Posted on March 10, 2008 10:46 AM
Joe, you really need to see the new documentary on Louis.
Essentially, he was bilked by an unscrupulous manager and saddled with tax bills that he wanted to pay, and never attempted to evade -- but with terms from the IRS that were so unreasonable he could never catch up.
All this after he sacrificed big boxing paydays during his prime to volunteer for the (segregated) Army to help boost the war effort.
Posted on March 12, 2008 8:45 PM