Brett Favre: Wants to Play For The Wrong Reasons

For NFL fans spring and summer is a time of transition from one year to the next.  Football has become a year round sport, between the draft, offseason moves, and the actual season itself.  Typical questions during the offseason include:  What free agents are my team going to be able to sign?  What players can they bring back?  Who should my team draft?  What rookies are making a big impression in OTA’s or during camp?  Is Brett Favre going to retire or play another year? 

Football fans around the world are once again subjected to the annual offseason miniseries entitled “As The Favre Turns.”  I have gotten to the point where I have stopped reading every article, listening to every story on TV and radio, or waiting on pins and needles regarding Favre and his inevitable decision whether to spend time with his family in Mississippi or return to a NFL stadium near you.

I just wish that he would make his mind up quickly and let some of the other important stories that surround the league come to the forefront.  There has been much discussion about why Favre should retire or continue his Hall of Fame career.  Regardless of what we, the fans, think Favre should do, he has earned the right to end his career on his own terms.  If he is still able to perform at a level that is high enough to satisfy the front office and coaching staff of a National Football League team then he should be able to continue his career.

With that being said, Favre should hang it up and call it a career.  I am really hoping that he doesn’t come back and play.  If he still wants to play because of his love for the game or to earn a substantial living, then that’s one thing.  In my eyes, Favre is not considering returning for any one of those reasons, but is doing it solely to spite the Green Bay Packers.  That is the tragedy in this whole matter. 

Green Bay was not wrong in their decision to let Favre go last offseason.  He had made his decision to “retire” and so they moved on.  What were they supposed to do?  They couldn’t just sit back and wait for him to change his mind.  Not to mention that Favre was 38 years old at the time and they had Aaron Rodgers, a 2005 first round draft pick, on the bench.  They owed it to themselves to see what they had in the significantly younger Rodgers who had been sitting on the bench for three seasons. 

Furthermore Green Bay was right in their decision to trade Favre to a team of their choosing.  There is no way that I would trade a Super Bowl winning legend on my team to a divisional rival.  Teams in every sport refuse to trade players to division rivals every year.  The Packers were not doing anything that was unreasonable. 

Would I have liked to have seen a better end to Favre’s time in Green Bay?  Without a doubt.  But when a player refuses to stick to the decision he made, this is what happens.  Favre made the mistake of thinking  he is bigger than the Packers.  No player on any team is bigger than the team itself. 

It is shameful that Favre is using spite as his motivation to return to the gridiron.  It is disappointing to see him treat the franchise that gave him the opportunity to become a legend in such a disrespectful manner.  Let us hope that the image of Brett Favre in a purple and white NFL uniform on Sundays is something that we will never be unfortunate enough to see.

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