Records? Yes Class? No! Brett Favre Returns To NFL
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins served as a home to one of the greatest quarterbacks to every play professional football. Of course I mean Dan Marino. Marino left Miami still wanting to play after an embarrassing loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in his final game and final post season appearance. It was so bad that “Dan The Man” finished his career sitting squarely on the bench. Marino left the game he loved as the owner of almost every passing record the NFL tracks. Most of those now belong to Brett Favre. Favre may hold the records but he can’t light a candle to the class that Marino exuded in his waning days.
Today the Minnesota Vikings inked the oft retired QB to a 2 year deal that will pay between 10 and 13 million in 2010. Perhaps the Vikings were not watching what the Jets did with Favre at the helm last year…yes, they missed the playoffs.
Dan Marino had a choice to make when he left the game almost 10 years ago. Compete for the job that was being handed to Jay Fiedler, retire, or go play for the Vikings. Marino considered the Vikings offer, who were positioned at the time to challenge for the NFC Title. Marino stood instead at a podium and said his good-bye’s to the NFL.
4 short years ago, Brett Favre wavered on his retirement decision. He still did not hold all of Marino’s records and like any competitive person would, he stayed in the game and set himself up to walk away with them all. A year later and he announced he was done, then in training camp, he announced that he wasn’t. He came back. A year after that and he retired. Then he demanded a trade and unretired when the Green Bay Packers agreed and sent him to the NY Jets. The stipulation was that the Jets could not trade Brett to the Vikings. They wouldn’t need to.
With a thousand whines coming from Favre over the last few years, Favre finally got his wish when he announced…yet again…his retirement from the NFL. Papers submitted the Jets released the QB. Rumors flew that Brett wasn’t done and the Packers knew that Brett seemed poised with just enough classless ego to take another shot. Not a shot at a Super Bowl, but a shot at the Green Bay Packers.
With the ink on his new contract still drying, Brett Favre has not pulled one over on the Green Bay Packers, he simply spit in the faces of their fans. The same fans who supported him early, forgave his record number of Int’s, and ate, breathed, and drank anything Brett Favre.
Brett was one of the classiest players in the NFL and it was often hard to root against him. From the miracle Monday night game against the Raiders the night after his father died to a slew of other personal tragedies. His addiction and subsequent overcoming of prescription pain killers. Favre has thrown most of that away. While no one can argue that Favre is not a shoe-in for the HOF, the question is when will he actually get there and how many of his fans will still care?
Today Favre doesn’t have the same allure that he once did. He doesn’t carry the same class he once did either. Does Brett Favre hold a ton of passing records? Sure he does. Does he hold himself, his fans, and his former team with the same degree of class that Dan Marino did? Not even close. That’s one record Favre will never possess. Super Bowl ring or not.
Oh, and don’t confuse the loud cheers from Minnesota with total support. They are simply cheering that get to stick one to the Packers.