Waddup, waddup. Welcome back to a Daily Dose of The Gerald. Today I’d like to touch on a subject in the world of sports, as I recently had a couple of unexpected and somewhat heated conversations with females about it. It is an interesting and somewhat sad topic for me, as Brett Favre has become a legend of football basically right before my own eyes, all of our eyes. His rise to a Hall of Fame caliber quarterback in the NFL has happened in our lifetime, and it has been an awesome growth to witness.
As many of you know, Brett Favre retired after last season, thus ending one of the most storied careers in National Football League history. Now, somebody like that doesn’t just leave the game behind. They can’t, it’s been their life, and especially for someone like him. He’s shattered records, he’s won a Super Bowl, he’s broken wide receivers’ thumbs with his zipline passes, he was in “There’s Something About Mary”, he’s overcome addiction to painkillers, he’s supported his wife through her development of cancer, and he’s mourned the passing of his brother-in-law and his father. And what has helped him get through all of this? That’s right, football. He is and always has been a warrior on the field, who also often looks like a kid playing and laughing out there with referees and opposing players.
He’s not just a football player, not even just a legendary football player. He is football. He optimizes everything that football is; strength, honor, hard work, persistence, motivation, emotion, leadership, sweat, blood, tears, respect, passion, and heart. And when it comes to heart, nobody who’s ever seen Brett Favre play the game could ever deny his heart of pure gold. I’d like to point to a Monday Night Football game between The Green Bay Packers and The Oakland Raiders on December 22, 2003. Brett’s father had just passed away the day before in a car accident, possibly cause by a medical condition. Who plays football after that? Brett Favre does, that’s who. He gave his father what may have been his greatest game ever, the day after losing him, and just days before Christmas. His entire team saw the heart in that, and they all lifted their level of play. He passed for four touchdowns in the first half, finishing the game with 399 yards passing and beating Oakland 41-7 on international TV. In an interview after the game, he said, “I knew that my dad would have wanted me to play. I love him so much and I love this game. It's meant a great deal to me, to my dad, to my family, and I didn't expect this kind of performance. But I know he was watching tonight.” I am blessed to have been able to watch that game live.
Now, some have argued that he should stay off of the playing field, as he ponders a return as an active player. Green Bay has said they would welcome him back…as a backup. Give me a break! Someone like that does not ponder a return to the field in a backup capacity. Are you kidding me? He wants to compete, and compete he will if he decides to come back. And if Green Bay doesn’t want him as their starter, then let him go elsewhere! But I will go on record as saying that the Green Bay Packers organization would be a bunch of idiots to not start Brett Favre at quarterback if he was willing to come back, actually they’d also be dumb to let him play elsewhere because he would crush them when he met them on the battlefield. Those who have expressed he should stay off the field have suggested he get a job with ESPN, sip coladas on the beach, also say that it would not be fair for anyone to pick up Brett Favre as their starting quarterback.
They say that the current starting quarterback’s on these teams have worked hard and earned their starting roles, and for someone like Brett Favre with all of his accolades to come in and strip that starting role from them would be ludicrous. Not so much so. Plain and simple, he is AWESOME. Any quarterback in the league should be happy to have the opportunity to learn some of what makes Brett Favre tick. They could all benefit from it, and some of these starting quarterbacks are not doing their teams any favors. Not to name any names, but Josh McCown (Miami), Kyle Boller (Baltimore), and Tarvaris Jackson (Minnesota), Alex Smith (San Francisco)…
Brett Favre is set to be the first inactive player ever to be on the cover of the John Madden Football video game, but will he be? Only time will tell, but if he says he’s got gas in the tank, please do not doubt him. Let him play, or it won’t just be his loss, it’ll be all of our losses.
