There is an "I" in Favre

I don't know about everyone else but I'm sick of Brett Favre. I was never a Green Bay Packers fan but I always respected Favre as a player and recognized him as one of the best quarter backs of my generation. He has lost that respect over the last several years.

First there was the flip-flopping every year at the end of the season when he was with the Packers. The physical beating that his body took year after year, not to mention the time away from his family had weighed on him. For the first couple of years we all gave Favre a pass. He lost close family members to long term illnesses. His wife had breast cancer. Of course he had a lot of things that were bigger than football to think about. If one of the best quarterbacks in football needed a couple extra months to determine what was best for him and his family then fine.

Well a couple years became the last 5 years of his career with the Packers. The Packers drafted Aaron Rogers to lead the Packers after Favre retired only to have him sit on the bench. Poor Rogers ended up being a very expensive back up for several years while Favre continued to play, leading all of us through the emotional roller coaster of his retirement. When he finally retired after the 2007-08 season we were all relieved (especially Rogers and the rest of the Packers). His tearful retirement press conference was difficult to watch. You could tell that he was leaving something that he really loved. Conversations immediately started about where Favre ranked on the list of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. There were debates on whether or not he would be a first ballot hall of famer or not.

So imagine our disgust when he signed with the Jets just a few short months later. Apparently Brett didn't want to retire, he just didn't want to go through off season conditioning and training camp with the rest of the football players. He had moments of brilliance last season but nothing close to his heyday. And if one thing was clear last season it was that Favre was no longer fit enough to be productive for an entire NFL season, not to mention the playoffs. And maybe Favre realized that too because he retired at the end of the 2008-09 season.

No surprise when a couple months later he announced that he had signed a two-year deal with the Vikings. The Vikings are the main rivals of his former team the Packers. Favre wanted to go to the Vikings in 2008 but Green Bay wouldn't allow this so he went to the Jets. By going to the Vikings by way of the Jets he sticks it to his former team and they can't do anything about it. None of the restrictions from Favre's Packers' contract exist any more. Favre has signed a two-year deal with the Vikings so I suppose we are spared the retirement roller coaster for at least one year.

The worst part of all of this is how he has thrown the New York Jets under the bus. He claims he was injured last year but they made him play. He says they weren't comfortable with their back up quarter back. He confesses that they didn't list him on the injured reserve list, etc. Whatever. So the young head coach of the Jets who had what 2 years of experience being in a charge of a football team bullied this 16 year veteran of the NFL? I don't think so. What kind of turncoat completely rips his former team apart in the national media for no reason? The Jets organization embraced Brett when no one else wanted to deal with him. They defended him while everyone else was putting him down and this is how he thanks them. Are we all supposed to believe that Favre is suddenly going to be back to his form of over a decade ago when he lead the Packers to a Super Bowl win? Are we supposed to blame the Jets for his lack of productivity last season? Gimme a break.

I have selected the Vikings to lose to the Ravens in the Super Bowl this season. You see the Vikings were very good last year and I think they will be even better this year with their younger players being more experienced. I don't expect Favre's body to last an entire season. In my dreams Tavarus Jackson, the Vikings young starting quarterback from last season, will lead the Vikings to the Super Bowl while Brett sits on the sidelines watching.