First thing to focus on in this piece, are the highlights of Favre's career. The best statistical quarterback to ever play the game, for 20 years, Favre dominated defenses on his way to a first ballot Hall of Fame career. 3 time NFL MVP. 6 time All-Pro (3 time First Team). 11 Pro Bowls. 2 trips to the Super Bowl. 1 Super Bowl win. 301 Games with all 297 of his starts coming consecutively. 71,000 passing yards. 507 TD passes. A career QB rating of 86.1. What a great career. Nothing, no one and no action can take away from the fact that for years Brett Favre played his way into the record books.
However, when people talk of Favre in the future, they won't simply remember his stats as some other QBs will be. He'll be remembered for the 3 off seasons of constant reports and questioning of whether or not he was going to come back. He'll be remembered for his sexual harassment of a Jets employee. And saddest of all, the last picture the average American sports fan will have of Favre will be him face down on the cold turf. In what jersey you ask? Not a Packers jersey, the team on which he achieved greatness, but in a Vikings jersey, a divisional rival that Favre wanted to play on in attempt to continue his career longer than it needed to.
Let's start at the beginning, drafted in 1991 out of Southern Miss, Favre hardly played as a member of the Falcons before being traded to the Packers. In Green Bay, he spent 16 seasons leading the team to greatness and himself to the top of the Quarterback elite. Hell, in his last season in Green Bay, Favre led his team to the NFC Championship game against the New York Giants. This is where the fun begins and the public's view of Favre deteriorates.
Favre would lose this game, albeit closely. Having already told the public that the 2007 season would be "his last", many were ready to see Favre go, no matter how his career ended. His final pass would be intercepted, icing the Packers hopes of going to the Super Bowl that year. This is where I think Favre began to think of coming back to play in the NFL. I truly believe that he couldn't live with the idea that his final pass was an interception. However, 2 years earlier Green Bay had drafted Cal QB Aaron Rogers, hoping to make him their franchise QB of the future. Rogers has panned out nicely in the last 4 years and it seems that Green Bay was in the right by refusing to bring back Favre and instead trading him to the New York Jets.
In New York, Favre was a mess. He started off well, but quickly the team faltered and missed the playoffs. Again, Favre said he was leaving, but once again would demand to be brought back into the NFL during the summer. Favre said he would only play for specific teams and so he decided to sign a 2 year contract with the Minnesota Vikings.
His first year in Minnesota was amazing, probably the best statistical year of his career. Again Favre would lead the team to the NFC Championship game, and again, as in 2007, the game would end, and the team would lose, on a Brett Favre interception. Though Favre had signed a 2 year contract, the summer would once again be consumed with whether or not Favre would actually come back. He would. Big surprise. But by now, many in America were getting completely sick and tired of hearing about Favre and having to turn on the TV to hear whether or not he would come back. Quickly, no one came to care about Favre and he just as quickly fell out of love with Favre.
Coming back for his 20th and final season turned out to be a huge mistake for Favre. His statistics were terrible (for him) and he was injured not once, but twice. The first after being slammed into the field by a Buffalo cornerback in the middle of the season. Though him coming back to start against the Bears was amazing and courageous, it would ultimately cause him his second injury, a concussion on the cold, frozen field of the Minnesota winter. This would actually be Favre's final play in the NFL and the final image of Favre in a uniform would be him limping off the field.
Not only were injuries and bad stats a part of Favre's final season, but so was sexual harassment. Favre allegedly (he probably did) called Jets sideline reporter Jenn Sterger and left her explicit messages and even sent her photos of his dick (again this is all alleged). Then, on top of that, Favre didn't co-operate with the NFL during the investigation and was eventually fined $50,000.00. Though he should have been fined more or even had charges brought up against him, Favre was able to stay in the NFL and in the heart of the media.
Ok I'm getting tired of writing about Favre. Essentially, he was a man who had a great career that will forever be tainted by the last few years of it. I looked up to Favre as a great man, player and person, but now I will remember him not by his stats, but by his scandals. What a shame.
