Favre

The end of an era. Brett Favre retired yesterday kicking the American sports media into a frenzy. Despite the media overkill and the threat of damaging my reputation (we Americans love our illusions of independent thinking and non-conformity) I feel it necessary to add a bit of commentary, emotive though it may be.

Thank you Brett. It’s extremely corny, but you are my hero. It may sound trite to applaud the the way you played a game, but still I do; if only because you made me remember the sheer joy of sport. I’ve witnessed the majesty of Jordan, the dominance of Tiger and the unmatched will of Armstrong, but you transcended them all–you made it personal.

It was the small things that I and so many others took pleasure in, the jokes in the huddle, pinching teammates arms (and getting pinched), good natured smack talk, and improv celebrations (the multiple hand slaps with a referee come to mind). Watching Favre I was reminded of the joy of competition and the esprit de corps of team. Tis a rare gift to have such a special athlete remind us of the exuberance of childhood and the import of camaraderie while competing at the highest levels of professional sport. Favre was capable of showing us how special life is when you both revel and despair in the moment and have others to share the experience with you.

Some things just make you smile, here are a few on my list:

• The heat seeking missiles he threw his first couple of years in Green Bay. I remember laughing out loud the first time I saw Favre throw a 5 yard heater to Sterling Sharpe. I fell head over heels for the guy at that very moment.
• The stones Favre had throwing into coverage. I loved watching him throw into the “Tampa” cover two. He would challenge bracketed sideline coverage with zero margin for error that no other quarterback in the league would dream of throwing into and win the majority of the time. It’s comparable to a MLB pitcher being around for 15 years and telling the hitters the location of every fastball that was about to be thrown.
• Having a rub in constantly on the sideline and during press conferences.
• Taking on lineman and linebackers in the open field on reverses. This alone says volumes about his consecutive starts streak.
• Owning all of the major quarterback passing records despite playing outdoors in Lambeau his entire career.
• Loyalty. Name another superstar in today’s age that would of embraced playing in Green Bay, much less stayed for 16 years.
• His relationship with Frank “bag o’ donuts” Winters. You got to love a quarterback whose friends are lineman.