...Like most of America, I tuned in to watch Monday Night Football last night, to see Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers at the Metrodome 30-23. As most of you know, this game was much hyped as this was the first game for Favre playing against his former team, from which he was unceremoniously released last year after retiring and unretiring that off-season. Truth be told I am a Green Bay Packers fan – I married into it. My wife is born and raised in Green Bay, actually the suburb of Allouez, and we were married out there 7 years to the day of this game. As part of the ‘wedding dowry’ I was given access to Packers tickets, as elusive to some Wisconsin residents as the tooth fairy, and have faithfully gone ‘home’ for a sub-zero game in the frozen tundra for the last six years. Over the years, I’ve watched Brett Favre play, rooting for him against Oakland after his father passed away, seeing him pass Dan Marino for the passing record against Minnesota the day after my brother-in-law’s wedding, and painfully watching the ill-fated pass that was intercepted by the Super Bowl winning New York Giants to end the 2007 season. I’ve also joined Packers fans at Favre’s ‘last game’ as he nearly retired, first against the Seahawks in the Packers final home game of 2005, then in the season finale against the Bears at Soldier Field, and finally on that frozen day in overtime in Green Bay in 2007.
After his retirement – and unretirement – the Packer fan base was divided into two camps: Brett Favre fans and Green Bay Packers fans. As the saga played out, there were those, die-hard Favre fans (and most retired football players) who felt that Favre had accomplished so much in his career, and had done so much for the city/town of Green Bay (just over 100,000 people), that he should have the choice to return, not return, unreturn, etc, whenever he liked. On the other hand, the Packers realized that they had one of the youngest teams in the NFL and had nearly made the Super Bowl in 2007…with the oldest quarterback in the league. The business side of the NFL forces you to look honestly at the situation; you have 2-3 years to keep this young team together, with a strong armed young quarterback that you’ve designated the future of your franchise on the bench, and a sure Hall of Famer in his last season (perpetually) as your starter. I supported Packers management in their decision - as unpopular as it was, I still think it was the right one for the franchise.
That said, while I wanted to see the Packers win last night, I did enjoy seeing Favre play again. He played with an energy and motivation that I hadn’t seen late in the 2007, or with the Jets last year, or frankly in the early part of this season. I had always felt that his motivation for getting to the Vikings was selfish, that he would tarnish his reputation with those fans that would matter most – Green Bay Packers fans – by playing out this chess game that was necessary to get him to the Vikings to ‘stick it to’ his old team. But what I saw last night was someone who could still do it, could still perform at a high level, who just wanted to show everyone – including himself – that he still had it. And while the prognosticators will all argue about whether or not he will have it for the remainder of the season; I think he’s most concerned about having it just one more time – against Green Bay on November 1. If it is anything like the game last night, it will be fun to watch.
Ed Nichols
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Older is younger these days. Favre is proof of this. I think Green Bay should have stuck with the prince of the pass. Having to eat "crow" is a tough reward. A bird in the hand. . . . so they say. Good luck Green Bay.
ReplyDeleteFavre was fantastic, and it was such a fun game to watch. It's been a crazy ride but worth it.
ReplyDeleteI was waiting for the punch line that may have related to security. In a way it was, it was about wanting to win, and in the security business, winning is what it is all about.
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