Despite the Charades, I’m Glad Favre’s Back!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

I like Brett Favre. I like the way he plays. The Minnesota Vikings are a better team with him at quarterback and the NFL is a better league when he’s playing in it.

What I don’t like is this annual off season parade that he puts his team and NFL fans through. Will he or won’t he play? That always seems to be the question, a question that he seemingly never wants to answer until the very last moment.

I like what Brett Favre represents. He’s not some pretty boy waiting to do a photo shoot for GQ, he’s a blue collar mans man from the south who wears Wrangler jeans and shaves when he feels like it.

Why, then, must he hold his teams hostage each offseason not allowing them to properly prepare for life with or without his talented right arm?

I like the fact that Brett Favre shows emotion. His tearful departure from Green Bay was real and from the heart. The man gave everything he had to that organization and saying goodbye was not an easy thing to do. Nor, as we have learned, is saying goodbye to playing in the NFL.

I don’t blame Favre, or any athlete for wanting to extend their careers for as long as humanly possible. Unless you’ve played the sport, you don’t realize how tough it is to walk away from it. NFL careers are precious and short. The camaraderie with their teammates is strong and lasting. And many players have no idea what to do with themselves once they’ve walked away from the sport.

But does Favre really think that this whole dog and pony show is going to help him in the court of public opinion? When your coach flies to Mississippi to see you, when your team ups its offer to 20 million dollars for one season and when three of your teammates skip practice to fly south in an attempt to convince you to return it can be a bit too much to handle.

I like Brett Favre’s toughness. Like many football players, Favre plays through pain and will sacrifice his body to try to win a game. This is why he’s returning for a 20^thseason despite an ankle injury which required offseason surgery and has him at less than 100%.

But would it be too much to ask Favre to simply let whichever team he plays for know at a decent time each offseason of his intentions? If, at age 40, he no longer wants to participate in a long and grueling training camp, just be honest about it. The Vikings could have simply stated that Favre was better off resting his ankle in Mississippi rather than going through two-a-days in Minnesota in early August.

I love Brett Favre’s gunslinger approach to playing quarterback. Instead of trying to be your stereotypical robo-QB, he plays on instinct knowing that he will succeed more often than not. Which isn’t to say that he hasn’t made his share of big blunders. We need only look back to his costly interception in last year’s NFC title game to see evidence of that.

Still, count me among those who is happy to see Favre return to the Vikings and the NFL. He proved last year that he is not a veteran player hanging on to something that is no longer there. Favre can flat out play. And he can still play at a very high level.

Even though I am tired of these offseason charades, I'm glad he's back and I wish him well.