Thursday, March 6, 2008
Despite Love-Fest, Favre Not Best Ever
I'm not going to write one of those sappy love letters to Brett Favre that I keep seeing all over the Internet.
The fact is, I've never really been a Brett Favre fan. I've always considered him one of the most overrated quarterbacks in the NFL.
In fact, I'm convinced that the Packers are better off without him. And trust me, there is a contingent in that organization that agrees; you don't accidentally post his retirement news on your website, then quickly accept his retirement without any effort to talk him out of it if you want him back.
After all, his awful game against the Giants cost his team a trip to the Super Bowl.
Yes, there was extremely bad weather (understatement of the year), but the game was nothing more than a continuation of Brett Favre's disappointing showings in big games.
Since Mike Holmgren left, Favre has consistently come up small in big games.
Yet somehow he continues to get a free ride. The media loves him.
Note to NFL quarterbacks: be nice to the media, leave ESPN writers nice cell phone messages, and every mistake you ever make will be overlooked.
He made every offseason about himself. The will he or won't he stories keeping his franchise in a holding pattern. The press conferences called to tell everyone that there was nothing to tell everyone.
It was the second most annoying story in NFL history (the most annoying, of course, being Congress' involvement in Spygate).
Brett Favre even got away with putting his own selfishness ahead of a fellow player when he called out Javon Walker for threatening to hold out in a contract dispute. Contrast that with how Tom Brady handled the Deion Branch situation, offering nothing but support publicly to his fellow player.
Perhaps privately he felt the same way Favre did, but you just don't call out another player.
Yet Favre remained the golden boy.
I'll never understand it. Ever.
He broke records, mostly because of his longevity. At a position where longevity isn't exactly common, that is something to celebrate. But longevity doesn't make you great.
He wasn't Dan Marino. He wasn't Tom Brady. He wasn't Peyton Manning.
He was one of the better middle-tier quarterbacks. A definite Hall of Famer for what he accomplished (accumulated stats get you into the Hall of Fame), but not among the greatest ever.
So why don't I like Brett Favre?
Outside of his selfishness late in his career, he was one of the most frustrating players I've ever watched.
My frustration with him is simple: he should have been better.
Favre had all the tools, all the skills, all the competitiveness — everything he needed to be the greatest quarterback of his generation.
But he was stubborn.
He always thought he could make every play, make every throw, and could win every game himself. He thought he could walk on water when he was on a football field.
Some say that's what made him great.
I say this is what made him so damn frustrating. I'm confident most of his former coaches would agree.
No way a guy as great as Favre should be throwing six interceptions in a playoff game. No way he should have a 20 touchdown and 29 interception season.
Favre should have celebrated playoff numbers like Tom Brady, instead his post-Holmgren career is filling with celebrated playoff failures. He's only 2-5 with 11 touchdowns and 16 interceptions since Holmgren left the Packers.
Not exactly the stuff of legends.
Aaron Rodgers may or may not be the answer, but for the young and talented Packers, Brett Favre is definitely not the answer.
So goodbye, Brett.
I'll always remember you as the guy who could have been the greatest ever, but wasn't.
I'm SeanMC.
SeanMC is a senior writer for Bleacher Report and writes a column for Sports Central every other Thursday. You can read more articles by SeanMC on his blog.