Brett Favre

Every July it is the same thing. Is Brett Favre going to play football this year? Well, if you're tired of this question either blame ESPN, July, or yourself, but don't blame Brett Favre. Favre is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time, and he's probably my favorite for the way he plays, while the play is going on and after it's over.

July is the worst sports month of the year. There is no denying it. You've basically got 3 days of Wimbledon, the British Open which is on too early to watch, and baseball. So ESPN talks about Brett Favre every day. They send reporters to Hattiesburg, Mississippi because they don't have anywhere else for them to go. And they can afford to do thing because you'll watch it. If you don't want to hear about it then change the channel. But do you really want to watch baseball highlights?

After the 2005 season many people were calling for Favre to retire coming off his worst season ever, but he announced he'd come back for 2006. After a mediocre 2006, he waited until mid-summer before declaring he would come back. Then after a stellar 2007 season, which ended in the NFC Championship Game, Favre announced he was going to retire in early 2008. But then in the summer of '08 he said he still could play but the Packers forced him out, so he signed on with the Jets. And after leading the Jets to an 8-3 start, they finished 1-4 and Favre played poorly.

In 2009 everyone said Favre shouldn't come back to play for the Vikings. Well, I'm proud to say I didn't. After having a really bad end to the season with the Jets, it looked like Favre was done. I kept reminding people how Kurt Warner had 5 bad seasons and then took the Cardinals to the Superbowl, and he doesn't exactly have Favre's credentials; so I thought Brett could overcome just 5 bad games...and he did rebound to have on of his best years ever. And of course, since they barely lost in the NFC Championship Game, he is probably going to end up coming back to have one more shot before he hangs it up. And I think 2010 will definitely be his last season, not only because he is over 40 but with the impeding 2011 lockout there is no reason for him to even try to be ready to play next summer.

Many fans really enjoy watching Favre play because of his reckless abandon and youthful attitude. Then they get turned off every summer while we go through this charade. I'll blame Favre in '08 for not requesting a trade when the Packers asked him to retire, but I don't blame him for the rest. He is the most durable quarterback in the history of the NFL, as he hasn't missed a start since he was named the starting quarterback for the Packers in 1992 (and he's been in his prime the entire time); so I think he has the right to skip training camp. And this charade he's playing is just so he won't get fined by the team for missing practices. If they were really mad about it, they wouldn't let him play. It's not his fault for July being a boring month so ESPN comes down to Mississippi to watch him throwing passes to high school-ers.

Maybe I'm a fan of Brett Favre because I like the way he plays. Maybe it's because he's just a good-ole-boy from Mississippi and I like that. I just read an article the other day about how he was shooting water moccasins and armadillos on his farm when Brad Childress came down to visit him. He drives an awesome truck and plays on his tractor all day, he's not attracted to all the glam of the NFL like many of the other star players. He's a grandfather and he's going to play in the NFL, so if that doesn't show you how tough he is I don't know what does. He's the Clint Eastwood of football players.

JB