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The Return of the Comeback
by rick olivares
by rick olivares
Brett has gone too Favre. He should have remained a Green Bay Packer. Retired as one too. He should have a statue put up in front of Lambeau Field where odes to him are sung and heaped. He should never have to pay for a meal again in Wisconsin for the rest of his life because people – even if they earn only a fraction of what Favre amassed in his career with Green Bay – will pick up the tab.
Instead he’s now a villain who is wanted in two States – Wisconsin and New York. He’s jilted two lovers who will erect no monuments but burn effigies with Ayatollic rage (I made up that word and based on Iran’s Ayatollahs because there are no words left to describe Favre’s penchant for holding teams hostage). Regret sadly comes at the end.
Has he no right no make a comeback? After all Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Jimmy Connors, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. to name a few have come out of retirement to compete again. Some did well while most others… well, forget about it!
In a perfect world, Michael Jordan would have remained a Chicago Bull and not gone on to play for the Washington Wizards. During his time with the Bulls, his staff would give out flyers for his basketball camp that read “some things never change” while showing a picture of his bookend game winners versus Georgetown and Utah. If any wag had the moxie to pick a fight with His Airness, they would use the same copy only with the images of Jordan being cut from Laney High School and the Wizards.
In a perfect world, Martina Hingis should have not comeback. As it is, people now remember her for her meltdown at Roland Garros where the French crowd hissed and booed at her while cheering Steffi Graf’s every point; an act that ushered in her first retirement. Now, not only is she a poor loser and a whiner but she’s also a pothead.
So can we fault Brett Favre? Is it really love for the game of American Football or is it all about the money? He knows his place is secured in Canton, Ohio -- the location of the sport’s hall of fame -- but does this give him the right to treat the Packers and the Jets with utmost disrespect?
He’s become like Terrell Owens – a turnover for football teams save for a season long experiment to sell jerseys and put people in the stands.
For years the Packers had to endure his musings about retiring while unable to give their back up quarterbacks playing time. When he hung it up complete with a fabulous retirement ceremony, the club was ready to move on. Except he did an about face a few months later. It was a few months too late because by then Green Bay had committed to giving Aaron Rodgers the starting slot.
Then came the Jets who swooped in to save the day. Except that they had to jettison Chad Pennington to get Favre. Pennington was picked up by a Miami team that went 1-15 the year before and flirted with tying the Detroit Lions’ 0-16 record of futility. It took a 64-yard strike from Cleo Lemon to Greg Camarillo to give them a 22-16 win over the Baltimore Ravens to get that win.
Pennington, a fire lit under him, only led the Dolphins to the playoffs in 2008 with an 11-5 record where they lost in the first round to Baltimore Ravens. Pennington finished second in the MVP voting for the second time in his career.
The Jets on the other hand, under the rejuvenated arm of Favre, started strong at 8-3. But they were stopped at the five-yard line as they finished with a 9-7 slate (including four loses in their final five matches) and Favre rode off into the sunset.
Except that there’s a third act to this bad comedy. Now the Minnesota Vikings have signed him to a two-year $25 million deal.
Some have wondered if Favre is tainting his legacy as one of the game’s best quarterbacks and if he’s hung around too long. That calls to mind an answer Michael Jordan once said when addressed with a similar question. “That’s for history and writers to decide.” But His Airness had an itch to scratch.
I wonder if he now wishes he could scratch off his Wizards misadventure from his memory banks. Should have stayed with the Bulls, Mike.
As for Favre, he recalls to mind other sporting greats who hung around way too long. During his first retirement ceremony, he tearfully said, “I know I can play but I don’t want to. And that’s what it really comes down to.”
Yep. Favre wiped away the crocodile tears as it came down to playing for the long-shot Super Bowl contender… the New York Jets.
Then at the end of the 2008 season, he said to the Jets’ General Manager Mike Tannenbaum: “It may be time to look in another direction.” Got that right, Brett… only it’s in the direction of Minnesota. And with the new NFL season just around the corner, the league fined Favre $10,000 for a taking out Houston Texans defensive back Eugene Wilson. Wilson injured his left knee when Favre undercut him at the legs on the play and the football community has been in an uproar over the dirty play. The quarterback has yet to apologize for the cheap shot.
Well it is certainly his right to make a comeback and to change his mind. He also has a right to make an ass out of himself but he seems to be taking this heel role a little too seriously.
And for sportswriters, we’ll figure out where to stick him. And that’s our write.
Instead he’s now a villain who is wanted in two States – Wisconsin and New York. He’s jilted two lovers who will erect no monuments but burn effigies with Ayatollic rage (I made up that word and based on Iran’s Ayatollahs because there are no words left to describe Favre’s penchant for holding teams hostage). Regret sadly comes at the end.
Has he no right no make a comeback? After all Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Jimmy Connors, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. to name a few have come out of retirement to compete again. Some did well while most others… well, forget about it!
In a perfect world, Michael Jordan would have remained a Chicago Bull and not gone on to play for the Washington Wizards. During his time with the Bulls, his staff would give out flyers for his basketball camp that read “some things never change” while showing a picture of his bookend game winners versus Georgetown and Utah. If any wag had the moxie to pick a fight with His Airness, they would use the same copy only with the images of Jordan being cut from Laney High School and the Wizards.
In a perfect world, Martina Hingis should have not comeback. As it is, people now remember her for her meltdown at Roland Garros where the French crowd hissed and booed at her while cheering Steffi Graf’s every point; an act that ushered in her first retirement. Now, not only is she a poor loser and a whiner but she’s also a pothead.
So can we fault Brett Favre? Is it really love for the game of American Football or is it all about the money? He knows his place is secured in Canton, Ohio -- the location of the sport’s hall of fame -- but does this give him the right to treat the Packers and the Jets with utmost disrespect?
He’s become like Terrell Owens – a turnover for football teams save for a season long experiment to sell jerseys and put people in the stands.
For years the Packers had to endure his musings about retiring while unable to give their back up quarterbacks playing time. When he hung it up complete with a fabulous retirement ceremony, the club was ready to move on. Except he did an about face a few months later. It was a few months too late because by then Green Bay had committed to giving Aaron Rodgers the starting slot.
Then came the Jets who swooped in to save the day. Except that they had to jettison Chad Pennington to get Favre. Pennington was picked up by a Miami team that went 1-15 the year before and flirted with tying the Detroit Lions’ 0-16 record of futility. It took a 64-yard strike from Cleo Lemon to Greg Camarillo to give them a 22-16 win over the Baltimore Ravens to get that win.
Pennington, a fire lit under him, only led the Dolphins to the playoffs in 2008 with an 11-5 record where they lost in the first round to Baltimore Ravens. Pennington finished second in the MVP voting for the second time in his career.
The Jets on the other hand, under the rejuvenated arm of Favre, started strong at 8-3. But they were stopped at the five-yard line as they finished with a 9-7 slate (including four loses in their final five matches) and Favre rode off into the sunset.
Except that there’s a third act to this bad comedy. Now the Minnesota Vikings have signed him to a two-year $25 million deal.
Some have wondered if Favre is tainting his legacy as one of the game’s best quarterbacks and if he’s hung around too long. That calls to mind an answer Michael Jordan once said when addressed with a similar question. “That’s for history and writers to decide.” But His Airness had an itch to scratch.
I wonder if he now wishes he could scratch off his Wizards misadventure from his memory banks. Should have stayed with the Bulls, Mike.
As for Favre, he recalls to mind other sporting greats who hung around way too long. During his first retirement ceremony, he tearfully said, “I know I can play but I don’t want to. And that’s what it really comes down to.”
Yep. Favre wiped away the crocodile tears as it came down to playing for the long-shot Super Bowl contender… the New York Jets.
Then at the end of the 2008 season, he said to the Jets’ General Manager Mike Tannenbaum: “It may be time to look in another direction.” Got that right, Brett… only it’s in the direction of Minnesota. And with the new NFL season just around the corner, the league fined Favre $10,000 for a taking out Houston Texans defensive back Eugene Wilson. Wilson injured his left knee when Favre undercut him at the legs on the play and the football community has been in an uproar over the dirty play. The quarterback has yet to apologize for the cheap shot.
Well it is certainly his right to make a comeback and to change his mind. He also has a right to make an ass out of himself but he seems to be taking this heel role a little too seriously.
And for sportswriters, we’ll figure out where to stick him. And that’s our write.
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