Please Stay Retired

Brett Favre finally hung up his cleats this week, again, after 18 seasons in the NFL. Personally, I couldn't be happier. It's has nothing to do with any resentment I have towards him as a player, I'm just sick of him. It was time for America to get over their love affair with Brett Favre.

Favre complained in an interview that he was mad at the Packers for trying to move in a new direction and start focusing on their future by allowing Aaron Rodgers to start this season. In an interview with ESPN's Ed Werder, Favre had the following to say.

"They wanted to go another direction & they wanted to choose my direction as well and that wasn't fair," Favre said. "[The] most disappointing thing is, 'We don't want you play here and we don't want you play certain teams,' " Favre continued. "That made me mad. If not good enough play here let me play against you & if I'm not that good don't worry about it. That's what angered me."

So basically, Favre was upset because he believed the Packers were jerking him around. Ok, sure, to some degree, they were, but I have no problem with the way in which they were doing it. What Favre either didn't get or just chose to ignore was the fact that trading him within the division or to a team that the Packers played against in the regular season (like Tampa Bay) is the public perception that would accompany such a move.

Imagine if Favre had been traded to the Bears or the Vikings this past off-season (both were at east rumored spots for Favre) and that team ended up sweeping the season series against the Packers. What would the fans reaction have been if Favre had something like 5 TDs and 550 yards against Green Bay in the two combined games? Fans would've bailed on the management like they were the Lions.

On top of that, Favre has no right to complain about what he feels as being jerked around. None whatsoever. I hate to break it to you Brett, but that is EXACTLY what you have done the past few years to Green Bay. Will he retire? Does he still want to play? He's saying no now, but what will he say once training camp starts up? The past few off-seasons have revolved around speculation on when Favre would finally hang it up. Because of this, Green Bay was handcuffed as they had to await the final say of the face of the franchise.

Eventually, the management said "enough is enough Brett, it's time for us to look to the future." The Packers made the right choice as Rodgers was playing well enough for a first year starter before he got hurt. Favre, despite making it to the Pro-Bowl on name recognition alone, had a fairly poor statistical season and ended up falling apart at the end of the season. Keep in mind the Jets were at one point 9-3 and holding the tie-breakers over both the Pats and Dolphins in the division. Then they went 1-4, mainly because of Favre's inept play.

It wasn't fair to the Packers, it wasn't fair to Aaron Rodgers (you know he played better this season then he would've otherwise knowing he was the starter this year and the organization was fully behind him), and it wasn't fair to anyone who just wanted to watch SportsCenter in the middle of February or March and want to hear about the NBA or March Maddness, hell, even spring training, and instead had to hear a story about how wishy-washy Favre was.

So Brett, I have no sympathy for you being jerked around by the Packers. The one constant thing I learned every year in elementary school was the golden rule. "Do onto others as you would have them do onto you." Well Brett, even a 2nd grader knows you got what you, for lack of a better word, deserved.

I just hope that he doesn't land a studio gig because honestly, I am sick of him. When I filled out my Christmas list this past year, I honestly asked for Madden '08, not '09, for my Wii because I didn't want a game with him on the box or the load screen.

Speaking of which, wasn't Favre supposed to get hurt this season per Madden Curse rules. Incase you don't know about the Madden Curse, read up here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madden_NFL#Madden_Curse
(that article doesn't include in 2000, when Barry Sanders was on the cover and then retired before the season started, crippling the Lions organization to a point where they went 0-16 this season, unlike Favre who was retired when put on the cover)

Sure, Favre got hurt, but he still played every game. I refuse to accept him leading the league in interceptions counts as a drop-off in production since he is the career leader in interceptions. But instead of Favre having a (serious) injury, the reigning MVP and best player in the AFC East, if not the whole of the NFL had his season ended eight minutes after it started. So much for the Madden Curse this year.

So please, for my sake, for the sake of all those like me, please Brett, please fade into retirement. Go play touch football in Wranglers with your buddies. We'll see you in five years when you make it to Canton. Until then, please stay out of my life and off of SportsCenter or any pre-game show on CBS, FOX, NBC, or ABC/ESPN.

Ok, I was a little harsh on Brett Favre in this post. If he stays away, there's no reason why he can't have a happy retirement. So Brett, don't let all these words I have written keep you down, because you've got it going on.