Favre the Favor

Fa-vor [fay-ver] . Noun. (1): Friendly regard shown toward another especially by a superior.

I have complete confidence that you already knew what a favor was. But I'll bet you had no idea that it's typically only considered a favor, when it's given by someone superior to yourself, did you? Minor detail, but it's a handy piece of information when discussing Brett Favre's "last season".
Some of you are die-hard fans of his. Most of you can't wait for his ankles to shatter. Personally? I'm no die-hard by any means, but I do have eternal respect for any athlete who loves a game as much as Brett Favre does. Frustrating as it may be to watch him pull an NFL "Jordan", you must understand why people like him simply can't stay away.

When you play professional football for 19 (about to be 20) years, you become accustomed to a certain way of living. When you have expectations and requirements of you for that long, it's impossible to try functioning without them. You always need somebody to depend on you. As a quarterback, you are the architect and executioner of every play in every game. You are responsible for knowing how to use the football and everyone around it. And when you start 309 consecutive games at this position, you don't stop, ever. On top of the fact that this has man has never missed a game in his 19 year career. You can hate his team, his style, or even him in general; but you may never hate his passion.

You might hate to admit it, but Brett Favre is one of the last few remaining football players in the NFL with the fierce passion that he does. People like Brett dont have "other plans". To Brett, football is life, and it's his only plan. Questionable as his methods may have been, his inability to walk away is a very rare quality. It's not about the fame, not about the money, it's not even about championships. It's simply about the game. Anyone who's ever played with Brett can tell you this. At 40 years old, he is still one of the best quarterbacks in the game, today; without question, of all time. So knowing this about Brett, why the constant hesitation to return? While we can all sit back and say that Favre can still get it done, it's far more important that he knows that he can get it done.

The two (ALMOST three) times he has retired, it has been due to doubt of his own abilities. You might be thinking "Why would he doubt himself? He's Brett Favre". Like I mentioned before, he needs to remember that he's Brett Favre. This process is what sets Brett apart from every other player in the NFL, because he would never disrespect the game of football by playing when he no longer can. He loves football this much. He would never disrespect the NFL, The Minnesota Vikings, or all of you fans by giving anything less than above average. This year, it took his Minnesota teammates to remind him.

"...it's not about the touchdown passes and the wins and losses and stuff:'could you do it just for the guys?' 'It elevates the whole locker room, the whole community, the whole state, you just being there. Would you do it for the guys?'"
-Ryan Longwell

This question, alone, is all it took for Brett to snap out of it. His impact is not just on the gridiron or in the huddle, but in the locker room and all the way up to your psyche. He knows this. After announcing his decision for this year, he said that he believed he owed it to his teammates to give it one more shot. Finishing out the season one win away from the superbowl, The Vikings went home hungry. They tasted it right before the "bowl" was pulled away from the table. But does Brett really owe anything? Maybe. However, it seems to be common belief of his teammates that Favre would honestly be doing them a huge favor. And they're absolutely right.

Fa-ver [fay-ver]. Noun. (1): Friendly
regard shown toward another
especially by a superior.