Bob Collins
Brett Favre is retiring as quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. Minnesota Vikings fans: it’s now OK to say something nice.
The announcement comes as no great surprise. Last week the Packers put the announcement on their Web site for a couple of minutes before pulling it down.
Say what you will, though, about Green Bay fans. According to one commenter on a sports site, no matter how much Favre gave the Pack, there is always the demand for more.
I’m disappointed in Favre. His team was one play away from the Super Bowl, and he decides to hang it up. He should have given us one more year – I really think the Pack could have won it all this year with Favre at the helm.
On the blog, Not Your Typical Sports Fan, a more touching send-off:
But it’s the unquantifiable aspects of Favre’s play that will be missed more than anything. The spirit, the boyish energy, the love of the game that commentators could never resist mentioning (even at the risk of sounding decidedly…well, let’s say “unmanly,” to keep it vaguely P.C.). Young opponents who grew up watching him play were in awe in his presence, and many would get autographs. Even Randy Moss was star-struck: When he was a Viking, he was caught on tape in a game against the Packers, pacing up and down the sidelines stammering, “It’s Brett Favre. Brett Favre! I gotta watch this.”
PackerChatters.com appears to be the place for online mourning:
It would be impossible for us fans to return all the joy you gave us. But I hope you read some of what the fans will be writing in the days ahead. And I hope it helps you to realize all the incredible joy you brought to so many of us. Go hunting, ride your tractor, play with your kids, and enjoy everything that life gives you.
Heard on a local sports call-in show this morning from a Packers fan: “How ungrateful! The Packers fans made Brett Favre. He’s an average quarterback. I’m not saying he’s not a great quarterback…”
Favre gets no flowers at “My Official Green Bay Packers blog,” either.
“I wanted to write about all the records he holds, but it feels like a bunch of crap. I’m having a hard time stomaching this.”
Clearly it’s a “logic optional” day in Packer country.
Additional memories and analysis can be found on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s site. But good luck getting it to load. There isn’t a lot of work being done in Wisconsin today.
