This an article from my hometown paper. As much as I love Brett Favre, this guy is making some very valid points. To be honest many of these thoughts have been gnawing at the back of my mind for some time. I don't think it's a decline in skills but perhaps coaching and controlling him a bit that is the problem. At any rate I throw this out so that I can be flamed by gloop and for others feelings:)
Sports
2/7/2005 12:14:27 PM
Bag it, Brett
Favre needs to walk away
Leader-Telegram Staff
Brett Favre needs to retire.
I say this with no malice, ill will or bitterness from the playoff loss to the Vikings.
It simply is time for him to quit playing the game of football.
Favre should walk away now, with head held high, for his fans, his franchise and his family.
Why? Because he is not good enough to lead a contender anymore. And he is but a shadow of the quarterback who is second all-time in touchdown passes in the National Football League.
Ask yourself this: If that had been a second-year no-name quarterback who side-armed the ball into the endzone when he was four yards beyond the line of scrimmage on third down against the Vikings, would you have been saying, “Man, that guy is so darn competitive”?
You would have been organizing a lynch mob.
Especially when the quarterback walked off the field grinning like a spoiled 8-year-old.
I kept envisioning a 38-year-old John Elway throwing his body over the goal line in Super Bowl XXXII.
What’s the difference? He still had it; Favre doesn’t.
Had Favre lowered his shoulder, he most certainly would have gotten the first down, which would have meant a touchdown for the Packers and a 24-17 deficit going into halftime. Instead, Ryan Longwell missed a field goal, and the rest is history.
What if that had been J.T. O’Sullivan, whose name you’d better get used to hearing in Titletown, hitting the Minnesota secondary with precision? Would the announcers claim that Javon Walker was cutting his routes off short? Favre is human, and he has become increasingly mortal in the playoffs.
The Packers are 2-5 in their last seven playoff games since losing in the Super Bowl to Elway’s Broncos, and the leader of the Pack has thrown 13 touchdowns against 16 interceptions. He tied an NFL record with six picks in a 44-26 loss at St. Louis in 2001.
Sure, Brett is still Brett. And you can argue that he has always been erratic, unpredictable and creative. That’s why we love him.
But his erraticism is becoming more and more predictable, and his boyish creativity is losing its charm.
From 1992-97, Favre threw three or more interceptions in a game only nine times, with the Packers going 1-8. During that same span, he tossed three or more touchdowns 34 times, going 28-6.
In leading the Packers to back-to-back Super Bowls in 1996-97, Favre only threw three interceptions in a game one time.
As Favre goes, so go the Packers. Right?
Abiding by that theory …
From 1998-2004, the number of three-interception games lept from nine to 22, with Green Bay winning six of them. While keeping his record streak of 208 consecutive games started alive, Favre had only 24 games in the last seven seasons with three or more scoring passes. And the Packers won 22 of them.
Of course Green Bay wins when Favre plays great, but it has started to win more when he doesn’t, thanks to a dominant running game and a solid corps of receivers. But sometimes even the Packers can’t beat Brett Favre.
If Favre, who turned 35 in October, stays in the game too long, he will be stealing the prime playing days of his teammates, who deserve to play for a contender.
Packers management has been in denial for far too long, and Favre should force them to make a move toward the future.
Green Bay is a great situation for a young quarterback: a veteran offensive line, a deep rotation of running backs who run and catch and a formidable defense.
If I hear one more person blame the Vikings loss or the “Fourth-and-26” game on a defensive coordinator or an inexperienced secondary, I am going to scream. Look at Favre’s numbers for those two games — keep in mind he threw an interception in overtime to give the Eagles the win in the 2003 Divisional playoff loss — and see if you think anything else played into it.
So whether it be O’Sullivan, Craig Nall, Philip Rivers, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers or Alex Smith, the Packers need to move on.
And Favre needs to let go.
He’s already a legend. A sure first-ballot hall of famer. We will never see another Brett Favre.
And he should walk away now and be remembered that way. |
