When Brett Favre chose to retire in March of 2008, he had made a rare choice for professional athletes: he had decided to walk away with a few years of athleticism and skill still in his body, leaving behind the game, and the money, and all the adulation that came with it. But Favre decided to come back, demanding he return to his old position in Green Bay and was subsequently traded to the New York Jets. He then wound up in Minnesota, and had maybe the greatest season of his career at age 40 -- an unprecedented feat in the NFL. And even though his first year in Minnesota ended with an interception, had he walked away then, he still would left the game on one of the highest high-notes in league history.
But unfortunately for Favre, he made the same mistake all too many competitors make. He kept dipping into the well, kept asking his body to hold up, hoping that he could make it through another season. Instead, Favre -- who may have been the most durable quarterback the league has ever seen -- suffered a plethora of injuries: a lacerated chin that required 10 stitches, broken bones in his feet, elbow tendinitis, a concussion, and a sprain to his throwing arm that swelled up his hand like a grapefruit. His consecutive games streak ended at 297, and on Sunday, the 41-year-old was forced to stand on the sideline and watch as a healthy quarterback took his place.
It's a quiet, miserable end to one of the loudest, most exciting players in sports. He ends his career in the same vein as Jerry Rice, Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, Joe Montana, and Roger Clemens -- other athletes who could have left on top but instead stuck around too long, switching teams and playing their last games in relative obscurity. It's the path most Hall of Fame athletes wind up taking, and Favre, having hopped from New York to Minnesota in the past two years, is no different. Athletes who take the opposite approach (John Elway, Kurt Warner, David Robinson) are few and far between.
The problem with ending on a high note is that being a professional athlete is a job first and a game second. Million-dollar professions are once-in-a-lifetime, and few players are willing to walk away when there's still teams interested in them. Legacy is always trumped by revenue. Favre probably didn't need the $16 million contract he earned this year, but then again, most millionaires and billionaires don't need a dozen summer houses and a garage full of Rolls-Royces. That doesn't mean they won't happily take them if offered.
For his part, Favre said he didn't regret coming back in 2010. "It’s been a wonderful experience for me," he told reporters yesterday. "This year did not work out the way we would have hoped, but that’s football. I don’t regret coming back. I enjoyed my experience here."
Maybe so. But it certainly didn't add anything to his career. In time, people will forget Favre's time in Minnesota and remember him more as a Green Bay Packer, the same way people will forget that Roger Clemens was an Astro, or that Jerry Rice was a Raider, or that Patrick Ewing was a Magic, or that Michael Jordan was a Wizard. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a mistake coming back. For everything that Brett Favre did, he should have retired sooner. He spurned the Packers because he didn't want to wallow on the sideline while some upstart youngster got a go at it, and he certainly didn't want to go out quietly.
In 2010, he did both
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