Is Brett Favre Going To Quit On The Minnesota Vikings?
Here we go again. If you haven’t had your fill of Brett Favre yet, prepare to get it.
First, there was the “Is he playing—or not?” controversy that ignited again this summer. That more or less got swept under the rug a couple of weeks into training camp, though, when Favre, as expected, decided to play another season and showed up to camp. Next, the Vikings started the season 1-3 and people started questioning whether Favre was actually helping or hurting the team. Then, word that Favre once sent a former New York Jets employee voice mails and text messages of a scandalous nature leaked out. And now? Well, this one is a real doozy…
Brett Favre—for the first time in his career—looked like he’d about had it with football following the Vikings’ Sunday night game against (who else) Favre’s former team, the Green Bay Packers. As he hobbled all over the field on a bum ankle and tried his hardest to will the Vikings to victory, one thing became very clear: Brett Favre’s career is coming to a close.
And that only leaves one thing to consider: Is Favre going to be forced to quit on the Vikings before the end of the season? It seems like there might be a very legitimate chance of that happening. For one, Favre is playing for a team that, quite frankly, isn’t very good this season. Outside of All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson, the team has gotten absolutely no consistency out of any of their players this year. Favre’s also battling a handful of injuries, including an elbow that’s going to give him problems well into the foreseeable future and now an ankle that has a fracture in it. And all of his off-the-field issues can’t be helping his family life back at home.
Of course, Favre’s doing his best to play these things down. He’s clenching his teeth together, holding back the tears (no, really, did you see his eyes Sunday night?) and trying to forge ahead and help his team win. But, let’s be honest here: The Vikings aren’t going to win the Super Bowl this year. Between their suddenly porous defense and all the challenges facing the offense, they’ll be lucky just to make the playoffs. Favre’s also putting his future in real jeopardy. You know those NFL players that can’t walk by the time they’re 50? A couple more hits and that’ll be Brett. And though people will probably forget these days in a few years, Favre’s not doing much to improve or enhance his legacy this year. He’s simply showing people that he might have overstayed his welcome.
All of that leads me to believe that, at some point this year, Favre is going to have to pull the plug. It might not be this week or next week or the week after that. But when the Vikings are 4-8 and looking at the distinct possibility of missing the playoffs, what incentive will Favre have to play? To pad his already inflated stats? To keep his consecutive career starts record alive? To enjoy one…last…pass?
Maybe. But judging by what I saw Sunday night, I’m forced to do something I never thought I’d have to do. I’m writing Brett Favre off. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. But it is.
I just hope he pulls off his biggest trick to date and figures out how to do it gracefully. Because this is no way for a legend to leave…
