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Jay Mariotti

No Nice Way to Say It: I'm Tired of Favre

Posted May 05, 2009 10:30PM By Jay Mariotti (RSS feed)

Filed Under: NFL

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Brett FavreThe owner of the Minnesota Vikings is Zygi Wilf, which means Brett Favre has become The Boy Who Cried Wilf. He also now qualifies as the most persistently annoying athlete in sports, a man in distinct danger of losing his icon status in this country because he CAN'T ... MAKE ... UP ... HIS ... FRIGGIN' ... MIND. After telling us back on Feb. 11 that he truly, honestly, genuinely, emphatically is through with football -- "It's time to leave," he said -- guess what he's doing this week?

He'll be meeting with Vikings coach Brad Childress about returning to the NFL for a 19th season, which would be his second un-retirement in less than a year and further evidence that Favre is dizzier than Courtney Love on a bender.

I realize, having been around Michael Jordan when the itch to return overwhelmed common sense, that the great ones have the most trouble shutting it down. But Favre waffles with disturbing mood swings, making the error of being so demonstrative about quitting the game -- remember his tearful press conference last year? -- that he prompts us to roll our eyes in comic disbelief. This time, I wanted to believe him and even went out on a limb and said I believed him.

Yep, I got Favred.

"At this time," he said last week when the New York Jets released him, "I am retired and have no intention of returning to football." Anyone who has monitored Favre's fluctuations through the years realizes those three words -- "At this time ..." -- served as a disclaimer. It told me that he was easing his way back in, and before you knew it, Childress wasn't denying that he and Vikings brass were weighing the Favre option.

"We talk about everything," Childress said. "So yeah, I'm sure we'll talk about that."

As someone who watched Favre at his swashbuckling, improvisational best, twice a year in the Packers-Bears rivalry and most every January, I can't bear to watch him turn 40 this season. It was painful enough at the end of last season, when his torn biceps tendon turned his howitzer arm into a water pistol and rendered him a useless old man who let the Jets collapse. But mired in denial, he is convinced that the injury will heal on its own and that surgery isn't required. That is a polar-opposite view of what he said on his latest retirement day, when he revealed that he was in pain on almost every throw the last six weeks and that the shoulder had bothered him since last summer.

"I withstood so much for so long," Favre said then. "I guess it was a matter of time before something broke down, and it happened to be for a quarterback the most important thing, and that's the throwing shoulder. I don't think I was nearly as productive as the season progressed. It very well could be fine next year, but it could linger and bother me throughout the year. I just felt like it was time. I think to me, more than anything, that was a wakeup call."

Apparently, he hit the snooze button and went back to sleep. Favre obviously is still dreaming about exacting revenge on his mortal enemy, Packers general manager Ted Thompson, who ran him out of Green Bay and then stonewalled Minnesota as an option last summer before Favre agreed to a Jets trade. There would be no sweeter payback than joining the Packers' bitter divisional rivals, the Vikings, and outplaying his golden successor, Aaron Rodgers, in two regular-season victories. But do I have to be the one who reminds Favre that he could fail miserably, as well, and that losing twice and playing poorly only would make Thompson look smarter? As it is, few people in Wisconsin, despite the overwhelming love for Favre in the state, think the switch was a blunder after Rodgers' fine debut season as a starter. If Favre looks old and washed up again, his legacy takes one more blow to the gut.

Not that his place in sports history is in any peril. Brett Lorenzo Favre already is established as the game's all-time quarterbacking record-holder and ironman, and even a clunky end to his career can't mar his body of work. But what we want from our legends -- a selfish stance here, I admit -- is an ending as close to perfect as possible. Jordan had it, with a flick of a wrist in Utah for the game-winning shot and his final championship, but he chose to abandon the movie scene for a hollow run in Washington. John Elway went out exactly the right way, with a second Super Bowl title after it seemed he'd never win one. Most times, an athlete isn't in position to call his going-away shot.

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Could Favre possibly take the Vikings to the Super Bowl? He would have a franchise running back in Adrian Peterson, a monster defensive line and a team that went 10-6 last season before an erratic young quarterback, Tarvaris Jackson, proved he wasn't ready to beat Philadelphia in a playoff game. Two years ago, I'd have endorsed the Minnesota move. Today, I anticipate wobbly spirals, tough losses and a grayer beard. Does he really want to participate in minicamps and training camps, the chores that drove him away? Does he remember what he said on Feb. 11?

"I have family and friends who say, 'All right, Brett, is this the real deal?' And it is," he said. "It is, believe me. It's been a wonderful career. I couldn't ask for anything more. It was worth a shot for me to go to New York. I wish I could have played better down the stretch. I didn't. It's time to leave. Emotionally, I'm OK with it."

He isn't OK with it, obviously. The Jets experience didn't end well, you'll recall. He was ripped by running back Thomas Jones, who said Favre should have been benched during a three-interception debacle, and safety Kerry Rhodes, who questioned Favre's commitment as a teammate. "If he's dedicated and he wants to come back and do it the right way ... and be here when we're here in training camp and the minicamps and working our with us, then I'm fine with it," Rhodes said. "But don't come back if it's going to be half-hearted or he doesn't want to put in the time with us." Think some Vikings players don't share the same thoughts? Even if he sounds like a better alternative than Jackson or Sage Rosenfels?

Favre's agent, Bus Cook, denies that Favre is coming back. Of course, on a credibility meter, Alex Rodriguez deserves our trust more than Cook, who said repeatedly last year that Favre wasn't returning. "He is retired and doesn't have any desire to come back, and that's the way it is with Brett," Cook told ESPN. "He's mowing his grass. He's working on his farm. He enjoys that stuff."

So why did he ask for his release from the Jets? "Brett wants to retire as a Packer, and that's just part of it," Cook said.

I'd like to believe No. 4 is mowing his lawn and feeding his chickens. I'd like to think Brett Favre realizes he has accomplished more than most athletes who've walked the planet and should move on to TV or coaching or pig-breeding. But I'm afraid the football itch is back.

And I speak for America when I say we're tired of scratching it.

Tags: Brad+Childress, BradChildress, Brett+Favre, BrettFavre, Kerry+Rhodes, KerryRhodes, Tarvaris+Jackson, TarvarisJackson

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Jay Mariotti

Jay MariottiJay Mariotti is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse.com. He is a daily panelist on ESPN's sports-debate show, "Around The Horn,'' seen Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. ET. Mariotti spent 17 years as a lead sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and has covered every major sporting event -- national and worldwide -- on multiple occasions.