Written By Robert Littal
ROBERT LITTAL'S BLACKSPORTSONLINE
robertlittal@blacksportsonline.com
"GOD FAVRE" NO ASS KISSING..JUST FACTS ABOUT THE CAREER OF BRETT FAVRE - ROBERT LITTAL'S BLACKSPORTSONLINE
When word spread that Tupac died the initial reactions was disbelief. Most Tupac (myself included) fans had a belief that even though he always lived on the edge that it just wasn't possible for him to die. 12 years later you will find people who still can't believe he is gone. I can only assume that is how fans of Brett Favre feel now. Even though every year Brett threatened to retire no one actually believed it and now that it has happened they are in a state of shock and for they are mourning as if he truly had died.
Why he retired is an interesting topic, but not one I am going to tackle now, but I think it is important that someone puts Brett's career in perspective that doesn't have their lips attach to his ass.
1- The Falcons
Before we even get to Green Bay I think to be fair we need to start in Atlanta. A lot of people in this industry blame the Falcons for giving up on Brett Favre, but the fact of the matter is in Atlanta Favre did not show that he was not going to be anything except the MVP of beer drinking and partying. Should the Falcons have shown more patience with Favre sure, but hindsight is 20/20 and no one at the time thought Favre's career would end up like this. Even Ron Wolf the former GM of the Packers in his wildest dreams couldn't have imagined that Favre's career would reach the heights that it did. When he traded a 2nd round pick for Favre there were many in the media who said he gave up way too much. Honestly I believe if Favre would have stayed in Atlanta he would have just been another QB who hung around the league for 5-6 years never to be heard from again.
2- The Takeover
As a kid I was a big Don Majkowski mainly because he had a cool nickname "The Magic Man". Ironically he got that nickname because he had a knack of 4th quarter comebacks. So when he got hurt and Favre replaced even though I was just in grade school I was disappointed. In that 1st game Favre pulled out a "Magical" victory and the rest they say is history.
Young Brett was not much different than the Favre that was with the Falcons except the Packers organization and coach Mike Holmgren was able to harness some of that wildness. But the fact of the matter is that Favre at the times was more interested on what was happening at the bar than on the field. On the field while he made some plays that you thought wasn't humanly possible he also made a lot of boneheaded plays that cost his team an opportunities to win games. This is what drove Holmgren crazy because he had this extremely talented young man who he had no idea what he was going to do from one play to the next. There was a time early in Favre's career that many thought he would never be disciplined enough to be anything more than just wild QB he would occasionally make the spectacular play, but never take his team deep into the playoffs. But two things happened that changed everything for Favre.
3- Sharpe & White
A lot of people know Shannon Sharpe former Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens TE who is currently working for the NFL Today crew. You have to be a real sports expert to remember his more talented older brother Sterling Sharpe who was a WR for the Packers in the early 90's. Sterling Sharpe was a combination of Cris Carter, Terrell Owens and Hinds Ward he was that good. When Favre became the QB of Packers Sharpe was his "Linus Security Blanket". It didn't matter if he was double or triple cover everyone knew the ball was going to Sterling. Unfortunately the whole premise of the "West Coast Offense" is to distribute the ball to the open man by going through a series of progressions. For Favre the progressions were 1- Sharpe, 2- Sharpe, 3- Sharpe and 4- Probable INT. Sharpe unfortunately had a serious back injury that cut his career short, but in retrospect it was the best thing that ever happened to Favre because it forced him to learn to run the "West Coast" offense they way it was intended to be ran.
Even when Brett was playing at a MVP level the Packers only got over the hump when they signed Reggie White as a free agent. I honestly believe that if the Packers never signed White they would have never won a Super Bowl under Favre's tenure. The Packers needed a presence in that locker room to offset Favre's "Wild & Crazy" ways. It was a perfect balance not to mention that White at that time was the most dominant Defense Lineman in the game and made the Packers defense as dangerous as the Packers offense. When I think about the Packers winning the Super Bowl I don't think about Brett Favre throwing a strike to Andre Rison on their first offensive play or Desmond Howard running back a kickoff for a touchdown it was Reggie White simply destroying the New England left tackle with the "hump" move and sacking Drew Bledsoe twice to seal the deal in the Super Bowl.
You can not underestimate how much Reggie White is responsible for Brett being seen as one of the greatest winners ever as oppose to another Dan Marino.
4- Party Like A RockStar
This is the part of the story you definitely won't see on ESPN and if you do it will be twisted into something positive when it really isn't. At a time when we are crucifying Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds for there use of HGH and steroids to become better athletes you won't see anyone criticize Favre for using prescriptions pain killers in excess to make sure he could play on Sundays. You won't see anyone criticize Favre for getting illegal refills on those painkillers. You won't see anyone criticize Favre for admitting early in his career he would much rather get drunk than study the playbook. It is a reality and if you are going to show all the good you must speak on the bad. I applaud Favre for overcoming his addictions but the fact of the matter for a very long time Favre was a much worse teammate and person than the T.O. and Chad Johnsons of the league that the media are so quick to criticize these days. I admire anyone who has the guts as Favre had to admit to having a problem, but that halo some fans have around his head was only good for a cup holder for his drinks not too long ago, so lets have some perspective with the holier than thou act.
5- The Downfall
I have said this for many many many years so sorry if I am being redundant but from the time he was not able to lead his team to a game tying TD drive in the Super Bowl against the Broncos his career was never the same. From 1998-2006 a Favre season went basically like this:
A- A few memorable plays that only Brett Favre could make.
B- A so-so regular season (usually 9-7 or 10-6)
C- A killer INT thrown in at least half of those loses and normally a choke job in the playoffs..................
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