Will Favre Retire?

UPDATE, December 30, 2008: Favre should decide on his future ASAP

As Brett Favre leaves for his postseason hiatus and ponders whether he wants to play one more season for the Jets, the future Hall of Fame quarterback ought to think long and hard about what Jets safety Kerry Rhodes said.

With Favre pondering retirement yet again, Rhodes suggested yesterday that Favre needs to make a much quicker decision this time around. Rhodes, perhaps the most outspoken leader on the defense and clearly one of the most important voices in the locker room, hinted strongly that an extended hiatus is not in Favre's interests if he does come back in 2009.

"If you want to be the leader on the team, then you come in [for the offseason conditioning] program and do your thing," Rhodes told me. "If he wants to have the whole locker room, then he's got to let everyone know that he's committed to doing this again."

Favre had a cushy deal with the Packers in his later years, rarely showing up for offseason conditioning programs and doing the bare minimum in preparation for the season.

It didn't necessarily hurt him then, given that he had such familiarity with Green Bay's offense and was given the benefit of the doubt by the Packers' coaching staff.

But now, with a coach to be hired by the Jets and with Favre still not having the kind of unspoken chemistry with his teammates that he enjoyed with the Packers, he needs to factor in the possibility that he'll need to be on site for the important bonding process of the offseason. It's a time commitment he was unwilling to deliver in recent years with the Packers.

"This year, he couldn't help that he wasn't here," Rhodes said. "We understood that." (Actually, there was nothing to understand, given that he was acquired Aug. 6.)

But Favre now can dictate his own fate as it relates to the Jets, and his teammates will want to know sooner rather than later whether he'll be their quarterback. Owner Woody Johnson and general manager Mike Tannenbaum said at yesterday morning's news conference that they want Favre to return, even though he threw a league-high 22 interceptions and has a sore right shoulder that was examined yesterday. Results of his MRI were unavailable.

In their heart of hearts, Johnson and Tannenbaum surely are having serious reservations about Favre returning, especially after his fall-off-a-cliff performance the last five games, when he threw two touchdown passes and nine interceptions as the Jets went 1-4 and skidded out of playoff contention. It struck me that perhaps they're leaving the door open to Favre to retire, rather than suggesting that they prefer not to have him back.

But if the Jets really are serious about asking him back -- and if the new coach is on board with a Favre return -- the quarterback needs to show his teammates he's willing to put in the time in the weight room and on the practice field. If Favre chooses to do his conditioning on his own -- which he has done the last several years, even working out with a high school team near his home in Hattiesburg, Miss. -- it will not play well in the locker room.

Especially with Rhodes.

"You can't have your other leaders here and doing their thing and not being here," Rhodes said. "I'm sure he works his butt off, but you need a guy to be around and get comfortable. He's a guy you're looking up to. He needs to be here."

Rhodes said the team had to give special dispensation to Favre in 2008 because of his late arrival. And he was willing to overlook it, given the circumstances.

"We had to cater to him, just to speed him up a little, which is fine," Rhodes said. "[The offense] started slow, but they got it going. I don't know if it affected him down the stretch."

The worst thing that could happen? Favre dragging out the process for weeks and months, leaving the players and the organization in the lurch.

"They need to know he's committed to it, and not teetering between retirement and playing again," Rhodes said.

Strong words from a strong leader. Words that Favre must pay attention to as he deliberates his next move.

The hope here is that Favre looks back on his struggles at the beginning and end of the season, realizes that it's not likely to get any better next season -- especially with a bum shoulder -- and walks away from the game after a mostly brilliant 18 seasons.

He's a first-ballot Hall of Famer who has given everything he has to this great game we all love. But with a new coach and a locker room filled with players needing more from him than he might be willing to give, it's time to move on.

________________

It's been less than a year since Brett Favre and the Packers played in the NFC championship game at Lambeau Field. Seems like a lifetime ago.

It's been almost ten months since Brett Favre announced his retirement, about nine months since he hinted at coming out of retirement, and not quite five months since he became the starting quarterback for the Jets.

Yes, Favre has had a roller coaster 2008.

It's hard to believe that it's already that time of year again -- "Will Favre retire?" season.

From the New York Times:

Midway through the first quarter of what may be the last game of his N.F.L. career, on a second-down play at midfield, Jets quarterback Brett Favre took a few steps back, leaned back on his right foot and lobbed a ball westward into the orange glow of a setting sun.

It landed in the hands of Miami Dolphins cornerback Andre Goodman. And fans at Giants Stadium, many of them wearing Favre’s No. 4 Jets jersey — probably purchased in the warm glow of late summer and early fall — booed.

No one is quite sure if it will stand as Favre’s 295th and final N.F.L. game, including the 22 he has started in the playoffs. He will not be in the postseason this year; Favre and the Jets fell to the Dolphins, 24-17, an emphatic thud to a long late-season fall.

Now Favre, 39, must decide, again, if he wants to play another season, and the Jets must decide whether they want him back.

Favre and Coach Eric Mangini said that no decisions had been made and no timetables had been set. Favre said he could not imagine playing for a different team in 2009. “But then again, I couldn’t see myself playing with the Jets last year as well,” he said.

The coming weeks should provide more than enough time for fans and pundits to ponder whether the union of Favre and the Jets was a good idea in the first place.

...Favre had retired in March after 16 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, only to change his mind, an awkward drama that stretched into August. Green Bay finally traded Favre to the Jets. (Because the Jets missed the playoffs, they will lose a third-round choice in the April draft.)

The Jets quickly dumped their own longtime quarterback, Chad Pennington, who was scooped up by Miami. That is why the game Sunday became, in large part, a proxy on the quarterbacks, particularly Favre.

Pennington completed 22 of 30 passes for 200 yards and 2 touchdowns, with no interceptions.

...The Dolphins took the lead for good midway through the third quarter. Favre was handed a few more chances for another comeback. His team trailing, 24-17, Favre completed seven consecutive passes on the Jets’ best drive of the fourth quarter, moving the team to the Miami 29 with about five minutes remaining.

But his next pass, thrown quickly, whizzed past the hands of Chansi Stuckey and into the arms of Goodman again. Favre held his hands to his helmet.

...By the time Favre threw his last pass, the Giants Stadium stands were mostly empty. Even those with No. 4 Favre jerseys walked away.

There was nothing left to see except, perhaps, a legacy ending. Again.

This was no Cinderella season for Favre, no magic, no happy ending.

It's sad when a legacy sputters out in such a pathetic fashion, if it is really ending.

From the Miami Herald:

He threw two touchdowns and 12 interceptions in the final five games of the season as his team went 1-4 and watched a promising season melt. He played with pain in his throwing shoulder, and the first thing he's doing in the offseason is having an MRI to find out what's wrong with it.

He just watched the quarterback who was released to make room for him in New York win the division on his team's home field with a team that won one game a year ago.

Is that any way for a Hall of Fame career to end?

Brett Favre didn't answer that question Sunday after his Jets fell to the Dolphins and saw their playoff hopes vanish. He faced many questions about his future, and he fielded them all. But right now, he doesn't have any answers to offer.

''The obvious choice would be a quick decision based on what's happened -- a hasty, irrational decision based on what's happened,'' Favre said. ``But I'm going to go home and think about it and talk it over and then, maybe in a week or so. I really don't know.''

...If this was the end of Favre's record-setting career, then it was ugly. But it's not likely that he will know anything for quite a while. And once he does decide, there's always the chance he could change his mind.

''All I know is this,'' he said. ``You never know.''

And here we go again -- vintage Favre.

Has Favre played his last game?

The answer to that question doesn't matter to me anymore. Amazing!

What a difference just a year can make!

Chad Pennington and the Miami Dolphins are heading for the playoffs.

What a difference just a year can make!