Favre Retires (2009)

Today, Brett Favre announced his retirement from the NFL.

Yeah, whatever.

From ESPN:

Without the tearful public ceremony that accompanied his retirement announcement from the Green Bay Packers just 11 months ago, quarterback Brett Favre has told the New York Jets he is retiring.

Favre had instructed his agent, James "Bus" Cook, to inform the Jets on Wednesday that he is retiring. Jets team executives and coach Rex Ryan confirmed the retirement in a statement, saying they talked to Favre on Wednesday morning about his decision.

"I have great admiration for him as a player and a person. I wish him only the best in his life after football," Ryan said. In an e-mail to ESPN's Ed Werder, Favre indicated he had no regrets about finishing his career with the Jets rather than with the Green Bay Packers franchise he represented for his previous 16 NFL seasons. He specifically praised Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum, team owner Woody Johnson and fired coach Eric Mangini -- and even mentioned Thomas Jones and Kerry Rhodes, both of whom were publicly critical of Favre after the team's collapse in the final month of the season prevented the Jets from making the playoffs.

"Mike and Woody, as well as the entire organization, have been nothing short of outstanding,'' Favre said in the e-mail. "My teammates -- Thomas and Kerry included -- were a pleasure to play with. Eric [Mangini] could not have been any better. I enjoyed playing for him. My time with the Jets was short, but I'm honored to be given that chance.''

Tannenbaum and Johnson held a conference call Wednesday to discuss the development.

"Brett Favre is a Hall of Fame player, but he is also a Hall of Fame person. Brett, [his wife] Deanna and his family will always be a part of the Jets family," Johnson said in the team statement.

"When we acquired Brett, we knew we would get everything he had. He took the time to mentor younger players and his competitiveness and enthusiasm at practice and during games was contagious," Tannenbaum said in the statement. "I spoke with him this morning and told him that he will be a friend of the Jets for years to come and it was an honor to work with him."

..."It sucks getting old,'' he said. "At 40 years old, your mind tells you that you can do all the things you could in your younger years but the body doesn't cooperate. As I look back on it, I had my moments where people said, "It was the same Brett Favre, just a different uniform.''

Immediately after his first Jets season, Favre had decided that if it was also his final NFL season that there would be no press conference as there had been 11 months ago in Green Bay.

"I'm an emotional guy, and I'm sure people are tired of seeing me get emotional,'' he explained. "People would probably say, 'Oh, here he goes again.' I think it would just be better for me to just thank the Jets, and I sincerely mean that. It was well worth what I invested. But I'm going to just quietly step away if that's what happens.''

That is exactly what has just happened.

So, there it is. Take it for what it's worth.

From the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

The ESPN report includes comments Favre made at the end of the season to Werder in which he was critical of Packers General Manager Ted Thompson. Favre told Werder that most of the motivation to play for the Jets was inspired by the spite he maintained for Thompson for trading him.

Favre said he felt Thompson had taken Favre’s team away from him, believed it had become personal, described the Packers as dishonest and concluded that he was being exiled to the Jets because it was considered a football purgatory.

“They sent me to New York because they didn’t play the Jets, they (Jets) were 4-12, so they didn’t have to play me, they knew they had little chance of making the playoffs and they knew it was not likely that we’d have a better year than they (Packers) did,” Favre was quoted as saying. “I was aware of all that and more than up to the challenge because they felt they were shipping me off to Siberia and they’d never hear from me again. So was I coming back to play because I loved the game or to prove them wrong? Probably a little bit of both. Maybe initially I came back for the wrong reasons. It was like ‘OK, they don’t want me to play, then I’ll play somewhere else and show them I can still play.”

Favre said he was devout in doing whatever he could to ensure that the Jets accomplished more than the Packers.

“Was I pissed at Green Bay? Sure. But I wasn’t pissed at their players. I did keep up with the wins and losses. Sure, it was hard not to do that. I didn’t wish them bad, but I wished us better.”

I give Favre credit for his honesty, though that doesn't mean much.

I suppose I would say that Jeffrey Dahmer deserved credit for eventually being honest and giving up the details about what he did.

My point is that honesty and telling the truth is a good thing, but the substance that's revealed isn't necessarily a good thing.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

At NFL.com, reporter Adam Schefter reached [Bus] Cook. Cook was asked whether this retirement was for good or whether Favre could change his mind this summer.

Cook responded to Schefter: “For good.”

However, ESPN reported that Cook raised the possibility of the Jets releasing Favre, though Favre later denied that. There has been speculation that Favre was interested in joining the Minnesota Vikings.

Will Favre go to the Vikings?

I guess that will depend on how pissed he still is at the Packers.

I think Favre has shown just how childish he can be, so it's a possibility; but it's highly, HIGHLY unlikely. The guy is just months away from being 40 years old. Time to hang it up.

If Favre did come out of retirement AGAIN, I would seriously question his mental stability. He really would have anger issues to unretire another time, especially after last year's circus.

If Favre made that move, he would seem like a real nutjob. That could do permanent damage to his image.

As it is, I think his name is on the verge of becoming a verb. "Will (fill in name) 'Favre'?"

He just can't unretire again, but deep down, I think he would love to play for the Vikings. That's the sort of guy he is. Who knows what he'll do?

My reaction: Who cares?

Thankfully, we're spared the tears with this retirement announcement.

When I think back on Favre's retirement from the Packers, I admit I have a good deal of anger.

I'm angry with myself for shedding tears at the time, for allowing myself to be duped by Favre, for being so naïve.

No tears from me this time.

I don't want to sound too negative about Favre. That wouldn't tell the whole story.

Brett, we'll always have New Orleans.
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