Brett Favre Refuses To Go Quietly Into The Night

Added on Dec 22, 2010 by Scott in

NFL

If this does turn out to be Brett Favre’s final season (big if, I know), it certainly can’t be considered a failure in the drama department. Sure, the Vikings have totally sucked on the field, but in every other way imaginable, they have been an enormous success. Think about it — has any other franchise been in the headlines more since August? No. Not even the Jets or Patriots can come close to matching the Minnesota media blitz that has dominated 2010. And who can we thank for all this needless attention paid to a 5-9 team? Brett Favre, of course.

It all began way back in the summer when old man Favre triumphantly returned from his 23rd retirement since 2007. He limped from the shadows of his Mississippi home after Vikings vets Ryan Longwell, Jared Allen and Steve Hutchinson dragged the ageless signal caller from his comfortable lawnmower seat and whisked him back to Eden Prairie for one last shot at capturing Super Bowl glory.

By some accounts, Favre wasn’t thrilled about coming back, again. Percy Harvin was plagued with migraines, Sidney Rice had just undergone hip surgery and Brad Childress was still the head coach. Then there was Favre’s famous ankle, which apparently hadn’t completely healed from offseason surgery. Things weren’t setting up to be quite as magical as 2009.

A 1-2 start gave way to off the field shenanigans in October when explicit (and hilarious) cell phone pics surfaced of Favre’s alleged crotchal region from his days with the Jets, when he engaged in a sexting flirtation with Jets employee Jenn Sterger. Did he or didn’t he do it? Will he or won’t he be suspended? Does it even matter? Leave it to Favre to be the catalyst for unwanted distraction.

Then Randy Moss arrived for a quick cup of really bad coffee. Brad Childress didn’t like Moss, so he kicked him loose a month after shipping a third-round pick to New England to acquire his diminishing services. Then Brad Childress got the axe for basically being a blithering idiot. The team stunk, Favre stunk, and Chilly paid the price.

On December 5th, Favre got his shoulder driven into the turf by the Bills. A week later his 297 consecutive games played streak came to an inauspicious end. For the first time since 1992, #4 was seen on the sidelines in street clothes. Mired in a losing season with no shot at making the playoffs, many believed that was all she wrote for Favre. His storied career was mercifully over.

However, as we all know, Brett has a flare for the dramatic. When he emerged from the tunnel on Monday night and jogged onto the snow-covered field at the University of Minnesota dressed to start, no one was surprised. He was back, again, like a pesky winter cold you just can’t shake.

His return would be brief. A concussion forced him out of the lineup for the second time in three weeks. So, now we wait with not-so baited breath wondering whether or not Favre will don a mask and cape and ride his white steed onto Lincoln Financial Field this Sunday night to battle the 10-4 Michael Vick-led Eagles.

Bum shoulder. Bruised brain. In primetime with all the world watching. The stage has been set for yet another Brett Favre encore. Sigh.