The RaBlog

I was on my way to school this morning when I received a text message from my brother-in-law with the news. Brett Favre, the legendary quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, had announced his plans to retire.

I don’t think this is tremendously surprising news. Though immediately after the Packers’ season was over, I figured that Brett would be back for at least another season, I slowly began to get the feeling that he was calling it quits. His delaying the announcement led me to believe that he wasn’t sure, and that in turn led to the growing belief that he would, in fact, retire.

While I could spend time speculating on why he finally decided to hang it up, there are enough in the media and other blogs that are doing that already. I see no reason to carry on that conversation. The bottom line is that Brett Favre decided it was time for him to end his NFL career, and I have nothing but respect for his decision.

Instead, I’m just going to summarize a few key points and leave this post short and concise. Brett Favre has undoubtedly had one of the greatest careers in NFL history. While it’s easy to argue that he wasn’t the greatest player, or quarterback for that matter, in the history of the league, it’s also easy to make arguments that he was. I’m not going to try to go either way on that one, as I’m a Packers fan, and my biased opinion isn’t necessary.

Brett Favre ended his career following a great season, receiving the only vote for MVP that Tom Brady didn’t receive. He put up incredible numbers, especially for a player of his age, and led the Packers to the NFC Championship game for the fourth time in his career. Favre broke or added to many NFL records during the season, and he currently holds around nine different records (not all of them necessarily good), including:

• Most AP NFL MVP Awards (3)
• Most consecutive starts by a quarterback (253)
• Most wins by a starting quarterback (160)
• Most career passing touchdowns (442)
• Most career passing yards (61,655)
• Most career pass completions (5,377)
• Most career pass attempts (8,758)
• Most career interceptions thrown (288)
• Most career games with at least three touchdowns (63)

While some of those records will eventually be broken, whether by Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or someone else, there is no disputing that Brett Favre is at least near the top of the list of all-time greatest NFL quarterbacks.

For the Packers, Favre’s retirement means several things. First and foremost, the greatest player in their history is no longer going to represent them on the field. Fans and the team will miss the leadership, poise, and love of the game that Brett has shown throughout his entire career. The Packers are switching the reins of their offense to Aaron Rodgers, who, though I think will do fine, has tremendously large shoes to fill. Since he has shown to not have the same level of durability that Favre showed throughout his career, the Packers need to have an adequate replacement lined up to carry the load, if needed. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up taking a quarterback fairly high in the draft to fill this need. The bottom line is that Packers fans, and probably the team as a whole, cannot know what to expect from this next season. Favre has played the last 16 seasons for the Packers, starting all but the initial three games. Could Aaron Rodgers follow in Favre’s footsteps in a similar way to Steve Young following Joe Montana? Sure. He could. I hope so, but we aren’t going to know for sure until at least a few games have passed.

In ending, I want to thank Brett Favre for his many years playing for the Green Bay Packers. He was an excellent leader for the team, and his love of the game was beneficial to the team, the league, and sports in general. Thank you Brett. I wish you the best of luck in whatever is in your future.