Day 28, Brett Favre

Today, as the NFL regular season draws to a close, as fans across the nation are watching teams vie for the remaining playoff spots, one story is flying under the radar.  Yes, today, Sunday December 28, 2008 will very likely be Brett Favre’s last game.  As the lights dim on a legendary career spanning eighteen seasons and 268 consecutive starts, it is perhaps fitting eyes are elsewhere.  Brett Favre, who in many ways has been the little boy who cried wolf when it comes to his retirement over the years, now seems, as FOX sports described it, is finally saying – “it’s not you, it’s me,” regarding playing with the Jets in 2009 and once and for all hanging up his number 4 jersey citing a shoulder injury as bringing the curtain down.  Of course, there is a chance the Jets could make the playoffs but after last week’s humiliating loss to the Seahawks with his old coach Mike Holmgren looking on, that chance is slim at best. 

So today, as I have for a few seasons, I will sit vigil savoring the last dose of Brett Favre.  Last season, with all of the drama – retirement, un-retirement and ultimately leaving the Pack – in the end, I was happy Brett decided to have one last go at it, almost like an encore at concert.  Also, I am glad his final hurrah wasn’t last season’s upset by the Giants in the NFC championship where his final pass was intercepted.  I have loved Brett Favre for many years and today clad in my mourning clothes along with Favre loyalists, I believe he really will call it quits.  I completely expect, as John Madden said last season, the tears in his eyes at this evening’s press conference to mean this retirement announcement will stick.  Here’s to Brett Favre.