I don’t have to write this post. And I could dispatch with recent days’ events with a fairly nerdy, clinical recitation of the relevant football statistics. [Frankly, maybe I should write about the horror of this.] But I’m hurting right now, and it has nothing at all to do with anything serious, or important. Not for people outside of sports. And I feel guilty about that, in a way. But as I noted, Brett Favre is walking away. For me, that’s very hard. And I won’t say he’s a hero; heck, I won’t even say he’s my hero. But a joy to watch, good or bad? Yes. Do I feel privileged to have done so? Yes, indeed. Will watching football be less fun? Certainly. Go ahead and call me an idolator (if the Bible’s any guide, I am the worst) and I’ll admit that. Moving on. People can sometimes be more powerful symbols than they are as human beings. I think of Favre, I think: man, tough, strong, America, team, guts, like me, like us, your neighbor, your dad, your friend. If someone did a Fourth of July montage that showed Favre as something American, something good, nobody (outside Chicago) would flinch. In 5-10 years, if he chose to run for office, he’d win. Not kidding. Lots of sports ‘heroes,’ true, but not like him. I’m feeling safe on that one.
Many of us lived through him, (me included) at least on Sundays after church. There’ll be a million ‘regular guy’ stories about him (as there were throughout) but they’re basically true. And it makes it all the harder. Many NFL legends (lots of quarterbacks) have retired recently. I don’t honestly remember hurting when they left. Football’s not even my favorite sport. But something about Favre, a certain something, a certain ‘we’ that we can’t explain, he carried, just by playing a game. Better than most, but not flawlessly. He screwed up often, and we liked that about him. A lot. ‘Legend’ and ‘beatable’ don’t go together in sports, but with Brett, they did. Brett got addicted to painkillers and alcohol back when; that’d tarnish some athletes, but not Brett. I daresay the identification got deeper.
And that’s not even fair, certainly to black athletes we’d shun if they rented a porno. But that’s how it goes. It defies logic with Favre, though, more than usual. We watched him blackmail the Packers with retirement talk, skip out on camps, etc. and we, Favre Nation, just didn’t care. I don’t, and I’ll admit it. He’s a great teammate, but not always. Likely a great husband and father, but not always. And yet…I cried today, just like he did. I still don’t regret becoming a Packers fan in 2003. I don’t know who my team will be now; perhaps I’ll stay. I loved every second I saw Brett Favre play. If I could preach to three famous people right now, as a personal chaplain, they’d be President Bush, John Mayer, or Brett Favre. And wonder at this: the God who made the world, who gave us His Son, made this one guy, whose giftedness at throwing a ball for far too much money, has made me cry, for wanting to do something else. That’s at once sad, and perfectly understandable, no?
I’d venture to say that if you’re a football fan, you’ve heard the criticism of noted former coach, John Madden—namely, that Madden is the biggest Favre apologist on Earth. I’ve laughed and wondered if Mrs. Favre loves Brett that much! But tell the truth: you felt like Madden every day of these 17 years. Me certainly, for these four I counted myself a fan. Brett’s 38, and ¾ of the league would take him as their quarterback right now, even for the sheer fun of watching, I daresay. I exaggerate, and perhaps I say too much, but I’m less sad, and I needed that.
Many of us lived through him, (me included) at least on Sundays after church. There’ll be a million ‘regular guy’ stories about him (as there were throughout) but they’re basically true. And it makes it all the harder. Many NFL legends (lots of quarterbacks) have retired recently. I don’t honestly remember hurting when they left. Football’s not even my favorite sport. But something about Favre, a certain something, a certain ‘we’ that we can’t explain, he carried, just by playing a game. Better than most, but not flawlessly. He screwed up often, and we liked that about him. A lot. ‘Legend’ and ‘beatable’ don’t go together in sports, but with Brett, they did. Brett got addicted to painkillers and alcohol back when; that’d tarnish some athletes, but not Brett. I daresay the identification got deeper.
And that’s not even fair, certainly to black athletes we’d shun if they rented a porno. But that’s how it goes. It defies logic with Favre, though, more than usual. We watched him blackmail the Packers with retirement talk, skip out on camps, etc. and we, Favre Nation, just didn’t care. I don’t, and I’ll admit it. He’s a great teammate, but not always. Likely a great husband and father, but not always. And yet…I cried today, just like he did. I still don’t regret becoming a Packers fan in 2003. I don’t know who my team will be now; perhaps I’ll stay. I loved every second I saw Brett Favre play. If I could preach to three famous people right now, as a personal chaplain, they’d be President Bush, John Mayer, or Brett Favre. And wonder at this: the God who made the world, who gave us His Son, made this one guy, whose giftedness at throwing a ball for far too much money, has made me cry, for wanting to do something else. That’s at once sad, and perfectly understandable, no?
I’d venture to say that if you’re a football fan, you’ve heard the criticism of noted former coach, John Madden—namely, that Madden is the biggest Favre apologist on Earth. I’ve laughed and wondered if Mrs. Favre loves Brett that much! But tell the truth: you felt like Madden every day of these 17 years. Me certainly, for these four I counted myself a fan. Brett’s 38, and ¾ of the league would take him as their quarterback right now, even for the sheer fun of watching, I daresay. I exaggerate, and perhaps I say too much, but I’m less sad, and I needed that.
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