Open Letter to Brett Favre
Thursday, May 7, 2009 9:00
Dear Brett,
I have been a huge fan of yours for years. Your love of football and unparalleled toughness in the quarterback position have always the been twin pinaccles of character to which I wish all other players aspired. There was nothing I enjoyed watching more than when, after completing a pass, you would run down field and deliver a crushing block to a linebacker to open up a hole for your reciever.
But with that great respect for your attitude and playing ability in mind, I beg of you, please do not come out of retirement again.
Your place in Canton is assured; there is nothing left for you to prove. Even if you don’t tarnish your legacy on the field of play, you will surely tarnish your legacy as a person. Regardless of the sport, there are far too many players already who do not know when to call it quits. A second comeback would sadly lump you in with those poor, deluded souls. Not in terms of diminishing skills–you proved yourself still capable last season with the Jets, if no longer at your peak–but in terms of mindset.
Although I would have preferred to have seen you finish your career with the Packers, I understood you desire to continue to play last year and accepted your tenure with the Jets as the only resort you had. I know that I’ll never know the truth for sure, but I at least was willing to believe that you were pressured to retire, that Green Bay wanted to move on, that one final season in New York provided you the opportunity to complete your career on your own terms. But to return twice? You have no such excuse this time around.
By all accounts, Minnesota contacted you. Although that does relieve you of some of the onus of whifwhaffling, I beg of you, take the high road. Turn the Vikings down if they offer you a position as their quarterback.
If instead, as I secretly hope, any discussions are in regards to entering the coaching ranks, go ahead. You’ll probably make a great coach. But please hang up the cleats for good. You have very little to gain and a heck of a lot to lose.
Sincerely,
Brad
says:
May 8th, 2009 at 12:53 am
Please learn to proofread. "farm too many" "poor, deluded soles"
Nate Barlow
says:
May 8th, 2009 at 1:03 am
Thank you for the catch. I had corrected those previously in a proofread, but ran into a plugin conflict that repeatedly crashed the "Save draft…" feature. By the time I had worked was going wrong, I didn't notice that the corrections to those particular typos had not taken.