Brett Favre: Committing Treason

For a very long time, Brett Favre could do no wrong in the hearts and minds of Green Bay Packers fans all across the country. That probably all changed when he flipped and flopped on a decision whether to retire or to play another season with the Packers following the great 13-3 season in which they fell a game short of the Super Bowl. When he couldn’t make up his mind whether he could play another season and he retired, the Packers finally decided to invest in their future quarterback Aaron Rodgers. A lot of fans including myself were finally able to close the greatest and longest chapter in NFL history on the arguably the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.

Although the relationship between quarterback and the Cheeseheads faithful have been rocky ever since, it probably took an irreparable turn (at least for the near future) when he stepped onto the podium yesterday wearing a #4 Purple Jersey. One will continue to wonder how the Vikings fans will treat a guy who has beaten them year in and year out in their division — will they still root for him if he struggles early? Will they root for him if he does well but can’t beat the Packers or Bears? Clearly, anything short of a Super Bowl run this year will be a disappointment and there’s nothing more that I would like than to see Brett struggle in Minnesota.

Favre got what he wanted Tuesday. He got the team he craved, the salary he could live with and the NFC North Division he knows by heart. But the nanosecond he signed that two-year, $25 million contract with the Vikings was the nanosecond he burned the last few remaining wooden bridges between him and Packers fans. He became Fredo Corleone in “The Godfather: Part II” — the one who betrays the family. Packers fans became Michael Corleone, who tells his older brother, “Fredo, you’re nothing to me now.”

Fredo got popped on a fishing boat in the middle of Lake Tahoe. Favre could get his on national television in the middle of the Metrodome. Or he could lead the team with the league’s best running back and one of the league’s best defensive lines to Super Bowl XLIV. – Gene Wojciechowski (ESPN.com)

I am hopeful that one day I will get over what he did to the Packers franchise but don’t expect it anytime soon. Hopefully by the time he has finally retired for good and is up there in Canton giving his Hall of Fame speech, I will watch him as the great quarterback he was for all these years instead of the drama queen he had become in the late stages of his career – even if that stage began in his last few seasons with Green Bay.

A great peice I quoted earlier by ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski so be sure to read it: Favre’s Left Green Bay Behind, For Good.

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