5 Things Brett Favre Will Be Remembered For

Let the Favre watch begin…again. Yet another summer with daily reports on Brett and his decision. It seems like football fans have been going through the endless Favre cycle for a decade. Every season we wonder if it’s his last, and it’s largely in part to both ESPN and Favre himself dragging things out. I think it’s safe to safe on some level Favre isn’t sure. On another level it may be safe to say Favre certainly doesn’t mind the attention.

But does all the ire and media over exposure put a black eye on Favre legacy when all is said and done? Will he be remembered simply as one of the greats or one of the great headaches of all time? Will he be remembered as the fun loving gun slinger he was early on or the indecisive drama queen he’s garnered a reputation as later in his career? Let’s take a look at Favre’s legacy and the five things he will be remembered for.

5. Overexposure – This has to be a part of his legacy no matter what period of time you’re talking about. Favre has spent the better part of his career being the face and poster child for the NFL.

When he was young and getting things done in Green Bay the NFL seemed to embrace the child like attitude he took to the field where he seemed just so happy to be playing football for a living.

In the latter half of his career though he will be known for the agonizing “Favre Watch.” And it’s his fault. His inability to be honest with himself and his team will forever be a bit of a black mark on an otherwise great career.People don’t have any problem with an aging quarterback that refuses to go away, as long as that’s what he says he is.

4. Selfish – Its feels like this is picking on Favre but sometimes he gets a free pass for putting himself first. Here’s the thing to remember: If this were Terrell Owens holding his teams hostage every year the sports fan base would be beside themselves with anger but for some reason with Favre he doesn’t draw quite the ire from us. Why is that?

At the end of the day Favre is not just putting himself before the team because on some level he has to. But Favre is only thinking of himself. The situation with Green Bay really highlighted this point:

Favre had been hymning and hawing for several years on whether to retire. He had Aaron Rodgers waiting in the wings. The Packers knew his decision to play or not would affect how they approached the offseason and the draft and all they asked was for a reasonable timetable to make a decision but yet Favre couldn’t be bothered to do that for years. Then he announces a quick retirement only to be followed by a comeback where he insinuates that his former team rushed him or made him feel pressured to make his decision.

Secondly, he gets to New York to play for the Jets. He has a dismal second half as he is playing through a serious injury and as the season ends he quietly strong arms the Jets into letting him out of his contract. If you are wondering if Favre really did that…yes he did. Had he stayed under contract to them they could’ve traded him if he wanted to get out of New York but by releasing him he could go anywhere he wanted…enter the Minnesota Vikings.

Then, when everyone knew he was going to play for the Vikings, Favre waits until most of training camp is over and then signs avoiding training camp altogether. And, if there is any indication, he will do the same thing this year.

There have been players far more selfish but I think the last few years have dispelled the myth that Favre is a team first who just loves playing football. He’s a guy who cares about Brett Favre. That’s it.

3. Statistics – Favre is one of the great compilers of statistics. Regardless of if he plays this year or not, Favre is one of the greatest statistic holders of all time. He owns so many records due to seasons where he played at an MVP level and simply due to longevity.

The list goes on and on. If for nothing else his legacy will live on because as time goes on his name will be mentioned every time a quarterback breaks a record because you can rest assured that it will be Farve’s record they will be breaking…good or bad.

2. Overrated – I know that this seems contrary for a sure fire Hall of Famer to be considered overrated but Favre has been as much bad as he has been good. For every epic win there has been an epic failure. For every comeback win there is a six interception loss against the Rams.

While there is virtually no one that will ever question Favre’s ability to win football games, there will always be those that question Favre’s ability to win when it mattered most.

If we are being honest about Favre’s legacy he could have very easily been reversed had he not won against an over matched Patriots team.

Had he lost he might have been a sadder version of Dan Marino. Always good enough to be great, never being great enough to win.

1. Durability – There is no way that anything beats this for his legacy. You can talk about all the losses, the interceptions, the MVP’s and the diva mentality but in the end football is tough sport and there has been no one tougher than Favre.

This is why it’s so hard to hate him no matter how he behaves. No matter what has ailed Favre throughout the years, he has also walked out on Sunday’s to suit up and play. His consecutive game streak may never be broken and that’s saying something.