Brett Favre, Will he or won't he?

Brett Favre is without a doubt my all-time favorite quarterback. The way he approached each and every game was awe-inspiring. You never knew what you were gonna get when you saw Brett Favre play. He has been a staple on my fantasy football teams for the last 3 years, which totals the amount of time I’ve actually been playing fantasy football. But Brett Favre is retired. He retired after giving a very emotional speech which left him teary eyed. He retired after what seemed to be his best season in a long time, taking his Packers all the way to the NFC Championship game and losing in a heartbreaking overtime finish to the New York Giants, the eventual Superbowl Champions. He retired after breaking basically every Quarterback record of meaning, finishing the 2007 season with 442 touchdown passes, 61,655 passing yards, and 160 career wins and he also started 253 consecutive regular season games, the most by any quarterback in the history of the league. Yes indeed, Brett Favre is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, but after a 17 year career, his time is over.

Aaron Rodgers is ready to play. He has been groomed to take over for Favre since being drafted in 2005. After waiting game after game to get his chance to play, it has finally come. This is Aaron Rodgers’ time. The Green Bay faithful may not like it, but the fact of the matter is this. Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback of the future for Green Bay. Brett Favre announced his retirement, thus passing the torch to the young Rodgers to take over and lead this great team to another successful year. The time is now for Rodgers to prove he can lead this team. Rodgers is not Brett Favre, but in the NFL that’s not what’s important. The only thing that matters in the NFL is winning.

The media has been in a frenzy over the last few days with the possibly return of Brett Favre. Supposedly, Favre has been in contact with Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy and has told his former coach that he has the itch to play again. Because it is Brett Favre, the media has gone crazy with this story. However, Favre himself has said that its all a rumor and there is no truth to the story. The problem with this situation is that Favre himself also said that he would be willing to return if Aaron Rodgers was injured. That is not the duty of a retired player. Brett Favre needs to make a decision and he needs to make it clear. He is either Brett Favre, the retired quarterback or he is Brett Favre, the man ready to lead the Green Bay Packers to another Superbowl. He can’t be both.

So what do I think should happen? Brett Favre needs to remain retired and allow Aaron Rodgers to lead this team. And furthermore, The Green Bay Packers need to sign a veteran quarterback to put all of this Favre comeback talk to rest. A veteran quarterback backing up Aaron Rodgers would make the need for Brett Favre non-existent. The Green Bay Packers need to put their foot down and back up their quarterback. They need to build trust in that relationship. Their quarterback needs to trust them and they need to trust him. Their quarterback is not Brett Favre anymore, its Aaron Rodgers. They need to support him.

Brett Favre is without a doubt my all-time favorite quarterback, but I remember what he said the day he retired, “I’ve given everything I possibly could give to this organization, the game of football, and I don’t think I’ve got anything left to give and thats it. I know I can play. But I don’t think I want to.” If Brett Favre returns with this attitude, he will have a horrible year. I don’t want to see it. He had a tremendous year last year and it ended in heartbreak. Brett Favre has nothing left to prove. He is an all-time great, but his time is over. #4 will remain a legend in the game of football until the end of time, but I really feel that its time that a new legend get a chance to form. The legend of #12, Aaron Rodgers.