Brett Favre Retires Again: The Final Goodbye?

As much as I love the NFL, it pains me to see Brett Favre walk away.

However, I firmly believe that this is for his good—both mentally and physically.

Favre has been in the NFL since 1992 and has been playing since he was a kid.

Football has consumed his life; it is his obsession.

The game is not the same as it was when he first walked into the league. The game is faster and players are younger.

His soon-to-be 39-year-old body cannot take the punishment of this game any longer. His deteriorating arm strength is becoming more evident as the years pass.

He may have the desire and heart to play, but in all honesty, he should stay away and let fans judge his legacy for what it is and will always be—stellar and of true Hall of Fame quality.

We all remember his first game-winner—a bomb to Kitrick Taylor in 1992 after Don Majkowski suffered an ankle injury.

We even remember his first playoff win in 1993 in Detroit—another dramatic game-winner to Sterling Sharpe with less than a minute to play.

We cried when he came out of rehab for pain-killers, vowing to turn his life around.

We remember him jumping around on the turf of the Superdome during Super Bowl XXXI in celebration of an NFL championship.

We know what happened on that memorable Monday night in Oakland—a day after his father passed—putting on one of the greatest performances in the history of the sport.

I know we all will not believe this latest chapter in the Favre retirement saga until most likely the middle of training camp, but for the first time, I truly believe this is it.

He has nothing left to prove to anyone—anywhere or anymore. Though his career is most likely ending on somewhat of a sour note, one click on a YouTube link should remind us all of the memories he created.

The country boy from Kiln, MS, made the NFL his own personal playground for almost 20 years, and even though he had his bad days and even more good days, a legend is gone and we all must live with this new reality.