Why Can't I Let You Go, Brett?

Growing up in Wisconsin in the 1990s, there is only one name that comes to mind as a child’s hero: Brett Favre.  He was that charismatic, fun-loving guy who would take his helmet off when he threw a touchdown to Robert Brooks, Antonio Freeman, and Sterling Sharpe. 

I was almost six years old when I first got of taste of Brett Favre.  He came in for the “Majik Man” Don Majkowski when he went down with an injury.  The impression he gave me and millions of Packers fans were that the Packers could be relevant again.  This is after he brought the Packers back from being down 23-17 against the Cincinnati Bengals and threw a touchdown with less than 15 seconds to go allowing Packers fans to forget that he struggled earlier in the game.

He would then start a streak of being the Packers quarterback until the end of the 2007 season.  During that time he enriched the hearts of Packers fans all over and became the one lovable guy that I grew up to.  He led the Packers to the Super Bowl twice (winning once).  He brought Wisconsin its first major championship since the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971.  Because of that, he was instilled in our hearts for the next ten or so seasons.

I want to know why I can’t let you go, Brett.  Even though you left the Packers and went to the New York Jets, I still can’t let you go, why?  You want to go to the Vikings, why? 

I don’t remember much of Don Majkowski or any other quarterback before Brett Favre.  Now, Packers fans have had a taste of what Aaron Rodgers can do.  He has been very good in his first season and it looks like he will give the Packers a good solid quarterback for years to come. 

Even so, I am having a hard time letting Brett Favre go, almost as much as Favre has letting the game go.  I know a lot of Packers fans, some of my friends as well, have let him go.  Some dislike Favre now and some just are sick of the “is he going to retire or come back” storyline that is becoming infamous every spring and summer.  But I realize now, maybe I don’t have to let him go, rather I can still enjoy some of his greatest games as a member of the Green Bay Packers.  Thank you, Brett Favre, for your service in Green Bay.