Favre Doesn't Have to Walk Away Yet

If you are like me, you are sad this morning at the prospect of having possibly witnessed Brett Favre's final game as a football player. Sure, we've seen this before, the waves goodbye, the emotional locker room hugs, but this time the scene of the the tired, pain-wracked body of the 40 year old NFL legend leaving the field at the Superdome after the Vikings loss in overtime to the New Orleans Saints seemed finally..well, final.

In typical Brett Favre fashion, he steered the Vikings to 475 yards of total offense. He zinged laser-beam passes and split defenders in throwing for over 300 yards. He led a Vikings team that outplayed the high-octane Saints- and probably should have won.

However, in what is also typical Brett Favre fashion, he made several bad plays which may have ended up costing Minnesota an early February trip to sunny South Florida. It could be argued that Favre could have simply taken a couple of knees, and set up his former Packer teammate Ryan Longwell for an albeit long, but potential game winning field goal.

What made Favre great over the years also has cursed him. The ol' gunslinger, who mows his own lawn and drives a pick-up truck much like the everyman, has endeared himself to countless numbers of fans over 20 years as the gambler; whose fantastic plays and child-like passion for the game made him great, also frustrated and baffled countless numbers of fans with bad interceptions and offseason waffling about retirement.

Should this finally be the end of the ride, Generation X'ers will be losing the last player they grew up watching, the Dale Earnhardt and Larry Bird of the NFL, and heck, the last remaining NFL player I remember using to lead the Packers to 80 point games in the old arcade game NFL Blitz .

Whether or not Favre comes back to complete the second year of his contract with the Vikings, which would pay him a cool 13 million, we likely will not know for months. He'll head home to Mississippi, tend to his land, and spend time with his family. Whether he returns to quarterback a last season at age 41 will probably be based on whether or not he feels he can endure another season of beatings. It's a lot easier at 21 to recover week to week in a sport as brutal as the NFL.

Everything aside, criticism and praise, Brett Favre can still play football. He finishes this season (perhaps overall the best statistical year of his career) having proven that. Even though his goal of winning another Super Bowl fell short on a bad throw much like the one that cost him another trip to the big game during his final season with the Packers in 2007, Minnesota will be a better team even if he doesn't return.

Under Favre, Sidney Rice flourished, his game developed into that of a number one receiver. Visinthe Shiancoe had the best year of his 7 year career. Percy Harvin, destined to reach a level of stardom Reggie Bush has failed to reach, adapted to the NFL game under what amounted to an on-the-field coach, which will prove to be invaluable for him.

Brett Favre, if you finally decide to walk away, no one can begrudge you of that. You've proven to yourself, and all of us that you can indeed still compete and succeed at this level. Brett Favre, if you come back for one last round at the poker table, you have proven that, while you may still call for five cards while you are holding three kings, you can still nail your share of royal flushes and find yourself right in the mix at the final table.