Brett Favre: To Retire or Not To Retire?

Let's face it, Brett Favre's "interception heard round the world" has been ridiculed and dissected from every angle. It need not be done so in this article as well.

Rather than regurgitate everything that took place in Sunday night's exciting, albeit somewhat controversial NFC Championship, perhaps we should look to the future (and Favre's).

After all, when a team plays its last game of the season, what else is there to do?

But truly, this was more than just the "last game of the season" for Favre and this team. After facing constant scrutiny, Favre took the league by storm in Week Three, zipping a game-winning touchdown pass to Greg Lewis against the San Francisco 49ers.

From there, the Vikings went to 6-0, and eventually secured a first round bye and an NFC North division crown behind an impressive 12-4 finish.

That old guy still had something left after all.

The icing on the cake was the four touchdown performance in a 34-3 crushing of the Dallas Cowboys, in what was quite arguably Favre's best season of his entire career.

He topped 4,200 yards passing, threw 33 touchdowns, and tossed a career low seven interceptions. All that and he had a passer rating over 100 for the first time in his 19-year career.

However, after appearing in his second NFC Championship Game in three seasons (and it ended almost exactly the same), Favre is faced, yet again, with thoughts of retirement.

Why He Should Go

While the magic in Favre's right arm is arguably there over the course of a 16-game season, it has clearly dwindled, whether we like to admit it or not, when everything is on the line.

He's 0-2 in his last two NFC Championship Games, both of them ending with him throwing an interception on his final pass.

Throw in the fact that there's no guarantee he'll keep playing at a high level next season; that he'll be 41; and that the NFC as a whole is only getting better.

He's been the NFL's iron man, its golden boy, for almost two decades; but the real question is even if he keeps coming back, will that continue to be the case?

Favre's age and all the small injuries he's accrued over the years could finally catch up with him, as could the emotional and physical toll of his most recent ousting.

Then again, they might not...

Why He Should Stay

He threw a bad pass, it got intercepted, and the Vikings didn't get to the Super Bowl. Favre should go home, cry for a couple of days, and then talk to his family about returning for one last crack at this thing.

After all, it was only his first season with this offense and there's a solid argument that this is actually the best team in the NFC (possibly the NFL), and a few corrections on both sides of the ball could have them right back in this very spot in 2011.

Throw in the fact that, aside from the beat-down he took against New Orleans, Favre has been nimble and playing as young as ever, and playing at age 41 doesn't sound so scary.

Pat Williams is mildly considering retirement (but would probably return if Favre did), and the Vikings have two free agents (Ray Edwards and Chester Taylor) to worry about.

In an uncapped year they could return with a healthy team on both sides of the ball, get E.J. Henderson back, fix their fumble issues, and do it all again.

Favre is still at the top of his game, backed by an offense and defense that won't quit on him, and he's on a team that is eager to win its first Super Bowl in NFL history.

The only question now for Brett Favre is, would it be worth it?

Only one out of 32 teams in the league win the whole thing, while only two get to dream about it for two straight weeks.

Is Favre convinced that this team can turn it right back around and finish the job? More importantly, has he wavered from thinking that he's the man to help them do it?

This writer says "yes", that despite all the reports you'll hear from ESPN and other sources, Favre can't say no to one more realistic shot at going out on top.

He took a shot in the dark by coming back this season, hoping he'd be a big piece of the puzzle, and that the Vikings were good enough to give it a decent go.

He was right. So, was this a one-year job that Favre failed at? Or was he always meant to fulfill his two-year contract so the Vikings could realize their long-awaited dream?

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