Burning the Brett Favre Jersey: Not If, But How

My dad taught me NFL football. His favorite player was Green Bay Packers running back Jimmy Taylor. But, my dad told me Jimmy had heart even he couldn't run without a good offensive line.

The day of my dad's funeral wake, my mom sat us all down to watch the Green
Bay Packers game on TV. It was the 1970's, a decade in which the Packers were awful. That didn't matter because we were always a Packers family. Somehow the Packers got a lead that day and my brothers were all hollering. And, one of them said, "How dad would love this."

I once worked in a plastics factory. The sweat there would pour down the skin, and the production workers would breathe in the tiny plastic chips which were exploding in the air and then vomit them up the next morning. They worked for minimum wage and bought their clothes at what were called thrift sales, but were usually referred to as garage or rummage sales.

A T-shirt might cost 50 cents at a thrift sale, but a Favre or a Packers T-shirt cost a lot more. They gladly paid triple the price to wear a Packers/Favre T-shirt. They were working for about $24,000 a year, raising kids, and building a life on that salary, and wearing second-hand Packers/Favre shirts.

T-shirts kind of serve as our Bill of Rights these days. In Wisconsin, a Packers/Favre t-shirt labels you as someone who has common ground with other Wisconsin residents and your Bill of Rights is pretty tame—Go Pack Go!

So, now all of us Packers fans, whether rummage sellers or not, are facing a dilemma.

Brett Favre, a man we built into a superhero, has said he couldn't give a crap about the Packers, and Wisconsin, and the fans. He wants his unconditional release.

Ted Thompson, the General Manager of the Green Bay Packers, couldn't give a crap about Packers fans. He never said one word to us, even though we own the team and pay his salary, about the Favre issue. Thompson apparently believes he IS the Packers.

Mark Murphy, the newly appointed CEO of the Packers, never said a word about whether or not Favre asked to come back and play. Murphy never said anything pertinent.

We understand Favre's posture. He just doesn't give a crap about the Packers or the Packers fans. That's okay. He's just an employee who has given us the finger and believes he will be loved by any fan base, even if he throws six or four interceptions in a playoff game.

But, the silence of Thompson and Murphy? They also gave Packers fans the finger. But, unlike Favre who has trashed Packer fans because he thinks he can get another high-paying job, Thompson and Murphy need to address the PR issue or get fired.

Burning the Favre jersey? Won't happen for a while. I've decided to let my dogs wee-wee on it to duplicate what Favre did to Packers fans. And then, send it to Thompson and Murphy, so they can sit on it for a while and smell the future.

Shame, shame, shame on all of you for taking millions of dollars from people who work so hard to make milk, and veggies, and meat, and everything else you grab so greedily for your families.

Favre and Thompson are men who believe they are important. They are men who believe playing a game makes them heroes. They are not even farts in the wind because neither could even step up in public to make a statement. Both Favre and Thompson are scared to fart in the wind.

Favre and Thompson are of the same ilk—just two cowardly guys who were too afraid to speak in public. You two deserve each other.