MJ and Brett: The Antichrists of Retirement

When a player decides that he has done all he can to leave his own mark on his sport, he takes the graceful lead and walks away from the game. We meet up in bars and have talks that start out with "Remember when so and so did that?" We remember their successes, their failures and everything in between.

During that road of the last ride and the jersey retirement, we run into a few apples that don't want to leave the tree. In this case, two of those apples happen to keep coming back every single time. This is why retirement is such a huge issue right now. Because when one hears about retirement, they will always hear about two men who decided not to follow suit.

They'll hear about two men who wanted to stand out even when it was time to sit down. They'll hear about two legends who may have overstayed their welcome. This is the case with the NBA's Elite God Michael Jordan and the NFL's true Iron Man Brett Favre.

But would it be bad to speak ill of these two legends? Would it be so wrong to say that they made a mistake? Would it be ill advised to say they tarnished their legendary careers by coming back for one more roundup?

Now in MJ's case, the circumstances are a little different. Jordan's first retirement was mainly because of his father's murder. That is justified when it is said that if he should decide to come back, we would have no problem with that. Back in the Jordan-Era, MJ was King. To some, he still is King to this day. He was the Brett Favre of the NBA and the Cal Ripken of adversity. So the first time was okay.

After the disbanding of the Bulls Dynasty, like the Lakers dynasty of today, the Bulls got a wake up call. Michael went on to try to build a winning franchise in Washington. It's not completely clear if he succeeded or not, but when we heard that he was pulling a Mario Lemieux and doing a double role, that's when the era of MJ was officially on its death bed. After six NBA Titles, we had to resort to hearing about the legend known as Michael Jordan taking an old saying and adding to it:

"If you want something done right, you got to do it yourself."

Now many moons and multiple dynasty wannabes later, we relive the Jordan Error, but this time, it's on the gridiron. Arguably one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, Brett Favre decided that it was time to walk away from the game he loved. Favre was indeed one of those guys you would see playing forever. With Favre, it wasn't about the money or the fame. It was about the game. When he decided to walk away, it truly did feel like someone just killed the fun in football.

But a feisty phone company (T-Mobile) hit it right on the head with their "say goodbye to goodbye" campaign. All of a sudden, we were seeing commercials that had #4 ending his infamous retirement speech with "it's time for me to say hello." Sure, we laughed nervously at first, but now that it's becoming reality, it's no longer a laughing matter. That's right, folks. It only took a few months, but Favre is returning to a sea of either relieved fans or angry ones.

It is said that "let he who is without sin, cast the first stone." Would the Minnesota Vikings be the one without sin in this case? Doubtful. The reason being is because the Vikings are just as hated in Green Bay as Chicago. But the Bears may have gotten a temporary free pass thanks to the Vikings. Minnesota is accused of phoning the Packer legend a few days before he officially decided to make a return.

But the worse part of this is now the Packers are allowing the New York Jets to talk to the legend. Nothing against Favre, but what did the Jets say that was so right, and what did the Vikings say that was so wrong?

Either way, it the annals of sports history, Michael Jordan and Brett Favre will be remembered as two of the greatest sports legends of all time. But in the Red Foreman book of sports history, they'll be known as a couple of dumbasses. Haven't decided which one has it right. Don't really want to know to tell you the truth.

There is a thin line between love and ego, ignorance and stupidity and pride and prejudice. Slowly but surely, both of these men have made their way across it.