Is it over yet? Is it safe to come outside? With the apocalypse upon us these days, I try to play it pretty safe. How can I be so sure that the apocalypse is imminent you ask? Well I'm pretty sure it says in the Good Book something about the world not lasting too much longer after Brett Favre is actually disparaged by the major print media.
I mean I never thought it would be in my lifetime, not with John Madden's idol worship and the traditional print media's collective blind eye to the Great One's physical foibles.
But Favre managed to gack away his public sainthood like any number of postseason passes landing ever so comfortably in the arms of an opposing secondary. Thousands of years from now when anthropologists are studying our civilization and are seeking to split the NFL into PF (Pre-Favrian) and AF (After Favre) eras, what will be their reference point?
Behold the moment that will serve as the paradigm shift for all things football:
The Greta Interview
This interview will become the Zapruder film for Favre's PR plunge. Remember the last time you went to the Japanese steakhouse and they cooked the food in front of you? Maybe your cook was a little sweatier than you would have preferred but whatever, whatever.
The food was really good and you were stuffed after dinner. Your girl then wanted you to walk around Barnes and Noble for a while and you did....and then your stomach started bubbling and you ran the 40 yards to the customer bathroom in 4.8 seconds. Japanese steakhouse not so good anymore, eh? THAT'S Favre on Greta.
Really? Mort busy? Jay Glazer unavailable? John Clayton probably creeped him out, sure, but I mean GRETA? And then to hear the whiny words spilling out of his mouth throughout the interview was truly spellbinding. All jokes aside, it was unforgettable because of all the things I thought about Favre, the one I won't be able to forget is him in his Stetson casual look pulling his amateur hour tantrum on Fox News.
His biggest miscalculation was how the interview destroyed his most powerful attribute, his everyman quality. Part of the blind romance everyone's had with Favre was how in another life, we could be working the second shift with him.
His addiction, his wife's breast cancer, his jovial field manner. And let's face it, his whiteness, all contributed to a common perception of "that's how I would be if I were a quarterback" we all viewed him with. He is unique because while other athletes can be crappy people and we still root for them, Favre, more than anyone, else leaned on his public perception.
But when he sat down with Greta and began his diva act, it was so shocking because we all had to consider, "is this what he's always been like?" And with that, Favre's magical hold on all of us began to dissipate. It will be largely impossible for any of us to forget the most recent developments as it has served as the final act in Brett's NFL career.
If he comes back to the Packers, if he wins a Super Bowl with the Jets or definitively tells us what happened to Tony Soprano, it won't matter. Regardless of how things turn out, Favre's removal of his Everyman mask during the Greta interview did more damage than playoff embarrassments, personal scandals, or anything else ever could. It made us reconsider our thoughts about him as a person or run to a Barnes and Noble bathroom, if you will.
8 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Joshua Skaar 11 months ago
Great stuff. I loved the "PF" and "AF" bit. Pick o' the Day!
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Mike Noffke 11 months ago
Go Brett. For anyone visiting http://savebrett.net/
Scroll down to the right and click on View Signatures and Comments.
It is amazing that just within a couple days the numbers went form 6000 to 11000. This petition has more entries than Get out of IRAQ.
How many free agents would want to sign with Green Bay when the positions are not up for competition? If you treat the winningest HOF QB in the history of the NFL this way how will you be treated?
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D Hein 11 months ago
What's with the "we's" and "us's" ? Speak for yourself. I am NOT part of your "we"!
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Samuel Bell Jr 11 months ago
I am so sick of the Favre saga, and the way ESPN has a tab at the bottom of the screen scrolling that says, "Favre". WE are tired of this stuff, and the way he blamed his retirement on the Packers was ridiculous. We'll see how it plays out, but for now I'm on the Packers side.
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Knox McCoy 11 months ago
D-
I was writing regarding the opinion of myself and my yellow lab, Ajax, thus the "we" and "us" references. We are resolute in our opinions. Sorry for the confusion!
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Megan Fowler 11 months ago
I think that while you may have a point that it's not the Greta interview that did it. It was the initial retirement announcement, in a voicemail, to Mort. Greta just added to that, though I had to wonder when I heard about it if SHE wanted the interview more than he did, considering she's a Wisconsin girl herself.
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Knox McCoy 11 months ago
Great point. How sketchy was the voicemail? Just a very strange couple of months throughout this process with Favre.
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Randy McCOY 11 months ago
I think you are dead on, the more he talks the more wish he would just go away. He needs to understand the NFL is a business and is not all about him. I was a big fan and used to love to watch him play but no more he is done in my book.
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