Why We Loved Him: A Fan On Brett Favre

Sports are so precious because they are truly meaningless.

Your son won’t die today because of a sports score; your daughter won’t get uglier; there will still be whatever chips and dips you bought to stuff your mouth.

We love sports because, in the real end-world scheme, they don’t mean a thing.

So it is with Brett Favre.

Lots of folks with lots of time on their hands compile stat upon stat, trying to come up with meaningful comparisons for who was best when under what circumstances where in what venue against what opponent.

Other folks just choose to wallow in sports’ meaningless and, therefore, wallow in the glory of enjoying the moment.

Favre gave us those moments. Draped with a Warren Sapp or a John Randall, heave it, Brett, just heave it. Chased by Brian Urlacher or Jason Taylor, just fade, fade, fade across the line of scrimmage and throw across your body. Almost be sacked and do the pigeon-toed run for a first down.

Seeing every game, except two, in real time Favre ever played for the Green Bay Packers, I can tell you my totally meaningless devotion to the Packers was thrilling when Favre played.

He could make something out of nothing and nothing out of something. But I always knew he was on the field, he was in the game.

TD pass to Kittrick Taylor? Yep. Six interceptions in a playoff game? Yep.

You kind of had to been there, year after year, game after game, play after play, to understand we loved the split seconds, the moments, the hope.

Peyton Manning? Check. Tom Brady? Check. Joe Montana? Check. Etc. Etc. Etc.

But quarterbacks behind good offensive lines who stand there waiting for receivers to get open are just that.

Favre, under four different coaches, flung it.

There is a reason folks other than Packer fans fell in love with Favre. Yeah, Manning, Brady, and Montana stood behind stalwart offensive lines in familiar offensive schemes waiting for receivers to clear.

Favre flung it and slung it. In the end, some of us admire folks who sing a different tune, march to a different drummer, and sail the universe just to check the possibilities.

As a Packer fan, I’ll never regret Favre the Quarterback.