Favre Retirement: Bon Voyage, Brett...and Don't Come Back!

I turned on my TV at 8:47 this morning to watch the rest of Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN2 and there it was: 

Brett Favre is set to retire after 17 seasons.

As a Bears fan, I am thanking God that this day has finally arrived.  Up north and even scattered throughout our own area, Favre has been seen as the Second Coming of Christ.  Here off Lake Michigan and wherever else Bears fans may be, we can say we are all free of the future Hall of Famer tormenting us every year since the end of Ditka and Singletary.

Looking back at Favre’s record, he went 22-10 against the Bears throughout his career.  He really showed his age over the last three seasons though, going 1-5.  He also managed a respectable 2-2 against them during his first couple of years with the Packers.

Take those away, however, and he was a good old-fashioned Bear-killing machine.  Even when the Bears were a playoff team, he almost always found a way to beat them.  Sweeping the Bears during their 2001 13-3 campaign comes to mind. 

The Bears returned the favor by sweeping the Pack this past season.

When the Bears were terrible, Favre just flat out took away their manhood and made them pay for not having the troops to stop him.  I remember him leading the Packers to road victories against them on Monday Night Football in back-to-back years.

I couldn’t even stop him in my Madden game, causing me to dislike him even more.  I guess you could say he showed my team no mercy in both the real and virtual worlds.

Despite all the contempt I have for him for pushing around my beloved Monsters of the Midway, I will admit he certainly belongs in the class of elite quarterbacks that have played professional football.  He has a Super Bowl ring and holds almost every passing record imaginable.

He was also able to play through injuries and even when his main priority wasn’t football.  I will always remember him coming out on the field shortly after his father died and throwing for a career-high 399 passing yards en route to a blowout win against Oakland.

To No. 4 in green, I say good luck...and never step onto a field against the Chicago Bears again!