Brett Favre Turning Down Rams Best for Football, Reputation

Quickly do a search for Brett Favre on Twitter. The tweets are pouring in about the 44-year-old future Hall of Famer, and they are mixed to say the least.

When quarterback Sam Bradford went down for the season with a torn ACL, rumors began swirling that the St. Louis Rams had reached out to several quarterbacks, even Tim Tebow, but those were not proven to be true.

On Thursday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Favre had been offered the position, but respectfully declined:

Twitter then exploded. Comments ranged from the Rams calling Dan Marino to Terry Bradshaw before calling more recent starters in the NFL like Tebow and Vince Young. The Fake ESPN Twitter account of course got in on the fun:

It didn't stop there, as ESPN's SportsNation and Joe Ovies of 99.9 The Fan ESPN radio reminded people of quarterbacks still awaiting calls:

In real news, the Rams have signed former New York Jets backup quarterback Brady Quinn. They will likely start Kellen Clemens for their Monday Night Football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 8. Clemens has just three starts under center with the Rams.

While Favre was the source of several punchlines late in his career for retiring twice before playing with both the New York Jets and the Minnesota Vikings, at least he didn't follow the same route as Jeff Garcia and try to return to football in 2013.

Regardless of whether Favre returned for one more go around like Vinny Testaverde did with the Carolina Panthers in 2007, he has built a legacy in football as one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.

Needless to say, Favre made the right decision by spurning the Rams, not only for himself, but also for NFL fans who would still like to remember seeing him dazzle with his often-referred-to "gunslinger" mentality that earned him 11 Pro Bowls, three NFL MVP awards and a Super Bowl ring.

Joe Montana is a 49er, Johnny Unitas is a Colt (along with Peyton Manning) and Favre will forever be a Packer. Another return would have just further tarnished a great legacy for which the final chapter was written long ago.