Brett Favre: Where Were You When No. 4 Retired?

In the future, if someone were to ask you where you were when Favre retired, you might reply "which time?" 

The will-he-or-won't-he extravaganza that is Favre-Watch has become an annual event, as much a part of the offseason as training camp or the draft. Brett Favre has retired and un-retired each of the past two seasons and flirted with the idea of retirement for several years before that.

Today it has been announced that, according to league sources, Favre has informed members of the Minnesota Vikings that he plans to officially retire.

We've heard all of this before. Based on the past few years, even if Favre does announce his retirement there is still probably just as good of a chance that he will be with the Vikings to start the regular season as not.

However, if this really is it for Brett Favre, it is a sad day for football. It's not that the NFL won't continue to go on. It will. It likely won't miss a beat, but the NFL will never quite be the same.

The retirement of Favre will mark the end of an era. It might sound a bit cliche, but it is the truth.

There has not been a player like Favre in the NFL's modern era. He is a rare and long-forgotten breed, the last of the great gridiron warriors, and perhaps the toughest man to ever play the quarterback position. Not to mention that for most football fans, Brett Favre has been a part of the game for what seems like forever, as if he was part of the game of football itself.

And maybe he is.

Favre sure made the football world a better place.

If the 2010 NFL season does indeed commence without Brett Favre, it will seem as if something is missing every Sunday afternoon and we will notice it.

Favre approached the game with a child-like awe and enthusiasm that made us remember that, through the endorsement deals, merchandise sales and billion dollar stadiums, football is ultimately a game, and games are meant to be enjoyed.