Brett Favre Thrice Unretired: Minnesota Vikings Should Move on Next Year

Once again, the saga that is Brett Favre's indecisiveness to retire or not has come to the not-so-surprising conclusion that he does indeed want to play in the 2010 season.

Why does this not surprise me anymore?

Because this is the third time he has done this in the same amount of years.

First, he retired on March 4, 2008 when he was with the Green Bay Packers. That retirement lasted approximately four months until July 14, 2008, when he announced that he will return to football.

Second, he retired on February 11, 2009, after playing one season with the New York Jets. That lasted until August 18, 2009, when he unretired and signed with the Vikings. That retirement lasted six months.

Third, he retired again on August 3, 2010 but only stayed retired for two weeks until he changed his mind to come back and play another season with the Vikings on August 17, 2010.

In this case of Favre, I certainly hope that three times is a charm, because I am tired of this circus act performance for three straight years now.

Some say he stages this now to get the attention of the media, but I say rubbish to that. It is Brett Favre, and he does not need to get the attention of the media, simply because he is who he is.

I did feel badly for the Vikings two weeks ago, when Favre "retired." They were not prepared for that news, since Favre did sign a two-year contract with the team before the 2009 season began.

The Vikings probably felt that he would honor the contract, but instead, he "retired" for two weeks and left the Vikings and their fans hanging out to dry.

If given more advance notice, the Vikings could have been better prepared to move on without Favre if he would have told them earlier in the offseason, but instead he strung the Vikes along for the ride.

Luckily the Viking have two good backups in Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenthals, but the point is that Favre needs to not put any team's season in jeopardy due to his indecisiveness.

Now that he is back, let him play this final year of his contract in Minnesota, and regardless of whether he can win a Super Bowl with the Vikings or not this year, it is time to move on without Favre after the 2010 season is over.

There are too many distractions with Favre in the offseason, and the bottom line is that he probably just really does not want to partake in any offseason activities and/or training camp/preseason.

So where does this leave Favre?

He will still make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and most likely on the first ballot too, but his legacy is slightly tarnished from this circus act. He will also be remembered until the end of time as the quarterback who kept retiring and then unretiring at the end of his career.

With the quarterback being the most important position on every NFL team, there needs to be stability at that position. Even though Favre brings that stability with his outstanding play during the season, that same stability is needed throughout the entire year including the offseason and that is where Favre lacks.

I wish you well this season Favre, but I also urge the Vikings to start planning on moving on without Favre in 2011 and beyond.