Brett Favre Scandal: Did the Vikings Lose More Than a Game on Monday Night?

The Minnesota Vikings dropped another game Monday night against the New York Jets. I have the feeling that no one is surprised, and it has nothing to do with how good the New York Jets are. It has everything to do with Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, and some unfortunate problems he is suffering as of late.

Like most people between the ages of 18 and 25, I grew up as a Brett Favre fan. He was on my pencil case and my folders, and was close to converting me to a Green Bay Packers fan.

The day he retired was a sad day for me, and I can vividly recall talking with friends about his future in the Hall of Fame and whatnot.

Then he came out of retirement for the first time. Hooray! Favre is back, albeit for the New York Jets.

Then he retired again. Sad once more, still talking Hall of Fame.

Then he came out of retirement for the second time. This time the conversation was more like, "Cool, Favre is back, but isn't this getting a little old?"

Then he came back for a "final" season this year, with aims for a Super Bowl to end his career on a high note (I use scare quotes on final because who really knows when Favre will finally throw in the towel).

Things have not gone well in the farewell season for the league's oldest starting quarterback, and they just keep getting worse.

In a continuation of what can only be described as a professional athletic phenomenon, evidence has arisen that implicates Brett Favre in the latest sex scandal.

The final nail in the coffin of my boyhood image of Favre has been driven in, and I'm sure it has been for everyone else.

Now, chances at redemption don't come easily, but if there was one way that he could have redeemed himself in the eyes of his teammates, and shown that he won't be a distraction, would have been to lead them to a win against the New York Jets Monday night.

He failed that one too.

While Favre did pass some major milestones during the game, he threw a key interception late in the game that was returned for a touchdown, a mistake that essentially cost them the game.

Oh yeah, and he also fumbled the ball three times.

This has become the habit of the post-Green Bay Brett Favre. Couple that with this recent sex scandal, and it would seem that the Vikings not only lost the game, but they may have lost their quarterback.

In fact, Brett Favre may be costing himself the Hall of Fame (or at least a chance at being enshrined pre-mortem).

This is the new Brett Favre. New Brett Favre can always be counted on for a few things:

1.  He will always show his age: Injuries are probably the biggest thing, but a lack of athleticism and some poor decision-making skills are starting to make people forget about his glory days.

2.  He will always commit one of the cardinal sins of football: My friend and I have gotten to a habit of joking about Brett Favre, saying that he seems to have forgotten the third lesson a future quarterback learns after he is born. First is remember to breath (difficult one, I know), the second is to crawl, and the third is never to throw the ball across your body to the middle of the field.

3.  He will always make poor mistakes when the game is on the line: As evidenced Monday against the Jets, it's almost a guarantee now that Brett Favre will turn the ball over when the game is on the line.

So, New Brett Favre doesn't have much going for him as it stands. He is already helping the Minnesota Vikings blow their season away, and now this. It almost seems like intentional sabotage, and it makes me wonder two things:

1.  Why in God's name did the Vikings draft Toby Gerhart instead of, say, Colt McCoy? Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Gerhart, but at some point the Vikings needed to consider drafting a young guy who can develop behind Favre.

2.  When do the Vikings plan on putting Tarvaris Jackson back in? If Favre keeps costing them games, and if this scandal gets any worse, perhaps it's time to put Jackson back in.

There is a part of me, in spite of all this, that wants to believe that this scandal is all trumped up, that it is just one allegation in a series of allegations by women who are either looking for face time with the media or money. Whether that is true or not is something that we will all soon find out.

In the meantime, it seems safe to say that the Vikings are losing their season fast, but that isn't the worst of it. The worst is that the Vikings are losing their star quarterback. He is not only helping rack up losses, but he is moving himself further and further away from the status of All-Time Great.

It's not enough to write every record in the record book.