Brett Favre: Heart of a Warrior

Look around. How many players in modern sports give you chills when you see them play. In a time where athletes are over-paid, selfish and classless, one hall of fame bound quarterback from Gulfport, Mississippi emerges from the ashes that is professional sports and rises above the rest.

Brett Favre has captured the hearts of football fans across the country with his courage, his character and most of all his love of the game. This is a man who stands above the NFL, above the paycheck, above the press clippings, above the touchdown celebrations ,above the statistics and the roar of the crowd, and plays with selfless passion with one motivation in mind: victory.

Victory, not for his own personal accolades, but for the fans, for his family, for his tea mates and for all that watch him year in and year out.

Words cannot formulate my apprecitation for this man and his contribution to this beloved game of football. It is not what Brett Favre has done in his impressive career, it is what he stands for that leaves me truly inspired.

Favre has been critisized throughout his entire career. "He forces throws, he's too old, he's too slow." Well ladies and gentlemen, this man has started more consecutive games than anybody in the history of the NFL. My father told me that its not always what you do, but how you do it and Brett Favre has accomplished all of his success with a great deal of class, humility and appreciation for those that have gone before him.

He plays with selfless competitiveness; playing to win but not afraid to lose. 

Favre's records and accomplishments speak for themselves, but what Favre brings to the game of football is not most career passing yards, touchdowns and completions but a model of class that fans can only help spreads though the NFL like a  brush-fire. He is not getting fined for touchdown celebrations, or calling out teammates in press conferences, he goes out there every game and does his talking on the field and the message: you can beat me, but forever ill never be beaten.

He has played injured throughout his career never making exuses or drawing attention to himself. He has played on teams with bad recievers and poor offensive lines and never complained or called anybody out. He is a leader who will not be denied, a leader who says it all without saying a word, a leader who puts his teamates above himself.

The game of football was founded on blue-collar hard working American families who loved to play and watch the greatest game invented. Fathers worked overtime to afford a ticket to take their son to see their favorite players. Fans cheered loud for their hometown team, and were respectful of their opponent. 

This moment has changed however over time, and the NFL has turned into a grouping of obnoxious, drunk fans with a bias outlook of the game of football. Team leaders care more about themselves than their team (T.O, Steve Smith, Chad Johnson, etc.) so fathers and son's have no hero to cheer their hearts out for. They have no reason to work those extra hours to get that ticket to Sunday's game, because the hard-hitting, hard working battle in the trenches game of football has faded away and been replaced by advanced strategy, big contracts and endorsements. The you vs. me mentality of the game has been taken away with offensive and defensive coordinators and hundreds of memorized plays and formations.

However, in the midst of this transformation from America's game to a money making corporation of the NFL, Brett Favre has played with selfless courage, love for his teammates, and the heart of a lion. When Brett scores a touchdown he raises his hands to sky in celebration and if he carries it into the end-zone himself the ball goes right back to the official. As I have watched over the years and seen the demise of the old NFL to a newer and less passionate league of self driven athletes, of celebration dances and press conferences, I cannot help but wonder what the great Vince Lombardi would do? How would he handle the athletes of today, how would he handle their agents, and contract negotiators. If there is one player in the game today that Lombardi would let wear his teams jersey its the great No.4.

However, with that being said the heart and soul of the NFL lives on to this day, and it lives in Brett Favre.

When you turn on your TV on Thursday night to watch the New York Jets battle the New England Patriots you are watching more than just a football game. You are watching more than the battle for the AFC crown; you are watching the most respected sports figure in the game today. So as I watch Favre come running out that tunnel in Foxboro, MA I will know, that watching Favre, is watching history.