If Brett Favre Had Any Class, He Would...

There is no doubt that Brett Favre is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, but there is also no doubt that he simply does not deserve his slot in the Pro Bowl this year. Favre has always been a class act, and it would be a fitting end to his career—if indeed, this is his last season—for him to refuse his selection and allow either Philip Rivers or Chad Pennington, both of whom led their teams to the playoffs and both of whom are imminently more deserving, to take his place.

Favre's play down the stretch—nine INTs and two TDs in the final five games—is one of the principal reasons the Jets did not make the playoffs this season (that, and the fact that Eric Mangini apparently forgot about his other Pro Bowl offensive player, tailback Thomas Jones). The Jets won only once in their final five outings, and that was a gift provided to them by the Buffalo Bills.

Favre has already cemented his legacy as a Hall of Fame quarterback, but his reputation took a hit with his nasty split from Green Bay last year, when most fans sided with the team. Allowing another, more deserving quarterback to take his place in Hawaii this year would help restore his legacy as one of the classiest players to ever play the game. It would also allow the NFL to save some face with their disgraceful AFC quarterback selections.

No one can doubt that Peyton Manning deserves to be in the game, but Favre and Denver's Jay Cutler have no legitimate claim to their slots in the Pro Bowl, particularly when you consider the accomplishments of Rivers and Pennington.

Rivers led the Chargers to the AFC West title after a disastrous start to the season for the Chargers. Four times this year, Rivers led the Chargers to game-tying or go-ahead scores late in the fourth quarter, only to see his defense blow it. He wound up ranked No. 1 in pass efficiency in the NFL and is the only QB to have a rating of higher than 100.0. His final rating of 105.5 is the second-highest rating in the past four seasons, trailing only Tom Brady's 117.2 from last year and he was the only QB to have a TD:INT ratio of better than 3:1.

Pennington led the Dolphins to one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in NFL history and ranked second in pass efficiency in the NFL this year. Cutler wound up ranking 16th in efficiency rating, and Favre an abysmal No. 21.