Brett Favre's retirement leaves the NFL a duller place

By John Romano, Times Staff Writer
Published March 5, 2008

On days such as this, we cling to numbers as if they can tell a story. They are the way we remember, the way we measure. Numbers are what separate the good from the great, and the great from the immortal.

In the case of Brett Favre, the numbers shout all the way from a smudge of a town in southern Mississippi to the uppermost reaches of the NFL. The most touchdown passes. The most passing yards. The most wins for a starting quarterback, and the most MVP awards ever won.

They are the kind of numbers that look good beneath a Hall of Fame bust, and the kind of numbers that sound better when tossed around between bar stools.

Yet for all of these grandiose statistics, they do not come close to capturing the best qualities of Brett Lorenzo Favre. The things that separated this Pro Bowl quarterback from the many who came before him.

Now that he is retired, this is the record I'll remember best:

He had the most fun.

Has a quarterback ever shown more enthusiasm than Favre? He's running lickety-split down a field to celebrate a long pass. He's going face mask to face mask with Warren Sapp, and laughing all the while. He's tossing snowballs on the field, and throwing a bucket of ice water over the adjoining bathroom stall.

And, following the greatest night of his football career, he is standing on a balcony of a bar in the French Quarter. The Packers had just beaten the Patriots 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans, and a crowd was gathering outside in the final hours before the next dawn.

As you came out on Bourbon Street, the noise was, at first, indistinct. The closer you walked to the commotion, the more familiar the refrain became.

"Bears fans s---! Bears fans s---!"

Packers fans were celebrating, and Favre was orchestrating their favorite cheer.

This is the way I would like to remember Favre. Triumphant and fun-loving. Down-to-earth and goofy. Maybe he wasn't as stoic as Johnny Unitas, and he certainly wasn't as cool as Joe Montana. He didn't have the physical talents of John Elway, and he probably wasn't as precise as Dan Marino.

He has all the records a quarterback would want but, no, he was not the greatest to ever play the position. Still, in his own way, Favre was in a class of his own.

You see, he played the game the same way he lived, reckless and without fear. They were the attributes that helped make him great, and yet kept him from being considered the best of all time.

Favre was a gunslinger in pads. A swashbuckler who was born a century too late. It is no coincidence that, along with throwing more touchdowns than anyone else, he also threw more interceptions.

Early in his career, he was way too fond of beer and not too enamored with rules. It was that attitude that got him shipped out of Atlanta after one forgettable season of butting heads with coach Jerry Glanville. A "car wreck" is the dismissive term used by Glanville after the Packers gave up a first-round pick in trade.

In Glanville's defense, the description was not entirely inaccurate. You have to remember, Favre is the guy who fell asleep at the wheel after a night of drinking in college and nearly died when his car flipped into a ditch. Yet it is the rest of the story that is most instructive. Favre had 30 inches of his intestines removed after the accident and, a month later, led Southern Miss to a historic upset against Alabama.

He played quarterback in NFL stadiums the same way you did on school playgrounds. If the play did not unfold as called, he would make up the rest on his own. It sometimes drove Mike Holmgren to the point of despair, but the Packers coach understood it would be criminal to beat the spirit out of Favre.

Which is why, all these years later, it is so upsetting to hear Favre has decided to walk away. There was a time, in 2005-06, when it felt like he was hanging on too long. When you were almost embarrassed to look at his passer rating and disheartened to hear of another Green Bay loss. But 2007 was Favre's renaissance. He was great, once again, and the Packers were a single point away from another Super Bowl.

Maybe that is why, at age 38, he has decided the time is right. This time, Billy the Kid gets to live happily ever after. This time, Peter Pan goes home with a head of gray hair.

It has been more than 20 years since Favre left the family home near the Rotten Bayou in a Mississippi town called Kiln, a place that once misspelled a street -- FARVE ROAD -- named after its most famous son.

He has earned more than $100-million in salary, and plenty more in endorsements. He owns a fancy steakhouse a block away from Lambeau Field, and luxury homes in two states.

By most accounts, Favre grew up long ago. Somewhere along the line, he gave up the beer, and got married to the high school sweetheart he dated for 11 years. He is a devoted father to his two daughters, and has started a charitable foundation for disadvantaged children in Mississippi.

And through all of those years, and all of those changes, one thing remained constant. Brett Favre played football with a passion and a joy that made the rest of us smile.

Which is why, today, the NFL seems a little less fun.

John Romano can be reached atromano@sptimes.com.

Only part of the story
But it's still an important part, as Brett Favre, who announced his retirement after a 17-year NFL career, holds all-time quarterback records in the following categories:

• 442: Career touchdowns
• 5,377: Career completions
• 8,758: Career attempts passing
• 61,655: Career yards passing
• 160: All-time QB wins

[Last modified March 5, 2008, 03:53:22]