Life After Retirement- A Different Kind of Confusion
(COS) Minneapolis- For much of his athletic life, Brett Favre was the embodiment of the easy to hate, perpetually befuddling, scrappy quarterbacking scorned by all opposing teams. But as he destroyed this legacy on the New York Jets, by coming out of retirement to prove he has a really aged and slightly less masculine version of the man he once was, Favre worked to bridge his hatred from his opponents back to team-mates (as well as former team-mates). In New York, he counted anyone who would run or dive after his crazy throws— and sometimes those who played against him–as allies in his effort to prove that his passes really are catchable by younger more skilled people. And also people can have lives after retirement, just different lives. Recently, Favre retired again, only to emerge from retirement again to play for the Vikings. In an effort to drive all fans closer together, Favre is working on a three way cluster-hate from his original opponents back to former Packer team-mates and other former team-mates after those team-mates.
We asked Brady Poppinga, Packers Linebacker, how he feels about Brett Favre now that he once again retired, and again emerged from Retirement, “It is really confusing how I feel about Favre now. As I watch the tapes for clues about how to destroy him for the last and final time I can’t help but feel a little emptiness inside.”
We asked the Vikings how they felt about Favre the day he signed with the Vikings. “Today the Vikings defense lost an opponent we loved to knock the senses out of, someone we could make cry when we wanted to, and something that really rallied us together as a team,” said E.J. Henderson, Middle Linebacker for the Vikings. Tyrell Johnson, a Safety for the Vikings is less emotional and summarized it in one sentence, “The minute he put on that purple uniform I lost a treasured opportunity for picks.”
Joe Dirt, a lifelong beer drinker in St. Paul Minnesota says, “Now that he is playing for the Vikings, we still hate him, until the season starts we just don’t know the specific reasons why we should hate him.”
Jennifer Romano, a long time Eagles fan, who also raises Papillion Pit-bull mixes answered, “I have to say that my vote is with Vick. There is a clear line between the betrayal of trust of animals, and the betrayal of trust of human beings.”
While she might be the only person who has ever worn green who does not hate Favre, even his mother, Bonita Favre, is a little perplexed by her son’s behavior. "We stopped trying to understand the boy over 30 years ago. What I can say is that the one thing that is consistent about him is that he, really, really likes to play peek-a-boo!" his mother said with a smile.
