Really Brett?
His stream-of-consciousness speaking is great media. But I wonder if he truly understands how he's killing Packer fans. The throng of titletown masses who spent two decades adoring the legend that is Brett Favre are being scalded by the lack of empathy by our once great hero.
We cheered him. Named a street after him. We cried with him when his dad died. We exalted with him when he held up the Lombardi trophy after a 30 year drought.
And this is what we are left with.
The '96 Packers were one of the greatest super bowl teams of all time. One of only two super bowl teams in existence who led the NFL in both offense and defense, along side special teams play that broke the record for punt return yardage in a year.
Reggie White, one of the top 5 defensive players ever on the other side of the ball.
A team that was solid at just about every position with pro-bowlers sprinkled in and a upper echelon coach in the prime of his career. Ranked as one of the top 10 super bowl teams in history among most polls. The single year, the single magical team that took the Packers from lovable losers to Titletown U.S.A once agin.
But no, I'm sure this new team, this new era amongst the biggest rivals is certainly the best team you've been on. Thanks Brett. We appreciate it.
Lost in all the Favre-a-palooza media overload was a story that didn't get near the respect it deserved. The terrible pain of Packer fans who put Brett Lorenzo Favre on hero worship level (myself very much included) and are now just wishing, just praying that Favre would understand how we're feeling. He was my hero. I grew up with him. And now I feel like for all those years, all I want, no.. all I DESERVE is a little acknowledgement for those many years that we cheered him on. A little empathy. And so far, the purple version of #4 hasn't given it. I've been told to "get over it". I've been ignored. I've been offended.
Mostly. I've just been sad about the whole thing and its only getting worse. With each comment the knife goes in deeper. My hero falls to the earth. And yeah, I probably put far too much hope into a guy who doesn't deserve it. In the end, Favre just plays football well. That's all really.
If you didn't get a chance to read it, I highly recommend taking a peak at Bill Simmons NFL picks this week. He closed with a sad point:
QUOTE
Q: I am 19 years old. I have been a fan of Favre and the Packers since the third grade. I grew up thinking Favre could do no wrong. As a mature 17-year-old, I cried the day he retired from the Packers. I was tolerant of the Jets experiment -- even have the jersey to prove it. But what am I supposed to do now? Tonight I watched my childhood hero stomp all over the team and the fans he represented for 16 years. I found myself cursing him for the very same reasons I used to love him. The phony TD celebrations, the smug smiles, the way he hams it up with his new teammates and his new fans. I don't know how to handle it. I started this e-mail thinking I had something to say about all of this, but I just feel lost. I don't know what to think anymore ... I'm just lost.
--Drew, Bloomington, Ind.
SG: And that's the part of Monday's game that got lost. Every Packers fan felt like how a dutiful wife would feel if she stuck with her husband through thick and thin, watched him become a success, then got dumped for a younger trophy wife who also happened to be her archnemesis. Favre failed in the same way Roger Clemens failed when he signed with the Blue Jays in 1997 -- his problems with management affected his feelings toward his old franchise, and he did a piss-poor job of letting his old fan base know that he still cared about it. I have written about this before, but I turned on Clemens during his Toronto news conference when he simply refused to acknowledge Boston fans beyond a few generic words. It hurt. I took it personally and decided he was an opportunistic, disloyal, dishonest scumbag from that moment on. And as it turned out, he was.
In Favre's case, his lack of empathy for Packers fans has been really alarming. I know he plays with his heart on his sleeve. I know he's a "kid out there" and "having a ball out there" and all the crap. And maybe he's not a brain surgeon, but he's smart enough to understand what he meant to Packers fans and the state of Wisconsin, which means he had to understand how it went over after he (A) signed with an NFC North team two months ago; (
dialed up the finger-pointing and fist-pumping during Monday's Pack-Vikes game so egregiously that even his biggest fan fron Green Bay couldn't defend him; and © gave that self-satisfied postgame interview in which he never said anything like, "I just wanted to say hi to everyone back in Wisconsin and tell them that this was as strange for me as it probably was for you, but I want you to know that it was just one game -- a game that I wanted to win because I'm a competitor and I love my teammates, but still, none of this changes the fact that I love you guys and I always will." That's it. That's all he had to say to Michele Tafoya after the game.
He didn't say it.
And believe me, I've been there as a fan. It's unforgivable. Especially when you're under 30 and don't realize that many of your "heroes" are people who don't deserve that level of worship, or any worship, for that matter. They just play sports well. They don't care about you. They care about themselves and that's it. If this realization hits you at the wrong time in your life, it can be hard. (I know it was hard for me. I took the Clemens thing personally, as witnessed by the fact that I once wrote a column wondering if he was the Antichrist.) So if the Packers fans want to play along, so to speak, then they can't cheer Favre on Nov. 1. He set the stakes. He made it clear that he's moved on with his new team and cut all ties to the old one. That means you need to go to Lambeau and boo the living hell out of him. Make him miserable. Rattle him. Flummox him. Do everything you can to get the better of him for three hours. This man does not belong to you anymore, and maybe, he never did.
--Drew, Bloomington, Ind.
SG: And that's the part of Monday's game that got lost. Every Packers fan felt like how a dutiful wife would feel if she stuck with her husband through thick and thin, watched him become a success, then got dumped for a younger trophy wife who also happened to be her archnemesis. Favre failed in the same way Roger Clemens failed when he signed with the Blue Jays in 1997 -- his problems with management affected his feelings toward his old franchise, and he did a piss-poor job of letting his old fan base know that he still cared about it. I have written about this before, but I turned on Clemens during his Toronto news conference when he simply refused to acknowledge Boston fans beyond a few generic words. It hurt. I took it personally and decided he was an opportunistic, disloyal, dishonest scumbag from that moment on. And as it turned out, he was.
In Favre's case, his lack of empathy for Packers fans has been really alarming. I know he plays with his heart on his sleeve. I know he's a "kid out there" and "having a ball out there" and all the crap. And maybe he's not a brain surgeon, but he's smart enough to understand what he meant to Packers fans and the state of Wisconsin, which means he had to understand how it went over after he (A) signed with an NFC North team two months ago; (
dialed up the finger-pointing and fist-pumping during Monday's Pack-Vikes game so egregiously that even his biggest fan fron Green Bay couldn't defend him; and © gave that self-satisfied postgame interview in which he never said anything like, "I just wanted to say hi to everyone back in Wisconsin and tell them that this was as strange for me as it probably was for you, but I want you to know that it was just one game -- a game that I wanted to win because I'm a competitor and I love my teammates, but still, none of this changes the fact that I love you guys and I always will." That's it. That's all he had to say to Michele Tafoya after the game.He didn't say it.
And believe me, I've been there as a fan. It's unforgivable. Especially when you're under 30 and don't realize that many of your "heroes" are people who don't deserve that level of worship, or any worship, for that matter. They just play sports well. They don't care about you. They care about themselves and that's it. If this realization hits you at the wrong time in your life, it can be hard. (I know it was hard for me. I took the Clemens thing personally, as witnessed by the fact that I once wrote a column wondering if he was the Antichrist.) So if the Packers fans want to play along, so to speak, then they can't cheer Favre on Nov. 1. He set the stakes. He made it clear that he's moved on with his new team and cut all ties to the old one. That means you need to go to Lambeau and boo the living hell out of him. Make him miserable. Rattle him. Flummox him. Do everything you can to get the better of him for three hours. This man does not belong to you anymore, and maybe, he never did.
Bill Simmons Article
Anyone else feeling like Drew? I sure am!
Tell you what, I won't be there at Lambeau. But, I sure as hell agree with Bill. He's no longer a Packer. Sure we can appreciate the past, but, he's moved on. It's time we do too. I am working on it.. though it's hard. Brett's comments, more and more, over and over, make it much easier.
But come November 1st.. I hope every Packer fan comes together to show Brett Favre one thing. The past is the past. It wasn't just Brett Favre and the Packers winning that super bowl. It was us too. The best fans in the NFL, no question, no doubt.
So welcome back to Lambeau, Brett. You may not appreciate it, but we have, on many occassions, picked you up and WILLED you to victory. Now you get to see that on another level as we lift up your former team, OUR team. You know, the team you certainly don't understand the way you should and the fans you apparently don't have nearly enough respect for.
What happened to you was sad, but, what's happened to us is far worse. Maybe it's time to bring that to your attention!
-D
