Favre - One More Year

The question on every Packer fan’s mind is – will Favre retire?

Before addressing the question lets look at some reasons that Favre doesn’t have to consider.

1. Winning the big one.  Favre has been to the big one twice and has a ring to prove it.


2. Talent – His numbers don’t really show it, but Favre is still capable of playing at a superior level.  His poor performance can be explained by looking at excessive injuries to his supporting staff and a less than stellar receiving corp.  After watching most of the Packers games this year the number of dropped passes and tipped balls is disheartening.  With a decent coach and a dedicated team Favre can still compete with the rest of them.


3. Money – Favre says he has plenty of money in the bank and I don’t have any reason not to believe him.


4. Recognition – The leagues only three time MVP has nothing to show.


5. Wining One More – Well, the Pack just fired Sherman (finally!), so unless management decides to buy a ring it’s very unlikely that they will even be in contention.

And now some stuff that he probably will consider.

1. Records – He says he doesn’t care about them, but Favre could probably break most of Marino and Elway’s records if he stuck around another year or two.  It may not be very important, but it certainly is a consideration.


2. Health – Getting hurt in the NFL is always a consideration, but they are protecting quarterbacks a lot more than they used to.  I think the chances of a career ending injury for the superman of the NFL is unlikely.  And all of those supposed pundits need to learn some math.  The fact that Favre has played 16 years without an injury doesn’t mean that his chances of an injury are good.  The chances that Favre gets hurt next year are exactly the same as the chances that he got hurt the year before, and the same as the year before that.  Favre looks healthy, but I’ll admit my stomach leapt to my throat when I saw him grabbing his wrist and shoulder late in the fourth quarter.


3. Competition – Favre loves to play football, even when the abysmal season that the Packers had this season he looked like he was having fun.  He certainly looked frustrated at times, but what competitor wouldn’t?


4. New Coach – With the firing of Sherman it is completely possible that the Pack made the decision for Favre.  It is unlikely that Favre will want to learn a new system this late in his career.  If the new coach designs the offense around Favre’s skill, then Favre can stay if he wants, if it is a “rebuilding year” Favre is gone – no doubt about it.


5. Family – The most important reason of all.  Favre wants to be a father to his kids for the rest of their days together.  He can’t do it if he gets hurt, so the possibility will weigh heavily on his mind.  His daughter asked him to come back this year, it is possible that his family will urge him to play another.

So my final verdict is that Favre will likely come back for one more.  He likes to play, he is tantalizingly close to all kinds of records (he only needs 24 more touchdowns to surpass Marino’s record) and I think his family likes to see him play.  If the new coach wants to start over then all bets are off, and I think that the decision is going to be a very close one – Favre’s salute at the end of the game certainly looked like a farewell – but I still think he wants at least one more.
If Favre doesn’t come back he will still go down into the books as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time and a guaranteed entry into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.  His record of consecutive starts, at the very least, will probably never be broken under a 16 game schedule.  He would be sincerely missed though – he finally gave the Packers something to be proud of after years of mediocrity.