My plan tonight was to write another post about my training class I am currently attending but every now and then something happens or you get an idea that just has to be done while it is current. Such was the case today.
Rumors started today about 10:00am and were confirmed at noon, Brett Favre has retired. Wisconsin is mourning, everybody is wearing black and the flags are at half mast. I did the right thing and offered everybody my condolences and then offered them Jon Kitna from the Detroit Lions. They weren't amused to say the least.
To fully understand the Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packer phenomenon in Wisconsin you need to live here once. This team is everything to these people. People live and die with the Packers. The waiting list for season tickets is 70 years. When the Packers were on Monday Night Football or on TV during the playoffs I would never see a car go by our house. It is a great time to go shopping because the stores are all empty. In the fall people here either wear hunters orange or green, around here Green Bay Packers green. You can't go anywhere without seeing a Packer coat or jersey, normally No. 4 jersey, Brett Favre.
Brett Favre is a character. He loved playing the game of football. I don't think I have ever seen anybody who enjoyed the game of football more than Brett. Brett once said "They pay me to watch film and practice during the week, I play for free on Sunday."
The memory I will always have with Brett Favre is the Monday Night game he played after his fathers death. Every pass he threw up in the air that night a receiver would come down with it. Even if you didn't like Favre you couldn't help but root for him on that evening. You need to look no further than this night for everything that symbolizes Brett Favre.
Brett is a hero here in Wisconsin, more popular than mayors, governors, senators and congressmen. I am sure they will erect a statue of him. For sure they will name a street after him just like Vince Lombardi and Mike Holgram.
For the last two years Favre has held the people of Wisconsin hostage. He would take months to decide if he was going to play or retire the next year. I, for one, am glad he finally decided to put the people of Wisconsin out of their misery and announce his retirement early this year. I didn't have a problem with Brett playing the last two years, shoot I wouldn't have a problem with him playing again this year. Brett deserves to decide when he wants to retire, he has earned that right.
I wish Brett Favre the best in retirement. The people of Wisconsin will miss him terribly, heck the whole NFL community and all fans of football will miss him. He truly is an icon not only in Wisconsin but across the entire football crazed country.
I will leave you with this video.
7 comments:
i was rooting for the packers this year. wanted to see them go all the way but it was not to be.
as far as football fanatics. it is the same here in pitts for the steelers. even now, and throughout the year, people are wearing their jerseys.
the local tv stations broke into regularly scheduled programming monday morning to show the news conference where ben was announcing his new 10 year deal with the steelers. when he had his accident their were constant interruptions to give medical updates. they are steeler crazy here. i have never lived in a town where football meant so much to everyone.
i guess coming from detroit i have a distorted view of what football should and could be to a city.
btw, we have one of the lion's ex quarterbacks here. he plays backup to ben and doesn't do a bad job. but now that i think about it i think every team has a lion's quarterback on its roster. quarterbacks.
I saw news of the retirement and thought about you and your lovely state. For that thought, you should be impressed. I knew who he was, who he played for and the sense of loss WI will feel. I even remember that game he played after his dad died. But that's all I got. Gonna get these football thoughts out of my head now.
I am not a fan of the Green Bay Packers (I mean come on, who in their right mind would be) so I promise no more post about the Green Bay Packers or Brett Favre.
But that doesn't mean I won't post about the Lions or the Michigan Wolverines. Get ready as we get closer to fall. I'm sure you will be delighted.
I actually am pretty sure I know how you feel with the Packers phenomenon there. We have the same thing here, except they call it the Colts.
I hate the Colts, because I can't get away from them. I don't even care about football, usually.
I agree on both the Colts and the Steelers being the big sport in both of their cites still both cities do have other pro sport franchies in them. The thing that makes Green Bay unique is the Packers are the only pro franchise there and the city has a population of only 100,000. There is no way any pro sports franchise would ever locate in a city of only 100,000 today.
You know, for all the crap I've taken for being a Green Bay fan and a Brett Favre fanatic over the years, you really pulled a 180 here. Is it because you secretly wish you were man enough to like the Packers? Or maybe you wish you were Brett Favre.
Maybe you wish you were me?
Just something to think about.
It is easy to root for a winner, you know you are a true man when you stay loyal to your team for 50 years even though they have only won 1 playoff game in that time.
It is also easy to hate a team when you are surronded by fanatical fans like here in Wisconsin.
I must have been in a good mood that day because there are very few atheletes I would write anything like that about. Some that come to mind are Al Kaline, Joe Dumars, and Steve Yzerman. Most of the others I could care less about.
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