I've been thinking about writing about this for almost a week, and the fact that I still want to means it is probably overdue. This whole Brett Favre thing has just gotten way too out of hand, and it's about time someone said something about it. I'm sick of losing 30 minutes of Sportscenter to this ridiculous Brett Favre situation. I'm tired of NFL Live analyzing what Green Bay's GM said instead of previewing the upcoming season and maybe spending, I don't know, 30 seconds talking about MY team. The truth of the matter is that Packers fans make up a very small part of the NFL fan population, and the rest of us (yes, I am speaking on behalf of all us non-cheese heads out there) are just plain over this Brett Favre "story." Is/was he a great player? Yes. Is his "retirement" and his "comeback" worth noting? Yes. But is he worth having the top story every day for the past 2 weeks? Heck no!!! I know all we have right now is baseball, but I think we can do a little better. Brett- I want my Sportscenter back.

Side note- after writing this hub, I went back to find pictures, and guess what- I couldn't get any for Favre! Go ahead and google him and see how many images come up for him. It's ridiculous, like he put a ban on all photos because he's pissed that people are photo-shopping his face on other teams' jerseys or something. I can't explain how weird this is. Fortunately for Brett, I realized this after I wrote this piece, otherwise it'd be even more biased against him than it already is.

The Story from Brett Favre's Point of View

Ok, so when I first heard about this story, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Surely, something huge must have happened in his life. Maybe a chronic injury miraculously took care of itself. He claimed his family encouraged him to play, so I thought maybe he had a dying nephew whose final wish was for him to return to football. Call me naïve, but I just figured that a guy who has been thinking about retirement for the last 4 years would have to have a pretty darn good reason for changing his mind.

I was wrong.

So what was his real reason? What did he say to MSNBC in his exclusive interview was his reason? He made a mistake. He retired too early, and wanted to play again. Now, I'm all about people admitting when they've made a mistake, but there seems to be something missing to me. Is he in debt? Can he just not stand living at home? I really don't get it.

So, I understand that up until this point, I haven't really looked at this from Brett's point of view, likely because I just find it difficult to empathize with someone who appears to have absolutely zero decision-making skills off the football field (is that why he came back? He just sucks at anything that's not football? Too harsh? Sorry). I will now attempt to.

He loves football, plain and simple. He thought he could live without it, but now acknowledges that he made a mistake and this could be his last chance to play the game he loves. Furthermore, he would like to go out on top. He had a great season last year, but wants to win the Super Bowl just one more time. In addition to all of that, he can add to his current records, maybe break a few others, and do his best to keep Peyton Manning from breaking all the records he's worked so hard for. Now, I know he'd never admit to it, but you know this has to be part of his thought process. Maybe he was cool with retiring until a family member showed him Peyton's numbers and how soon he could break the records, I don't know. Either way, listing this as a reason would give him the label of selfish, so he won't take that path. However, he also doesn't say he wants to win a Super Bowl, just that he wants to play. A little odd if you ask me.

Continuing with Brett's thought process, I can also understand that he feels unwanted by the Packers. Here's the team that he has led for the last 50 years or so, and they don't even seem lightly happy that he wants to play for them again. This guy will never have to buy a drink for the rest of his life as long as he stays in Green Bay, and after just one retirement, they've already moved on. Granted the decision could've come sooner, but it shouldn't matter, right? I mean, he's Brett freakin' Favre. Don't they owe it to him after all the injuries he's played through for them? Would they have turned away Vince Lombardi if he were alive and ready to coach? Ok, bad comparison. Would the Bulls turn down MJ? No way. He should get whatever he wants, end of story.

The Story from the Packer's Point of View

Now, I don't really believe everything I write. Refer to the last few paragraphs and you'll understand. For Brett Favre to think that he deserves to have the Packers welcome him back with open arms hints at arrogance and narcissism, which I partially blame on the fans that are now rioting to get him back.

Call me crazy, but I tend to side with the Packers on this one. That's right, I'm erring on the side of common sense. Brett has contemplated retirement for the last 4 years!!! And now something all of a sudden came up that he hadn't considered? Bogus. He's ruined the Packers' draft for years now because he doesn't decide until right before training camp whether he will play or not. Now, even after he's announced his retirement, after he assured everyone that his not filing his retirement paperwork meant nothing and that he was 100% not coming back, does he decide he wants to play. This is unfair to the Packers organization, to the Packers fans, and to all of us who don't give a crap.

In fact, I recently had a friend ask me why I hate Brett Favre so much. This gave me pause, mostly because I don't hate Brett Favre. Even when he was beating up on my beloved 49ers, even when he was winning Super Bowls and destroying my fantasy teams, I never really disliked the guy. He was kind of nice, and seemed like a good guy. But the last few weeks have tarnished his reputation. The last couple years, when he was just thinking about retirement, I found it odd, but didn't think less of him. It's a hard decision. But to retire, decide to come back this close to the season, and then rip your former team for not embracing you (all while holding Sportscenter hostage), I just can't help but dislike the guy a little bit.

What's that you say? It's not Brett's fault that ESPN wants to cover him so closely? I somewhat I agree. However, he's in contact with the press daily, giving interviews on MSNBC to give his side of the story, and doing all he can to get the fans behind him. Why does he need the fans behind him? Because the media has already turned on him. Once considered a media favorite, Brett's recent actions have failed to win over anyone in the media, aka anyone who is not a diehard Packers fan. Brett Favre's accusations against the Packers are almost less convincing than Roger Clemens's accusations against Brain McNamee.

Getting back to the Pack. Let's contemplate for a moment how a NFL franchise is run. Each year, anywhere from 6 to 15 players are drafted, another 5-10 are brought in as free agents, and only so many roster spots are available. With 11 starters on both offense and defense, and others brought in for special teams, everything is planned out years in advance. This isn't like running a franchise on Madden. These guys are paid big bucks to put together a winning team. This includes both the Packers GM and their head coach. These guys get millions to win, and their failure to do so could cost them their job as well as their ability to find another similar one. Having said that, is it fair to them that Brett wants to come back and get the $12 million he swore they'd have to spend and risk ruining these guys' careers? Is it fair to force management to completely alter their plans for the next several years just so he can fulfill his selfish need to play one more year? I say no. Football is built on the concept that the whole is bigger than any one part, and Brett has completely ignored this with his recent actions.

From the Packer's point of view, Brett's desire to play just one more year could tie up their money for another year, completely ruin Aaron Rodgers's career before it's even started, and set the franchise back about 5 years. As the fan of a team that took Alex Smith #1 overall, I can speak confidently on how much one move can set back a franchise. Favre's comeback could give them one decent year at the expense of their next decade of football. Can you really blame the Pack for not wanting him?

Conclusion

For those of you who couldn't tell, I think this whole thing is ridiculous. Even worse, everyone is treating this like it's a huge deal. While I realize that my writing this might give it merit as a real issue, I maintain that this article is actually an attempt to get people to stop paying attention to this whole thing. When I see anything on Brett Favre now, I simply change the channel. By not doing so, you are validating ESPN's attempts to make this debacle into a sports story of interest. I move that we stop paying any attention to this whole story. Hopefully, by doing so, we might convince ESPN to give us some info on our own team, and not irrelevant updates on a player we are impartial to on a team we couldn't care less about- THIS JUST IN: BRETT FAVRE MADE A PHONE CALL TO A FRIEND IN MINNESOTA. Do we care about this? No. If you didn't answer no, then you are either a Packers fan, 1 of 3 Vikings fans, or a desperately bored sports fan.

Although I don't hate Favre, I don't agree with his recent actions and I view them as selfish and arrogant. Furthermore, ESPN's response to this "story" has been alsmot as bad a Favre's reaction to the Packers not wanting him. STOP TALKING ABOUT FAVRE!!! No one cares. I don't care if every Wisconsin resident voted 50 times and said this was your biggest story, you MUST have something better to talk about. I'm sure a Cincinnati Bengal has been arrested, or Rodney Harrison has taken a cheap shot at someone or something. For everyone's sake and for my own sanity, just stop it. Just stop talking about Brett Favre. We don't care anymore.