The Future's Bright, The Future's Purple
by Andy Ayrton
16/10/2009
The past few seasons we have watched Brett Favre as he passed Dan Marino's various passing milestones. Completions, yardage, touchdown passes and, yes, George Blanda's not-so-illustrious interceptions mark. The football world has analysed his will-he, wont-he return to the game for two years running. Some said this warrior was foolhardy to return, and towards the second half of last season Favre certainly had that look that Joe Namath and Johnny Unitas had in their thwarted final years in the league. Legends who still had that burning fire but whose physical skills had eroded to the point where they were shadows of their former selves, yet whose sheer presence was expected to drag their less talented teammates to victory.
Fortunately the Minnesota Viking are red-hot and blazing with talent. A crushing defensive line and possibly the best running back of his generation, they just needed that little piece of the puzzle, and that was were Brett Lorenzo Favre came in.
As Favre has shown in the past few weeks, what the Viking wanted was not passing records or sky high statistics but that magic which all the greats have. Something you simply cannot teach unless your surname is Lombardi or Walsh. Joe Montana, John Elway, and Roger Staubach all had it, and when we look back in years to come, Favre will be remembered for it as well. It's a do or die attitude, that urge and field presence that coaches try over and over to install in NFL quarterbacks. Week three's game against the San Francisco 49ers was a prime example: with only two seconds to go, Favre willed his team with a single minded goal, showing all his poise, all his experience, as he fired a pass to Greg Lewis and a win. It's hard to imagine last year's incumbents Tarvaris Jackson or Gus Frerotte doing the same thing. In a division which has two teams who suffer from which-side-of-the-bed-will-they-get up-on syndrome in Green Bay and Chicago, and another team which tends simply to trip and fall on its face in Detroit, the Vikings are the picks of the bunch. Young, talented and with Favre firing and showing he still has control and poise, they now have the consistency and spark to win the division.
Of course the old cannon arm which – admittedly – is not quite as sleek and shiny as it used to be, does still fire out arching rockets when needed, as Brett showed last week against his former team. With Adrian Peterson not being 100%, Favre launched touchdown passes to receivers and became the first quarterback to defeat all 32 teams in the national football league. Then the Vikings eased past the Rams this past weekend, with Favre manging the game and overseeing a no-nonsense victory.
Does America still care about the iron man of the NFL? Those endless hours awaiting his return to the game last summer became near fanatical and over shadowed everything else. And yet nearly 22 million viewers tuned into the Vikings/Packers tilt, making it the most watched programme in the history of cable television. It's all the more amazing with the diluted ratings of the digital television age, especially this year when network TV ratings have been diving off the charts. America still loves this greying veteran who still works a magic that many have tried but few have accomplished. Will he be playing in Miami in February? This year more then ever Brett Favre has a chance to go back to a game he last graced in January 1997 – and pity his opponents that day because a whole lot of people will be cheering him on.
Mortality comes to us all, and at 40 years old Favre knows that at some point retirement must come. For the Vikings it's not about building a team around him and making him their “franchise” player, that is a tag for Adrian Peterson. The Favre signing was about winning a title now and Brad Childress saving his job, but the magic and excitement the old gunslinger has brought this year will never been forgotten by fans and players in the state of Minnesota.
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