A Long Way From Lambeau
Favre Passes Batton To Saints
by Mark Lyne-Austen
27/1/2010
Two years is a long time for anyone but as was evident to anyone who stayed up to watch the legend that is Brett Favre fire a pass into the welcoming arms of a defender for a relatively easy interception, it is inevitable that the same moment played out two years ago is fresh in the mind. Favre is of course the most well known and for that reason polarising of players in the NFL and his legacy is as much for the glorious failure as it is for the astonishing records.
This columnist should provide a disclaimer right up front – that night two years ago was bitter. Lying in a darkened room for some time after the overtime loss for the Green Bay Packers against a New York Giants team who would go on to win the Super Bowl was a seminal moment. At the time it had seemed clear that Favre, the greatest player on the greatest franchise of them all, would retire after the season. Every fan was looking to his going out triumphantly and some of the more optimistic of us were predicting these events from the start of the season when it had seemed unlikely. The last two years changed a lot but the man at the centre of many an NFL obsession did not.
Favre is now known for many things, issues that did not really come out during his long run of above average success in Green Bay. What we all knew though was that he embodied the tragic hero on the gridiron. Favre has always taken risks that others dare not but the one inexplicable mistake at a most critical juncture has now happened on two occasions. What may irk those who followed the fortunes of the Minnesota Vikings or of Favre personally is that the team were already in with a long shot of the win. For many of those who will have wanted Anyone But Brett there must be a mixture of relief and empathy.
Relief can only be felt by those who truly feel for their own team when a hated rival fails. The commonly touted notion that a neutral observer dispassionately loves the game for the aesthetic is of course ridiculous. Sport is drama at a fine peak and the relatively short NFL campaign magnifies it beyond any other athletic narrative. It is though a narrative told from 32 perspectives and for those who witnessed what looked like Favre's last hurrah at around 3.30 in the morning on this side of the Atlantic a couple years ago, relief for those who view the NFL through a Lambeau-shaped prism comes from the once most beloved of heroes.
That hero though is also a pathos-inducing figure of empathy right now. For all that happened since the Packer's loss in an NFC Championship Game they seemed destined to win, it was a weary and battered man who bore the brunt of some fierce New Orleans Saints hitting. Some may query the officiating calls – the shot to the knee by Bobby McCray was fully within the intention of the rules against low hits on the quarterback – but other calls such as McCray's entirely legitimate hit of a quarterback trying to block the backside pursuit of a runner were erroneously called.
In the case of both the Packers following the 2007 season the Vikings following the 2009 season, they should have won. The Vikings were a dominant force against a New Orleans offense that could not handle the inside power of Pat and Kevin Williams, and could not get outside of what remains a quality group of linebackers. It was not though the bad luck it might seem as the Vikes put the ball on the ground six times but recovered on three occasions. They had players like Bernard Berrian step up to outperform their expectations but it was not enough.
For those watching from afar, the feeling of a game that should have been won and was so very close to being secured was so similar. It was only two years ago but so much has changed since then, for Favre, for all fans of the NFL, and perhaps most of all now for the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints are coming into a Super Bowl town for the first time and while they will be significant underdogs against a terrific Indianapolis Colts team that these days is a lot more than Peyton Manning & friends, it is a heart warming story for a city that has needed uplifting. The redemption of Drew Brees following his career threatening injury in what had been a personal best year in 2005 took longer than it might have but is now here in full. Brees and the Saints should have been facing Manning and the Colts in Super Bowl XLI but a cold night in Soldier Field, Chicago spoiled what should have been a party.
In the intervening two seasons, the Saints have remained one of the top teams in the NFL which historically is a very odd statement. This era is by far and away the very best the franchise has ever achieved and of course it came on the back of the worst disaster a US city had suffered in nearly 100 years. Against the Chicago Bears three years ago the Saints were a prolific passing team but lacking elsewhere. What was different this time against the Vikings was the performance at the heart of every great football team – the offensive and defensive lines.
While the Saints may have struggled against the power of the Vikings in the interior of the line, the team were most concerned clearly about the outside pass rush and Jared Allen in particular. It did not materialise. While gameplanning helped including their first offensive play rolling away from Allen, individual performance meant more as Allen was close to shutout in all defensive categories. Defensively, the line play was not extraordinary but against what surely is a top five offensive line they did well. The brutal hits on Favre were not all about blitzing the safeties and Bobby McCray enhanced a reputation that perhaps began with a near knockout shot the week before against Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner.
New Orleans is a passionate team and easy to like. They will be underdogs in the Super Bowl but the last time an NFC team advanced to the title game when they had looked defeated until a last gasp interception against Brett Favre, they won it.
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