Favre Gets Away With More Selfishness

It was the only choice that Brett Favre could have made, if he wanted to be fair to the franchise that had rescued him from Green Bay and New York, and showered him with millions in the twilight of his career. He had to return. He couldn’t not return.

So, of course, he had to be begged.

That’s the maddening part about Brett Favre, one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. He never makes anything look as easy as it should be. He’s a player whose career should be celebrated. His athletic accomplishments should be revered. He might not be Johnny Unitas or Joe Montana, but he’s certainly part of the group on the ladder one rung down.

But he has become so remarkably selfish in his “old” age that it’s hard for anyone outside his inner circle and the Vikings to really enjoy his final — or theoretically final — moment in the sun. It’s not that he doesn’t have the right to play as long as he wants to. It’s not even that he’s indecisive about an incredibly difficult decision, to retire at a time when most non-athletic people are just entering the primes of their careers.

It’s that he has shown absolutely no regard for the franchise that he nearly left behind. He showed no concern that by dragging out his decision to August he nearly left a Super Bowl contender — and 52 other players — without a quarterback capable of leading them all the way. Meanwhile, somehow he has convinced himself that he’s doing it for his boys in the locker room, a selfless act to give his buddies one more thrill.

When in truth, this whole three-year, will-he-retire-or-won’t-he saga has been all about him.

Think, for a minute, about the road not traveled. What if the 40-year-old Favre had chosen to really, truly, honest-to-goodness retire in early August, when he reportedly sent text messages to teammates telling them just that? And what if Brad Childress’ Hail Mary call — sending Jared Allen, Steve Hutchinson and Ryan Longwell to Mississippi in a 48-hour quest to reel in Favre, to beg him for one more season — had fallen short? What if the Vikings had woken up one day late in training camp and realized they really, truly were about to begin (or re-begin) an era without Favre?

Forget for a second that they would have had to endure a season of mediocre-at-best quarterbacking from Sage Rosenfels or Tarvaris Jackson. Forget for a moment that they would have gone from NFC favorites to second tier in their own division. The real shame of the situation would have been this:

They could have had Donovan McNabb.

That’s what Favre’s indecision would have cost the Vikings if his retirement coin had landed on heads instead of tails. McNabb was available for the taking during the offseason, with the Eagles ready to dump him in favor of quarterback Kevin Kolb. They ditched him for the low, low price of a couple of draft picks, and they were so eager to get rid of him that they sent him inside their own division, to a Washington Redskins team that might beat the Eagles twice this year as a result.

That happened in April. You think, if the Vikings knew that Favre was officially done, they might have been interested in McNabb? With a Super Bowl-ready team, you think they might have been interested in a quarterback with one Super Bowl and four other NFC Championship Game appearances already on his resume? You think Brad Childress — McNabb’s quarterbacks coach when they both went to the Eagles in 1999 and an assistant in Philly with him for seven years — might have been interested in the quarterback who helped him achieve so much success early in his career?

Childress, of course, is obsessed with Favre; there’s no doubt about that. But imagine if Favre had said to Childress: “I’m done. It’s official. And there’s no way I’m coming back. I’ll even pinkie swear if you want me to.” Don’t you think McNabb would have been Childress’ obvious Plan B?

But Favre never gave him that chance. And then, in the end, he nearly left Childress and the Vikings with Plans C and D instead.

It’s Favre’s life, of course. That’s how the counter-argument goes. He’s earned the right to retire when he wants. And look at all he’s done for the Vikings. Heck, he nearly brought them to a Super Bowl one year ago. He had, arguably, his best statistical season. He was one of the NFL’s biggest stars. He meant ratings and attention and oodles of revenue thanks to jersey sales and Favre souvenirs. He doesn’t owe the NFL anything, his supporters say. The NFL owes him the right to decide his future on his own time.

But here’s the thing: Favre has been paid handsomely for what he’s already done for the NFL. He was paid $12 million last year for his miraculous, beat-the-clock-of-life run. He had a $100 million contract once with the Green Bay Packers. Three franchises now — the Packers, Jets and Vikings — have bowed to his greatness, showered him with millions, courted him like he was a high school senior, and let him operate under his own rules.

For all that, Favre at least owes the NFL this much: He should have been a leader. He should have been a teammate. No one cares that he misses training camp. He’ll be ready for the regular season, to be sure. But he should have made his decision earlier so the Vikings could have gone about the business of planning for their own future — whether it was with him or without him. If it was without him, they had options in April. But in August, had Favre left them for good, they would have had none.

He’s returning, so the point is moot. And it’s what the Vikings wanted. Plus, Childress and his franchise aren’t exactly blameless. They could have drawn a line in the FieldTurf back in April. But they allowed Favre to hold their future plans hostage. Childress felt the object of his obsession was worth the wait.

A true leader, a true quarterback, though, would have seen the bigger picture. He would have looked at all the options, seen what could have happened to the Vikings if he had pulled his ball in and run the other way, allowed his old teammates to put themselves in the best position to succeed. Instead, Favre waited to call his play until the clock was nearly at zero.

He made the right call, as he’s done so many times in his glorious career. He got away with what, for the Vikings, was an incredibly risky gamble. It was a typical Favre play, when you think about it. A typically selfish play.