If Brett Favre is the question, not even everyone in Chicago agrees on the answer anymore.
Some blood-thirsty Bears fans might want Favre back for a 16th season given how poor the quarterback looked in the Green Bay Packers’ loss two weeks ago at Soldier Field. Others prefer Favre just go ahead and retire in case there’s still a comeback or two left in that dangerous right arm.
So here’s the multiple-choice question, with the possible answers and their implications below:
Q: Given the sorry state of the Packers’ 3-11 season, in 2006 Brett Favre will:
A. Return rejuvenated to take aim at the Bears.
B. Retire, begin a career in broadcasting.
C. Return in a backup role to Aaron Rodgers.
D. Finish his career–gasp–elsewhere as the Packers go young.
Answer A: People talk about Favre as if he immediately will get his AARP card after retiring from the NFL, yet he’s only 36.
John Elway won two Super Bowls after his 37th birthday, completing 59 percent of his passes over his last three seasons. Joe Montana made the Pro Bowl for the Kansas City Chiefs at 37. Warren Moon played nine seasons after turning 36, throwing for 21,646 yards, 134 touchdowns and 100 interceptions for four teams in that span. Even Vinny Testaverde, still firing at 42, has started 66 games and has thrown for 12,710 yards in the last six years.
None of those quarterbacks was in any better physical condition than Favre at the same age. Favre’s conditioning and skills remain at such a high level that Packers coach Mike Sherman snapped last week when the retirement issue was broached saying, “I would almost find the question offensive.”
Favre isn’t even the oldest starting quarterback in his division. He’s a year younger than the Vikings’ Brad Johnson.
Former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, the man who pried the quarterback away from the Atlanta Falcons in 1992, called Favre one of the league’s five best quarterbacks in a weekend interview with a Green Bay TV station. Wolf predicted Favre could play as many as three more seasons, if for no other reason than the position is not exactly producing many legends.
“You look at some of these guys that are taking snaps now, it’s a joke,” Wolf said.
The last laugh may go to Favre if he returns to form after all these premature retirement wishes.
Answer B (Hit the airwaves): If corn-pone humor and aw-shucks shtick helped Terry Bradshaw become a star in an NFL pregame studio, all that awaits Favre is an earpiece, a tailored suit and a new haircut. Favre’s quick wit will make network executives ring his phone the day he announces his retirement.
But will that be early in 2006? Or 2008? Or beyond?
Favre has created an environment of uncertainty by honestly sharing his feelings, which often sway over the course of a draining NFL season. The toll his family travails have taken in recent years have been well-documented, and his hometown of Kiln, Miss., being wiped out by Hurricane Katrina and the stroke suffered by his grandmother Izella last week only have made this longest of seasons feel longer.
While even his closest teammates profess not to know, media speculation about Favre’s retirement in Wisconsin has replaced deer hunting as the state’s favorite sport. ESPN’s Ed Werder reported Monday night, the latest update in the saga, that Favre told him he will make “a very deliberate decision that will involve consultations with his family.”
The rub will be whether, upon reflection, the competitor in Favre can walk away after his worst of 15 NFL seasons, especially given how close he is to leaving an unparalleled legacy among quarterbacks.
At the end of this season, Favre will be within 48 games–three seasons–of breaking former Vikings defensive tackle Jim Marshall’s NFL record for consecutive starts (270), unthinkable company for a quarterback to keep. Favre also is currently within 25 touchdown passes of Dan Marino’s all-time mark of 420 and within 8,322 yards of Marino’s record of 61,361.
Could Favre walk away from a game he still plays with the enthusiasm of an 8-year-old knowing he was so close to making more history? Nobody will know until Favre knows, and he still doesn’t.
Answer C (A backup plan): For the first time in Favre’s career, he has gone three consecutive starts without throwing a touchdown pass. That has a lot to do with an injury-depleted offense and receiving corps, but many also wonder if it implies Favre’s decline has begun. He certainly looked old and erratic against the Bears earlier this month, perhaps even evoking sympathy as he limped off Soldier Field in a Y.A. Tittle-like exit.
The point: There could be cries in the off-season for the Packers to turn the page and start Rodgers even if Favre stays. A letter to the Green Bay Gazette last week intended for coach Mike Sherman’s eyes complained: “Don’t coddle Favre like he’s some kind of an infant. That’s cowardice.”
Rodgers replaced an ineffective Favre in the third quarter of Monday’s blowout loss, completing 8 of 15 passes but making Kyle Orton seem polished in comparison. Former Packers quarterback Don Majkowski, a friend of Favre’s, complimented Rodgers’ play, writing on Packers.com that the rookie “looked more comfortable and more poised,” than in the preseason and “his hard work was evident.”
Favre has been supportive of Rodgers, but given his competitive nature a backup role would fit him as comfortably as a Bears jersey.
Answer D (Find greener pastures): Favre still has $57 million on a contract that runs through 2010. He’s due $7 million next year and $11 million in ’07. The Packers invested $5.2 million in bonuses on Rodgers, whose deal is laced with incentives based on starts.
The Packers could have as much as $26 million to spend under the salary cap, but stranger things have happened to NFL legends caught in rebuilding efforts. Nobody thought Montana ever would leave San Francisco either.
“Now starting at quarterback for the Oakland Raiders, No. 4 . . . ?”
The guess here is A will be the correct answer. Favre’s still too young and too qualified to end his career and too much the embodiment of the franchise to end it anywhere but in Green Bay when he does.
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dhaugh@tribune.com
