The Sports Media Continues to Weep for Favre

By Chris Mottram
Discussions of how gritty/determined/great Favre was -- whether true or not -- are fine with me. Trying to figure out where he ranks amongst the best QBs ever -- whether extremely played out or not -- is also acceptable. But columnists opining about their favorite Favre stories, and how much they’ll miss No. 4 -- as if they’re father died, or their wife left them -- is just pathetic.
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There are great (or horrible, depending on perspective) examples of this over at We Are the Postmen and on SI.com (Peter King, naturally), but the most nauseating piece comes from Wright Thompson at ESPN.com.
There is so much to mock and so little time. Some of the choice excerpts:
-- You know unintentional comedy is to come based solely on the headline: “Brett, we miss you already.”
-- “If Tom Brady is what America is, then Favre is what America was and, sometimes, I think we wish we could have that America back.” So, current America is handsome, well-spoken and successful, while the old America is kinda dumb, redneckish and generally overrated?
-- “I’ll miss television folks calling him a gunslinger.” I’m 100% confident when I say that Wright Thompson is the only person who will miss that.
-- “I’ll miss the picks. I’ll miss them even more than the touchdowns, though he holds the all-time records for both. For it was in failure that we saw how much Favre wanted to win. He wanted to win so badly he was willing to lose.” This is so far from making sense, that I can’t even comment.
-- “I’ll miss the pills, and the drinking.” Finally, something I have -- and continue to -- miss about Favre.
-- “I’ll miss my daddy. That’s what Favre’s retiring makes me think about.” I think people from Mississippi are the only adults who refer to their father as “daddy.”
-- “I’ll miss believing anything is possible.” It doesn’t get much sadder than a football player being your only beacon of hope.
How can people’s perspectives be this outta whack? Brett Favre was a football player. He will no longer be playing the sport in a professional capacity. That. Is. It. This is not a national tragedy. Please, try to move on with you regularly scheduled lives.
> Brett, We Miss You Already | ESPN.com↵