The Following is an Article About Brett Favre - 263
Hal Wastes His Wages
August 12, 2008

I had considered titling this column something wannabe-witty, like "Brett Fret" or "Favre From Over" or "4 $*@% Sake." But considering the media's voracious appetite on this topic I'm sure whatever nugget I came up with would have already been regurgitated by some back-page tabloid hack somewhere…

As previous columns will document (like the one I wrote back on March 10 after Favre "announced his retirement"), I've been a Green Bay fan my entire life. I'm not from Whizzconsin, but my Dad was a Lombardi fan and raised me on The Green and Gold. When a dashing young upstart named Brett Favre started taking snaps in place of Don "The Majik Man" Majkowski, I figured why not see what this kid can do. Considering his impact, I soon became a Favre fan and eagerly watched his career evolve into one of the most dazzling in the history of the National Football League. But recent events have done the unthinkable and put being a Favre fan and a Packer fan seemingly at odds with each other.

Considering the omnipresent exposure of the drama, I won't belabor the minutia. What I prayed was nothing but a sports-talk radio topic on a slow news day took legs and ran to the end zone, and it's been an unpleasant experience to say the least. Favre's retirement deliberations have been taxing fans for years, so when he said goodbye in March we believed him. We assumed an icon so seemingly genuine would know by now what it meant and we took him at his word. We assumed he was above the now clichéd urge to un-retire. We assumed the book had its ending and Favre would simply ascend into Heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father. But alas he has come again in glory, and seemingly his kingdom will have no end...

That having been said, from a football standpoint Favre was the best quarterback in a Packer uniform and seemingly still quite capable--the NFC Championship ain't bad for a washed-up old has-been. Sure, Aaron Rodgers has hung in there and certainly deserves a shot--if this were some high school junior varsity program. But these are the GREEN BAY PACKERS of the National Football League, and since when has the NFL gotten sentimental over giving a chance to some guy riding the pine? This isn't "Friday Night Lights" or friggin' Rudy, for chrissake... No offense to the Rodgers camp, but Favre is the proven QB. When it became clear he was serious about playing, Green Bay should have welcomed him back with open arms.

But bad blood boiled over, it got ugly fast and yada-yada-yada… Favre's a New York Jet. Since Brett DID feel the need to leave the Packers, I'm glad he's in an AFC huddle--not in Minnesota, not even in the NFC, and conveniently in my back yard. Now that it's said and done, for the Packers nothing has changed since March. Never in my recollection has a quarterback had bigger, muddier shoes to fill, and in my estimation Aaron Rodgers has to go 20-0, win two Super Bowls THIS SEASON and defeat terrorism worldwide in the process before he can hold a candle to Favre... Good luck with all that, Aaron.

As for Brett, it's become clear that he simply appreciated my support and wanted to thank me by moving to Hoboken, hanging out at Duffy's and having me over for BBQ's. It's all good…
In the interest of making the best case of an otherwise $#!++y scenario, someday soon I can take my son to the Meadowlands to see one of the greatest quarterbacks who has ever played the game--probably when the Jets are 2-10 and I see someone's discarded season tickets floating in the gutter outside Hobson's...

I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Packer fan, so you needn't ask if I'm jumping bandwagons. Besides, most Jet fans are downright terrible human beings altogether...

"B-R-E-T-T Brett! Brett!! Brett!!!"
Sends a slight shiver down my spine...

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Christopher M. Halleron, freelance writer/bitter bartender, writes a biweekly humor column for The Hudson Current and websites in the New York Metro area. He spends a lot of his time either in front of or behind the bar in Hoboken, New Jersey where his tolerance for liquor grows stronger as his tolerance for society is eroded on a daily basis. Feel free to drop him a line at c_halleron@yahoo.com

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