DeathRattleSports.com - ESPN and Brett Favre: A Marriage Made in Hell

Home

ESPN and Brett Favre: A Marriage Made in Hell

Written by onearmedbandit

Sunday, 27 July 2008

Every once in a while, ESPN latches onto an athlete or a story and will not let it die, no matter how little is actually happening with the story on a given day.

As a man who works in the broadcast journalism business, I know that filling every second of a cast is not always the easiest thing to do, especially during the dog days of summer when all that is happening is baseball, baseball, and more boring baseball. These problems are compounded with ESPN being on 24/7. Still, the whole Brett Favre story has gone a little bit overboard. I've been a Packers fan since I first got into football in the mid-90s. The reason: Brett Favre.

Sure, I loved Dorsey Levens, Robert Brooks, Antonio Freeman, and LeRoy Butler, but Favre transcended the sport for a youngster without a team in Ohio (thanks Art Modell). I cheered hard for Favre in both Super Bowls, though he only got the message once. Three straight MVPs, a gunslinger style of play, a legendary franchise, and the aura of being a genuinely good guy all made Favre one of the most appealing athletes in sport.

But in the events of the last few off seasons, something has changed. Favre went from icon to sideshow. His face time increased as the results on the field for player and team became mediocre. Even last season ended in disappointment despite having a superior team.This is not completely Favre's fault. Yes, he held the Packers and their fans hostage for the last three years with his indecision about his future. But it's a pretty big decision that takes some time. This is a man's life.

ESPN did everything they could to capitalize in the drawn out wait we've been treated to every offseason. Every day there is a new story about Favre concerning an almost insignificant update. When Favre retired, it appeared all that was over. Wisconsin shut down for a mourning period and ESPN rolled out the red carpet for Favre, putting him and his greatness on display for days straight. The Packers would finally give Aaron Rodgers his shot. There was closure. It appeared that, somehow, we were all going to survive the post-Favre era. He got a heroes sendoff to be completed with his jersey retirement ceremony on Monday Night Football in Week 1. But it was not to be.

A short time later, we were again inundated with Favre stories, speculation, and pontification from people with no real knowledge of the situation. (Sidebar: Just as a note to ESPN, asking Emmitt Smith his opinion on anything is potentially hazardous to the brain matter of anybody watching.) Favre was un-retiring. And so began the current chapter of the Brett Favre saga, one that has seen more ridiculous plot twists than a bad soap opera. Yet while we feel like we've been here before, there has really never been anything quite like this.

Rarely has an athlete had a city, state, and organization in the palm of his hand like this. Favre is the puppeteer and Packers management and fans are his marionettes. He knows this, and he's using it to his advantage. He knows that every word out of his mouth will hit the airwaves and change the scenario as he sees fit. I don’t think it’s malicious, but he wants to play again and has the ability to make the Packers organization the bad guy in this scenario.The Packers are doing an admirable job of sticking by to their guns, but it's only a matter of time before they buckle. They may give Aaron Rodgers the boot, welcoming back Favre with "open" arms. If they really have balls, they'll see this through and trade him to an AFC team on the rise. Either way, they are the bad guy.

Some of America will always love Brett Favre, no matter what (looking at you Chris Berman), but he is dangerously close to the precipice when it comes to public opinion. I've already turned on him. He says he was pressured into retirement, and I say that's garbage. He's a grown man, a legend in his own time, and he can make his own decision without other grown men telling him what to do. Now he's in a situation where he's bigger than the franchise Lombardi cultivated, bigger than the high flying game that Unitas and Namath made possible, and bigger than an entire state of people, who wait with baited breath for the next tidbit of news about their heroes' future.

I hope the situation resolves itself amicably. For my own selfish reasons, I don't want to see Favre in another uniform. Joe Montana as a Chief and Emmitt Smith as a Cardinal just wasn't right. But it appears that Favre is headed out of town, likely to a team with fewer receiving options and a worse shot at winning. It's far more likely that he'll be the Favre of two years ago rather than the Favre of last year, though each was doomed by the same fatal flaw. Favre will never win another title or MVP. He can be an above average quarterback on an above average team before again torturing us with indecision next offseason. ESPN will cover it with the same intensity. Chris Mortensen will again be hiding in Favre's bushes with a highly sensitive microphone. And slowly the tide will turn. People will stop caring, if they haven't already, and all the years we've spent loving Brett Favre will evaporate into a backlash of annoyance and exhaustion.

Enough aready, Brett. Same goes for you, ESPN. At some point, the media outlet makes the story bigger than life, and we passed that point a cell phone scandal ago. Let's all move on and do our best to remember Favre as the gunslinger with a bionic arm, heart for days, and a green and gold uni.

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email This

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (2) add comment

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Bugeatersteve said:

	Here is a GREAT conspiracy theory, what if this entire thing, the Farve un-retirement thing is nothing but a big HOAX, leading to the GREATEST ANNOUNCEMENT of all time. That Farve is joining the ESPN STAFF!!!!!
	report abuse vote down vote up

July 30, 2008
Votes: +0

Lloyds Apple said:

	Good read. Let's not forget about the earth shattering interview with Greta Van Susteran on Fox News. Seriously, WTF was up with that? Something about that was just wrong...
	report abuse vote down vote up