Favre Gets Revenge

Just over two years ago, the Green Bay Packers made a shocking decision. They traded away their starting quarterback of 16 years. Brett Favre had guided the Packers to a Super Bowl title in 1995 and had earned 3 NFL Most Valuable Player awards while playing for them. In his 16th season he led the team all the way to the NFC Championship. For those who aren’t familiar with the playoff system, the winner of the NFC advances to the Super Bowl. After his 16th season in Green Bay, Favre considered retirement. At 38 years old, not many people were surprised with this decision. And although the Packer fans knew this day had been coming, they mourned the loss of their longtime hero. Then a few months later, Brett changed his mind. He missed football too much and decided to come out of retirement. Most people would think that Green Bay would be happy to have their hero back on the team. However when Favre announced his return, Green Bay said that they had moved on and that Favre would not be welcomed back as the starter. Green Bay decided to betray its longtime hero and crowd favorite. It was as if they were completely oblivious to the fact that Brett had been the driving force of their offense for 16 years. He was the main reason that they had had so much success. Brett Favre was speechless when his team did not welcome him back. He felt betrayed and who could blame him? The Packers just shipped him off to the New York Jets like it was no big deal.

The way that the Packers handled the whole situation was very unprofessional in my opinion. Favre and the Packers parted in an extremely bitter fashion. Brett kept his head high and headed on to the New York Jets in hopes of proving he was still worthy. He started the season off strong, leading his new team to an 8-3 record in their first 11 games. Meanwhile, the Packers had posted a much worse 5-6 record. Based on the fact that the Packers were a much better team than the Jets in the previous season, it would already be fair to say that they had made a big mistake. Favre injured his right bicep after the eleventh game and it was apparent that he could just not play as well with it hurt. The Jets lost 4 of their last 5 games and barely missed the playoffs. Meanwhile the Packers also lost 4 of their last 5 so it would still be fair to say that Brett Favre would have made them better. After his 2008 season with the Jets, Favre once again announced his retirement. With a badly injured throwing arm, it seemed that Brett would not even attempt another return to the NFL. While many people talked of another return from retirement, it just seemed impossible.

In May of 2009, it was reported that Favre had received arthroscopic surgery to fix a tear in his throwing arm. In mid-July, he announced that he was considering playing football again and that if he decided to do so, it would likely be with the Minnesota Vikings. This statement cranked media coverage of the story into full swing. The biggest part of the story was not that Favre was considering a comeback, but that he intended to play for the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay’s bitter rival. It became apparent to many that Favre was out for revenge on his old team. And while Favre downplayed the hype, he did admit that he was “still a little peeved” in reference to their betrayal. He also had said “There is part of me that just wants to stick it to them”. Since Favre had already been in and out of retirement many times, it was hard to anticipate if he would really come back. He has always been extremely indecisive in making up his mind. He shocked many when he announced that he would remain retired on July 28, 2009. But could we completely rule out on him changing his mind again. Many speculated that there still a chance for a comeback. On August 18, 2009, Favre signed a two year deal with the Vikings, assuring everyone that he had made up his mind for good. The whole deal did not go down as smoothly as one might think. Many criticized Favre for being selfish and coming back just because he couldn’t stand to be out of the spotlight. He was criticized for coming back way too late in the preseason and many of his former Packer fans were disgusted that he had joined their rival team. They had no right to blame him for anything after he had attempted to rejoin the Packers, only to be denied by the management. Favre endured even more criticism when certain players from the Vikings team expressed their resent for the signing of Favre. They felt that he should not be allowed to come on and takeover the starting position this late in the preseason. It was up to Favre to prove himself a worthy starting quarterback of the team.

Favre wasted no time in proving he still had it all. He led the Vikings to a strong start as they posted a 3-0 record in the first three games. While Favre downplayed the hype and the notion that he was “out for revenge”, everyone knew how important the Viking’s fourth game of the season would be. I know that deep down, Brett wanted to do nothing but prove to Packer’s that they had made a horrible mistake in letting him go. He wanted make them suffer for betraying him after all he had done for their team. On October 5, 2009, Brett Favre led the Vikings on all out assault of the Packers. He torched their defense for 271 yards passing. He completed 24 of 31 passes for three touchdowns. The Vikings won the game 30-23. Favre had got some revenge, but he was not done yet. The Vikings still had to play the Packers once again in a few weeks and this time in would be on the Packer’s home turf. The hype leading up to the game was phenomenal. All NFL fans were anticipating his return to his former home field for the first time. On Sunday November 1, Favre stepped onto Lambeau Field and was showered with boos from all the Packer fans. The held up signs that dissed him and that criticized Brett for his “betrayal”. Favre was not the least bit affected by all this, it only added fuel to his fire. Once again, he made a mockery of everyone in the Packers organization who had doubted him. He completed 17 of 28 passes for 241 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Vikings won the game 38-26 and Favre had without a doubt embarrassed the Packers for questioning his value to their team. Favre definitely got the last laugh in this one. And it looks as if there is only more despair to come for the Packers, who already trail the Vikings in division playoff race. The Vikings have only lost one game this season and as they continue their success, the Packers are only left to wonder what could have been if they hadn’t betrayed Favre.