The Packer: Brett Favre’s Journey Home

I used to worship Brett Favre.

Well, not “worship” worship, I still went to church on Sundays, but since I grew up in Wisconsin the 11 o’clock service always ended at 11:50 because of Brett. Where I’m from, noon on Sunday means the roads are empty, as are the supermarkets, restaurants, and really anything else that is filled with people the other six days of the week. A lot of that culture is because of Brett.

Now don’t get me wrong, the Packers of the ’60s are revered figures, and have been for decades. People have always bled green and gold. It just became easier to justify missing a game during the ’70s and ’80s when Green Bay produced perennial also-rans.

Then in 1992 Brett Favre came to Wisconsin and changed the culture of a franchise. He was magnetic, playing the game with an infectious enthusiasm that made it easy to root for him. He was also one of the toughest men in NFL history, putting together an almost unfathomable stretch of stability under center for the Packers, especially when compared to the rotating door of quarterbacks taking snaps for that team in the Second City.

You knew Favre was going to be there, every single Sunday. I’m too young to remember a time before Favre was the Packers quarterback, and until his first retirement he was the only one I had to worry about. And he was fun. The man could frustrate you with a poorly timed interception on a pass that a more conservative QB never would have considered throwing, but later in the game he’d throw two touchdowns off his back foot with passes that a more conservative QB would never have thought possible.

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And he’d win. The Packers won a lot. Favre won a lot. He won three MVP awards in a row, and he won a Super Bowl, the first for Green Bay since a guy named Lombardi patrolled the sidelines.

So yeah, Favre was a crucial part of my life.

I still remember where I was when I heard he had retired for the first time. I remember wearing black to school the next day. I remember watching his teary press conference, and I remember him asking to come back. I remember wanting him back. I remember the trade to New York and how sad it made me to see him in a different shade of green.

And I remember when he became the enemy.

That first time the Packers lined up on the opposite side of the field from Brett Favre was surreal. Brett beating Green Bay didn’t help my emotional state, although it did help me realize how much I wanted him to fail in purple, helped me realize how easy it is to turn on a former idol.

I watched with glee as a textbook Favre-ian pass ended in the hands of the New Orleans Saints, costing Minnesota a trip to the Super Bowl. Then Aaron Rodgers completed his journey to the top of the NFL mountain by winning Super Bowl XLV and an MVP award. Favre had failed. The Packers had thrived. All was good.

Still, I could never fully hate Favre. I hated him as a Viking, sure, but all the great memories from my childhood, the love of football that can be largely attributed to watching him play, are impossible to shake. And part of me knew there was no way Favre and the Packers could stay at war with one another, and that was comforting.

Recently it has looked like Favre wants to rebuild that bridge he burned. His relationship with Rodgers while they were both on the Green Bay roster was frosty, to put it mildly. The men have been professional, but it was hard to miss the dislike under the surface when one has talked about the other in the past.

Then they surprised us. The two presented the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award to Peyton Manning together at this year’s NFL Honors ceremony, even sharing a handshake with one another. Favre seems ready to forgive the franchise for shipping him out before he was ready, and the team’s current star was willing to help with the first step back. Progress.

Now more progress, as team president and CEO Mark Murphy said earlier this week that he hopes Favre will be “back involved in the organization soon”.

The timing feels right. Favre has been retired for a few seasons now, distancing himself a little from his time in the Twin Cities. More than that, Rodgers has emerged as one of the best players in the NFL, a perennial MVP contender. He also brought a title to Titletown. More than anything else, winning soothes hurt feelings in the NFL.

More than anything, I want to be able to smile without reservation when I think about Brett Favre. I want him back in the Packer fold, his jersey number joining the legends that adorn the Lambeau façade. I want to see him paling it up with Rodgers at charity golf outings around the state, and I want to see him on the sidelines decked out in green and gold, a valued guest of the franchise he helped revitalize.

More than anything I just want to love my childhood hero the way I used to.

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