Losing a Legend: My Take on What Brett Favre Means to My Life

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I picked a photo of Brett Favre standing alone.

Why did I do this, you may ask?

It's to show that Brett Favre truly does stand alone when it comes to him being the greatest quarterback that the NFL has ever seen in it's existence.

You have your John Elway's, Joe Mantana's, Peyton Manning's, Dan Marino's, and Tom Brady's, but there has never been, and never will be a quarterback as significant as Brett.

He's a fearless warrior that has never taken the game for granted. Although he has a big contract, I can safely say that he would play the game for a million if he were healthy.

These days in the NFL, players shy away from playing beyond the age of 35, sometimes even before. It's seen quite often that a running back will hang up the cleats when they are only 30 years old.

It's because of lack of production, and the wanting to be able to live a healthy life when your football career comes to a screeching halt.

The reason why Brett Favre has stuck around for so long is not because of money. People always say he's just trying to pad his stats in order to boost his ego.

Why would you risk serious injury to do a thing like that?

Favre loves the game of football more than anybody I've ever seen in my entire 16-year lifetime. There are certain punter's and kicker's that play until they're in their 40's, but that's because they are rarely ever contacted during the entirety of a 60-minute game.

When Brett retired for the second time, I thought he was definitely gone for good. The idea of somebody un-retiring twice just didn't seem like a logical decision for me.

As soon as the Jets released him from his contract, I confronted my Dad with the idea that he could sign with the Vikings without any complications. No trades, no draft picks given up.

There is no way that any Minnesota fan, staff member, or personnel member can regret the move the Vikings made for a second in their life.

It's saddening to me when people say that Favre is the reason why we lost the NFC championship game to the New Orleans Saints this season.

If it wasn't for the silver fox, the Vikings would likely have never even been a game. It's very unlikely that Tarvaris Jackson would have had the skills to take us that far.

Yes, his last pass was an interception. People need to get over that, and start focusing on every single positive he brought the organization.

Brett didn't have to come back. He could have spent time with his wife Diana and his kids in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Favre did us Vikings fans a huge favor when he returned.

But the best things in this life always have to come to an end at some point in time.

I'm fully aware of the fact that there are some skeptical flaws that go against the reports that he's officially done.

Brad Childress wasn't even aware when reporter's confronted him about the rumor that Brett Favre told teammates that he's done for good.

Why would you tell your teammates but not your head coach, who has been with you multiple times this summer to see how you're doing? It seems a little bit sketchy to me.

I've always been a person of high-hopes, wishful thinking, and faith. Until he goes up on that podium, his hand on a stack of bibles, I will not believe that he's retiring.

If you fool the world twice before, why wouldn't you fool them a third?

Football fans all over the world, mainly Packer fans, have lost immense doses of respect for Favre for not only un-retiring twice, but going to their biggest division rival.

Why are Packer fans so bitter? He gave every fiber of his being to your organization to help it win as much as he possibly could.

Yes, he went to a division rival, but you no longer wanted him on the roster in the first place.

The Aaron Rodgers era was set to begin, and Brett was fading in the shadows, right? Since they felt Rodgers was ready, Green Bay traded Favre to the New York Jets for draft picks.

Brett did not give up on you, you gave up on him. If you want to hate him, hate him. It just doesn't make sense to me.

The latest report that I have seen is that the Vikings are offering Brett a $3 million raise. Like I said earlier, it's not about money. I'm not sure if more cash is going to sway him one way or another.

On the other hand, if the Vikings could offer him the ability to no longer have pain all over his anatomy, he would be throwing spirals on the practice field in Mankato tomorrow.

The reason I will not be bitter if he retires is if he is honestly retiring because he knows in his mind that his body will not be able to hold up for a 16-game season.

Although I wish he would have made his decision to retire, if it's true, earlier in the off-season, nobody can jump down his throat for that.

It's no secret that Brett was going to wait as long as he could this summer in order to see if his surgically-repaired ankle would be able to hold up.

I've heard the phrase "Brett held Minnesota fans for hostage." That's a seriously ridiculous statement. It's not like we didn't have another quarterback on the roster.

When you're a legend like Favre is, you can almost do whatever you choose to do.

The Minnesota Vikings are the most important aspect of my life, excluding family and friends. When you lose such a key member, it hurts.

It's not often I shed a tear, but the last two times I have cried in my life were because of the loss against the Saints, and when I finished viewing Adam Schefter's interview on ESPN about the "breaking news".

Favre or not, I will be sitting on that couch when the Vikings travel to New Orleans, Louisiana for the first game of the 2010 season this September.

Cheers to you, Brett Favre. You're a legend, hero, and the greatest quarterback of all-time.

If you're gone, thanks for the memories, No. 4.

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