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Brett Favre: Looked Better in Green
Published: August 27, 2009
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I still can’t get over seeing Brett Favre in purple. It’s almost surreal. The very sight of Favre in purple brings a whole array of feelings that my body can’t quite process at the same time.
I grew up a Vikings fan living in the St. Louis area. I didn’t have a team when I was young; too young to for the St. Louis (football) Cardinals and already too into the Vikings to jump ship when the Rams came to town.
Growing up a Vikings fan instills a certain feeling towards all things Green Bay. Including their ex-quarterback. I grew up despising Brett Favre. The kind of disdain you reserve for only a select few in all of sports. Now he’s on the Vikings…and I’m not sure what to think.
My initial reaction, especially after seeing the numbers he put up for the Jets in 2008 was, “there goes the season.” He’s short step away from 40, he just came off surgery on his throwing arm, he still has a torn rotator cuff, and I’m not sure I mentioned this, but he’s almost 40!
Favre still was a Vikings, and like it or not, I’ll have to accept that. I’ve been trying to see what the positives could be; I mean, I may not like the guy, but there’s a reason he’s on top of all the record books. He’s experienced, he’s creative, and most importantly, defenses may have to respect him.
I’m still on the anti-Favre faction of Vikings fans. I’ve gotten over all those years that he was wearing Packer green and yellow. I’ve gotten over all of the heartbreaks he caused for the Vikings and its fans, too. I’m still against this move.
I’m also against Tarvaris Jackson.
Earlier in the offseason the Vikings signed a 30-something career backup in Sage Rosenfels. Look, I don’t think he’s going to be the next Kurt Warner who gets pulled from the depths of football irrelevance to become a Hall of Fame quarterback, but looking back at some of his games, especially from last year, I can’t help but think that there’s something there.
If you look back at Rosenfels’ 2008 season, undoubtedly there’s one moment that jumps out. The week four Indianapolis Colts game. The Texans blow a 17 point fourth quarter lead partially to Rosenfels running the ball and getting spun into a helicopter spin by Raheem Brock. Rosenfels fumbled and the ball gets returned 60-plus yards for a defensive touchdown.
That’s a moment that sticks in my head, like most people who watched the game. This is also the moment that make me think Rosenfels is the Vikings best choice to take the helm on offense.
The difference between Favre from 2008 and Rosenfels from 2008 is that with the week four play from Sage Rosenfels, I can see what he was doing. He put his body on the line to get a first down to ice the game. I had an idea of what he was trying to do, however poorly it was executed. The 2008 Brett Favre was making decisions that to this day, I’m unable to figure out. His last five games in 2008, he threw nine interceptions.
To me, that’s not having a plan, even if you have to put your body on the line, it’s being careless with the ball. It’s running out of gas with roughly one-third of the season left.
Rosenfels theatrics in week four may not be what you want on your highlight real, but it does look like the actions of a guy who will put his body on the line if it means it’ll get the win. It reminds me of this one quarterback that wore the number four in Green Bay.
He used to deviate from the play and put his heart into getting that next first down. Unfortunately the No. 4 the Vikings have is just the shell of that player. I’m not sure where the heart went, but it’s not there anymore.
