Brett Favre, quarterback extraordinaire, has had an on-again, off-again history with the sport of football. Beginning in the NFL in 1991 with the Atlanta Falcons, and moving on to the Green Bay Packers in 1992, he announced his retirement in 2008, claiming “I know I can play, but I don’t think I want to. And that’s really what it comes down to.”
However, no less than five months later, Favre returned to the game, playing for the New York Jets. In February 2009, he once again claimed retirement. And as of today, he has signed with the Minnesota Vikings.
Now, any player with a career as marked by accomplishment as Favre’s might feel that they can decide what to do with their career, even at the expense of goodwill in both the press and the industry, but what they don’t reckon on is the way public perception can hurt their legacy. Clearly, he still has the ability to play at the highest level of the game, so his constant flipping back and forth has become annoying, more indicative of a man who either truly doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, or who really craves the attention.
But one of the things we ought to be telling our kids regarding this situation is that it’s important to stick with a decision. As Yoda tells Luke in “The Empire Strikes Back“: “Do or do not. There is no try.” If Favre was truly interested in retiring, to the point where he made a formal announcement of his intentions, then he should have stood by it. If his character is such that he could easily fold and ask to come back, can any team really trust him? He’s done it twice now, and it’s ridiculous. Making a tough decision is all part of maturing and growing up, and kids need to see adults modeling this, especially those with as much media influence as Favre has.
At this point, we shouldn’t care what Brett does, but at least we can point at him as an example of how not to act.
Comments
Lisa
August 20th, 2009 - 6:33:17 PM
I hope Favre steps it up this season and does well for his team.