The Crystal Ball 2010 Week 15 Thursday Night Special

It finally happened. Brett Favre watched a game from the sidelines.

It took an energetic rookie, a body finally saying enough, and an act from the Almighty to finally do it, but Brett finally sat one out bringing to an end his spectacular streak of 321 consecutive starts, both regular season and playoffs, for a starting quarterback. And you know what? The world did not come to a screeching halt, seas did not boil and locusts did not fall from the sky.

I really wish he didn't come back. Favre was and in many ways still is a super duper star, one who can dictate his path no matter what the organization or anyone else can say about it. But his streak and possibly his career shouldn't have ended like this. It shouldn’t have ended with him sitting bored on a sideline, watching his replacement stink up the joint. It shouldn’t have ended with him embroiled in a seemly harassment investigation. And it most certainly shouldn’t have ended with him stuck on an underachieving team that fired its head coach midstream that is all but out of playoff contention and Favre left to contemplate in pain from multiple injuries why he came back for such physical punishment with nothing to show for it.

Let’s be honest, Favre has cheated Father Time and the injury report far longer than anyone else ever had. Yes, he seemed slower, less accurate over the past few years, and he was dealing with injuries that would fell your average fan to boot. But nothing was so serious he couldn’t muster himself back onto the field each week. Injury-wise, he was playing with house money for years. Unfortunately, any good gambler knows eventually the house always wins, and it finally busted Favre when he went all in.

No, I like many did not want it to end like this. But what can you do? It was not my place, and certainly no one else’s, to tell Favre how he should end his career. The man still wanted to play. He could still command big ratings, big games, big attention, big money and big fun. Through his years of constant play at an elite level, he earned the right to end his career any way he wanted to and if that meant constantly chasing after one more shining moment in the sun, so be it. He wanted to get back that feeling of being on top. To feel that joy, exultation and thrill of being a champion, and then walking away as a champion. Very few athletes get to write that story, and when they do, fans, players and media remember it forever.

But chasing such a difficult career ending can lead a player to overstay their welcome in terms of fan and teammate support. The task becomes even more difficult when the athlete must battle the ravages of time and declining skills. For most athletes that follow this path, a championship never materializes just bad play, bitter feelings and a soiling of the memory of the player they once were. Any thespian or musician will tell you that a good performer should always want to leave them wanting more. And if he walked away after getting so tantalizingly close to grabbing that elusive second championship yet again, Favre most certainly would have left everyone wanting more. But he stayed at the party just a bit too long, and had to be shuffled out the door while still diving into the chips and dip.

While I have had my differences with how Favre has gone about the latter stages of his career, and documented them often, I’ve never had a problem with him as a player. I didn’t want him to retire because I tired of his play or even his constant retirement dance, which was exhausting and aggravating the past few years. I wanted him to retire so I didn’t have to watch a sad last season, which is exactly what we’re watching.

Too many athletes just never know what to do with themselves after they retire. They’ve spent their entire lives working at their craft, focusing all of their energy and talent to reach the top of their chosen profession they do not know what to do with themselves after they leave the game or how to properly channel their intellect or competitive nature into a career outside of being a professional athlete.

Part of me thinks this is the quagmire Favre has been in the past few years. He knows he cannot play forever, but he has no idea what to do with himself. He most likely enjoys his farm, and definitely likes not getting pummeled each week. But you do not get the same rush from mowing the back 40 as you do going for it on 4th and 1 from the 40.

So these guys stick around too long and play far past their primes, occasionally showing flashes of their past brilliance but mostly just reminding us that they should have hung their cleats up years ago. I suppose it had to be this way with Brett too, having a forgettable season in a uniform foreign to the one we remember him so fondly in for so many years. It happened to many of the greats, like Franco Harris in Seattle, Joe Montana in Kansas City, Jerry Rice in Oakland, and Johnny Unitas in San Diego. So it seems fitting we add Favre in Minnesota to that list.

But now that we have had a break in Favre’s steady as a clock play each week, we can for once actually visualize an NFL world without him. And for fans and Favre alike, we’re starting to see that while it will not be the same and a small part of it we’ll never get back, ultimately it will be ok. And as for Favre’s career, with this small window of perspective that is beginning to open, we can start leaving all the nonsense of the past few seasons behind and really look at his career, and his streak of starts, as a whole. I urge everyone to marvel at what he managed to accomplish just by coming to work each Sunday. There’s a good chance something like this won’t happen again. Even if Peyton Manning breaks his record, it will not be in the same exciting, crazy, sometimes dangerous way he played with reckless abandon every single game. It still boggles my mind. Especially since I don't think my quarterback has ever started 16 games in a row.

Whether this is the end for Favre or not will not be written until week 1 of next season. Personally I hope it is so he can go out with at least a shred of dignity intact and allow us to put on our rose colored glasses as we peruse the highlights of a Hall of Fame career. Brett, as you now know it will be ok to not play. Just remember what the late, great Don Meredith said and take it to heart this time. Turn out the lights, the party’s over.

Tonight’s Special

San Francisco (5-8) at San Diego (7-6)

Ooooh look another scintillating matchup for the NFL Network. I know the network is plugging this game as a matchup between two teams that still have a chance to make the playoffs. Guess what? I’m saying no they don’t. I’d be shocked if ether team managed to make it into the post season, and that’s with taking into consideration their putrid divisions. The interesting part of this game will be watching while you imagine being in that nice San Diego weather and enjoying fish tacos and cervezas. Now that sounds like a good time.

Chargers over 49ers