Life Story Of Brett Favre

Didinger: Signing Favre bad idea for Birds

I’m one of Brett Favre’s biggest fans. I regularly defended him when people said he was overrated, over-the-hill and just plain annoying. I think he is one of the greatest players in NFL history and I’ll happily give him a standing ovation when he is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But Favre coming to the Eagles as the backup to Michael Vick?

Sorry, it’s a bad idea.

I don’t think it would work for several reasons. One, I don’t know if he could adjust to a backup role. He was a starter for two decades. He isn’t used to running the scout team in practice and holding a clipboard during games. After you’ve been Brett Favre, three-time MVP and living legend, it is hard to be just another guy on the sidelines.

Can he even be effective in that role? We don’t know. It is a different dynamic. A backup  quarterback doesn’t get as many reps in practice so it is hard to stay sharp and he usually goes into games cold. The last time Favre did that was 1992. He was 22 and coming off the bench to replace Don Majkowski. Could he shed the rust as easily at 41 (he turns 42 in October)? I doubt it.

I don’t believe Favre is coming back and here’s why. If he felt like he could still play, I think he’d shop around for a team where he could start. There are teams looking for a No. 1 quarterback: Seattle, Miami, San Francisco, Tennessee all fall into that category. Why wouldn’t he sign there? Wouldn’t he rather play than watch? I mean, this is Brett Favre we’re talking about.

Of course, it is late July, training camps are about to open and he may be feeling the itch. We’ve seen this before. Too many times, some would say. I don’t doubt there probably are days when he gets up, flexes his right arm and thinks, “Hey, I feel pretty good.” But at a certain point, I have to believe common sense takes over and says, “Forget it, hoss.”

Favre’s numbers in Minnesota last season were telling.

Brett favre biography | Wiki | Profile |Free Images Online

Until the start of the 2008 Season, Brett Favre was the Green Bay Packers' starting Quarterback since joining the team in 1992. He joins Joe Montana in being the only players to win back-to-back MVP awards. Favre led the Packers to three consecutive playoff appearances (for the first time since the 1960s) including a Superbowl win in 1996. Raised in Kiln, Mississippi, Favre was both a baseball and a football star, lettering in both sports. On July 14, 1996, Favre married long-time girlfriend Deanna Tynes after a 12-year courtship. Traded to the Green Bay Packers before the beginning of the 1992 NFL season, Favre was an unknown backup until starting quarterback Don Majkowski turned his ankle in week 3 against the Cincinatti Bengals. Already trailing, Favre led the Packers to a thrilling comeback, culminating in a long touchdown pass to Kittrick Taylor as time expired. Since the following game, he has never missed a start as the Packers' quarterback. He was the league's MVP award following the 1995 season; however, he announced in the spring of 1996 that he was addicted to the painkiller Vicodin and voluntarily entered the NFL substance-abuse program. He returned for the fall season and single-handedly made the Packers the league's #1 offense. He won his second MVP award, and the team won the Super Bowl. In 1997, the Packers lost in the Super Bowl to the Denver Broncos, but Favre won his unprecedented 3rd MVP award this season, sharing it with Detroit running back Barry Sanders. As of the end of the 2004 regular season, Favre ranks 3rd in NFL history in passing yardage (49,734), attempts (7004), wins (135), 2nd in completions (4,306), TD passes (376), and consecutive games with a touchdown pass (36). His 253 consecutive starts (275 playoff) is by far the most by an NFL quarterback and is second among all positions, all-time (Jim Marshall, 282). Established the Brett Favre Forward Foundation in 1996; over the past nine years, in conjunction with his annual golf tournament, celebrity softball game and fund-raising dinners, foundation has donated in excess of $1.5 million to charities in his home state of Mississippi as well as to those in his adopted state of Wisconsin. Favre retired from the NFL on March 4, 2008, at the age of 38.