Media Praise: Brett Favre Deserves It and the NFL Needs It
Gary Cope, SkinsGridiron.com, Dec. 14, 2004

Ashburn - SkinsGridiron.com member Cut_Ade_Jimoh recently posted a comment on the site's message board that basically said that Green Bay Packers' Brett Favre, among the elite quarterbacks, is "the most overrated." In his original post on Monday, Dec. 13, he wrote, "It seems Favre has for a long time now gotten more credit than he deserves for many things." Cut_Ade_Jimoh is a loyal poster on SG.com and I respect and often enjoy his thoughts and opinions, but in this case, I have to disagree.

Let's be very clear about one thing, Brett Favre doesn't ask for the attention he receives and having seen him in countless interviews over the years, I sense that he is as down-to-earth as a guy can get. He's a throw-back to the golden age of the NFL when players were tough and didn't get hurt on every play. He gets all the attention because he's a warrior, the likes of which has been missing from the NFL for years.

Now before everyone starts calling me a closet Packer fan, I'm not. In fact, I'm a Chicago Bears fan, always have been and always will be (the Redskins are my adopted team since I've lived here for so long). As a Bears' fan, the laws of nature dictate that I hate the Packers. However, I can't help but admire and respect Favre. Not just for what he's done on the football field, but for being an unwilling hero during a day and age when professional sports in this country are desperately seeking a role model who won't crumble under the spotlight and big pay days.

Cases In Point
This year alone we've seen unprecedented appalling behavior from our overpaid and underachieving pro athletes. It seems as though half of Major League Baseball players are on the juice (no big shock to anyone); the National Hockey League locked out its players because greed got the best of them; we have NBA players assaulting fans in the stands; other NBAers complaining that they can't feed their families on $14 million a year; and still others having the gall to ask for a month off in the middle of the season to recover from making a (very bad) rap album. I don't know about you, but it seems to me that Favre is one of only a handful of good guys left in professional sports.

From day one, Favre has been the pillar of professionalism in the NFL. The public constantly complains about how the media only covers the negative aspects of sports, but when it praises a man who ranks as one of the best quarterbacks of all time, the media takes a hit for being to "rosey." Make up your mind, public.

It's just like watching the nightly news: Viewers say they'd rather see happy stories and complain about the "if it bleeds, it leads" policy in place at 99.9 percent of television stations, but when it comes right down to it, the ratings say otherwise. What the public says it wants and what it actually watches are two different things. This applies to sports as well.

By the Numbers
As for Favre being overrated, I'm not sure how you honestly make that claim, especially when you review his career highlights and statistics. Oh, and what a coincidence, I happen to have them right here! Let's review, shall we?

Career Record: 134-71
Career TDs: 369 (2nd all time)
Career Passing Yards: 48,806 (closing in on 3rd all time)
Career Pro Bowls: 8
Game-winning Comebacks: 30
Playoff Appearances: 12 (soon to be 13)
Division Titles: 5
13 Season of more than 3,000 yards passing
1 Super Bowl Title (in two trips)
Started 201 consecutive games (NFL record)

Overcoming Adversity
Brett Favre unexpectedly lost his father and brother-in-law in less than 12 months. He also found out his wife had cancer. He admitted years ago that he was addicted to pain killers and he got help and kicked the Vicadin. Of course, can you blame the man, he's been sacked 374 times in his career (nearly 28 a season) and that's gotta hurt.

The bottom line is this: Brett Favre shows up to play each and every day; he wins nearly twice as many games as he loses; his teammates love him; his opponent fear and respect him; he plays with a rare love and fire for the game; he'll block a 300-pound defensive lineman if it means an extra yard; and he does it all while being the poster boy for the NFL with grace and humility.

The NFL needs Brett Favre in the spotlight. Professional sports needs Brett Favre in the spotlight. We, as fans, need him in the spotlight. Why? Because when the next Jason Giambi or Ron Artest steals the headlines, I'll be looking for a Brett Favre to renew my faith in professional athletes, because right now, that faith is waning.