Brett Favre retires... again... maybe...

After playing in the NFL for 18 seasons, Favre is hanging them up... again... I hope. Hopefully, in August we won't be talking about "Which team will Favre play for next??!" Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Brett Favre. In 2003, he won a fantasy football championship for me after his 4 TD, 399 yard performance against the Raiders on Monday Night Football. But the way his career ended in Green Bay and the way he took an 8-3 Jets team and drove them into the ground to miss the playoffs shows that not only can he no longer play in this league, but he should have retired years ago.

In January 2007, Favre threw his final pass as a Green Bay Packer, right into the hands of Giants defender Corey Webster. The Giants went on to kick a field goal, send themselves to the Super Bowl and send Favre into retirement... or so we thought. After saying over and over again that he was retired and done with football he decides to un-retire and reclaim his spot on the Packers. Problem was the Packers had already moved on with Aaron Rodgers. Now one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time needed a home. The New York Jets saw this as an opportunity to put themselves over the top and get past the Patriots. They pushed aside Chad Pennington like the ugly girl at the prom and asked more popluar and flashier Favre to dance. It was a match made in heaven, big time quarterback in a big time city.

The Jets were ready to make a run at the playoffs. Unfortunately, that popular, flashy player they asked to take them to the playoffs turned out to be just an old 39 year old quarterback, who turned over the ball so often people were starting to wonder if he remembered what team he played for. In the final 12 weeks of the season, Favre was intercepted 18 times. With teams like the Bengals, Chiefs, Raiders, Rams, Seahawks and 49ers on the schedule during that time, that shouldn't be happening. The final week of the regular season against the Dolphins, Favre dotted every "i" and crossed every "t" in the phrase "Spectacular Failure" as he threw 3 picks with the last one being the worst. He pretended to spike the ball, only to actually throw a pass to a receiver that wasn't looking for it. Meanwhile over on the other sideline, that "ugly girl" that Favre replaced, finished second in the MVP voting and led his team to the AFC East crown.

Even if the worst should happen and Favre does decide to come out of retirement again, the NFL needs to learn a lesson from this. This man CANNOT help your team. PERIOD. If he had stayed retired, the Jets would have made the playoffs with Pennington. Guaranteed. Everything fell into their favor this season and Favre couldn't get them into the playoffs. They had a good running game, a strong offensive line, a soft schedule, an injury depleted Patriots and their biggest threat was 1-15 last year. I'm sorry, but whether Favre wants to be finished or not, he's finished.

Favre gave us many memorable moments and games and for that, NFL fans are eternally grateful. He will go down in history as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, but right now this is the best thing for Favre and the NFL right now. If he continues to play, he will only ruin good NFL teams with his inconsistent play and continue to tarnish his legacy. Let the fans remember you as you were, a gunslinger that fired all over the field, broke a lot of records and won a lot of games. Not some old guy that keeps shooting himself in the foot every time he reaches for his gun.

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