Favre Retires. Finally. I Think.

Brett Lorenzo Favre, the beloved gunslinger from Southern Mississippi who was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons, made his first pass completion on his way to prominence as a Packer to himself and adorned a New York Jets uniform in his final season, announced his retirement yesterday…again.

For those of you who do not tune into ESPN during the NFL season, didn’t yesterday or at any point over the last few off-seasons, have missed one previous Favre retirement and copious amounts of gushing over old #4. The recipient of three MVP awards and owner of multiple passing accolades appears to finally be done, and I say good riddance. Maybe the man love will finally stop.

Favre holds the NFL record for most career wins (181), passing touchdowns (464), completions (5,720), attempts (9,280) and yards (65,127). He owns these records not because he’s the greatest quarterback of all-time, but because, and let me make this overwhelmingly clear, HE REFUSED TO GO AWAY. Favre also holds the mark for consecutive starts for a QB at an uber-impressive 291, but that loosely translates into he played forever, and this is thus why he holds so many records.

He surpassed John Elway’s career win total (148) but played 62 more games. He captured Dan Marino’s career touchdown (420), yardage (61,361) and completion (4,967) marks but played in 33 more contests than the Dolphin great. Further proof that these records were attained based largely on longevity and not solely skill is Favre’s firm grasp of the NFL’s record for most interceptions thrown in a career at 310. The gunslinger begrudgingly took that one from George Blanda (277) who played in four decades for 26 totals seasons or eight more than Favre.

Please don’t get me wrong. I appreciate Favre’s greatness, but also completely comprehend his legacy. His true legacy. Favre’s one of the ten best QBs to ever play the game, and his performance against the Oakland Raiders, a day following the passing of his father, was one of the single most inspiring events I’ve witnessed. I’ll even admit that two seasons ago, I actually found myself pulling for Green Bay as the should-have-already-retired Favre was leading the youngest team in the NFL to the playoffs.

The axe I have to grind with the recent retiree was born from ESPN’s never-ending Favre-worship (the network even did a segment on his habit of slapping his teammates on the butt). Yesterday, an ESPN anchor said Favre was "the best regular season QB of all-time", which was far more accurate than uttering “greatest quarterback of all-time” since he continually struggled in the postseason, but I argue he wasn’t even that. Favre has zero single season records among his collection. His best single season totals are 39 TDs (11 behind Tom Brady’s 50), 4,413 passing yards (671 behind Marino’s 5,084) and 372 completions (68 behind Drew Brees’ 440). Assuming he remains on his current pace, Peyton Manning will destroy every Favre record with 54 less INTs thrown. If Brady’s pace continues, he’ll surpass Favre’s TD total by 12 with 102 fewer picks. Even Brees will complete 235 more passes and throw 57 less INTs if he plays in as many games as Favre.

I’m not a Favre hater. I’m a hater of how ESPN has handled the twilight of his career. His sandlot style that was adored by the majority of those in the mass media was often ineffective since the 11 professionals on defense were playing like it was an NFL game and not a Wrangler Jeans commercial. Although he was often trick or treat, looked one way and threw another, his style of football was fun to watch (while occasionally heartbreaking for his fans). It was just Favre being Favre as some of his followers liked to say. He’s undoubtedly a player for the ages, but lets get our collective heads on straight and admit he was no Montana, Marino, Elway, Steve Young, Brady or Manning.

Favre mercifully announced this retirement with much less fanfare and far fewer tears than last year's. Hopefully, ESPN’s producers and analysts will allow him to walk away with equally less fanfare and far fewer tears of their own. Hopefully, Favre doesn’t change his mind…again.