My Last Favre Post Until He Signs or Stays Retired

The Brett Favre saga is sucking the oxygen out of the Vikings room, so let me pipe in on why, once and for all, the Vikings should sign him. And I promise, this will be the last I mention it until he either signs or stays retired.

There is one segment of the fanbase that wants nothing to do with Brett Favre, largely because he played for the arch rival Packers. They feel that if Favre were to take the Vikings to and win the Super Bowl, it would somehow be tainted, and all credit would go to Favre. Others think that cheering for Favre would be akin to rooting for the Taliban or Al Qaeda. The other segment of the non-Favre camp doesn't want to buy in and cheer for him because they fear he will throw an interception to lose to the Packers, or lose in the NFC championship, or God Forbid, the Super Bowl. I get it. Rivalry is an important thing in sports, and having a public enemy #1 is good for the sporting soul. But I’m north of 40, and have seen too much professional football tragedy as a Vikings fan to think this is the worst possible thing that could befall the franchise. Hell, Favre playing for the Vikings wouldn't crack the top 50. Favre throwing a soul crushing interception to lose to the Packers doesn't even make the top 25. There is onlt one Darkest Day in Vikings History, and it is the infamous 'Hail Mary' Game. For those of you too young to remember, get down on your knees right now and give thanks to God. For those of you who do remember, the sullen nodding of the head and involuntary grimace and twitching tell me you concur.

We were at my aunt and uncle’s in White Bear Lake. My Aunt, a church going, Sunday school teacher, dropped an F-bomb after the blatant offensive pass interference that robbed the Vikings of their destiny. My dad threw a beer bottle against my uncle’s wall, shattering it and staining the wall. My uncle cared not. No ne moved for 10 minutes, just staring at the TV. My uncle cursed the medical attendants that assisted the goddamn idiot referee who took the whisky bottle to the head. I can’t explain the anguish I feel every time I see that goddamn play. 33 years have not healed that wound, and another 50 will not, either. Ever. On the way home to Richfield we heard on the radio Fran Tarkenton’s dad had died during the game. I cried all the way home.

So worst case, Favre throws a soul crushing interception in either the NFC Championship or the Super Bowl, and I shut off the TV, numb and lifeless. Hey, I’ve been down that road with this team more than I care to remember. It's amost a badge of Honor at this point. ('Hey, I've been more haertbroken over the Vikings than you have!')

It still wouldn’t hit the top 5 in all time Vikings agony. And I will be back next season, convinced the Vikes are going to win it all.

Favre is one of the gretest quarterbacks of all time. At 40, he's still better than Sage or Tarvaris. He doesn't guarantee a Super Bowl; no one player does. But I think he has a better chance of taking the Vikings farther in the playoffs than either jackson or Rosenfels. Jackson folded like a wet cardboard box under the pressure of the Eagles defense and the post-season.

He makes the offense as a whole better, and demands that defenses play the Vikings honest. Teams will be forced to respect the pass, and unable to stuff the box with 8 or 9 guys, Adrian Peterson will be even better than he is now. When teams try to key on Peterson and stop him, Favre will have the ability to make them pay consistently. Can you say that about Jackson or Sage? He is able to read a defense and audible out of a bad play. Currently, the Vikings do that infrequently at best. If there are 9 guys stacked at or close to the line of scrimmage, the Vikings run into the teeth of that defense much like the Australian army did against the Turks at Gallipoli. And if you want to look at the stats, I'll compare any stats you want of Favre's against Sage or Tarvaris.

My Dad is 80 now, he’s lost a step, and his memory isn’t what it was. It was my Dad that gave me this unconditional love of the Minnesota Vikings, and nothing would please me more than watching a Vikings Super Bowl victory with him. And if Brett Favre is the quarterback that would lead them to that, and allow me to share that with my Dad before he leaves me, I will be forever indebted to Zygi Wilf, Brad Childress, and Brett Favre for allowing that to happen.
So if he signs with the Vikes, I’m buying me and my Dad matching Favre jerseys, and we’ll be whooping it up like Viking fanatics once again this fall.

Oh, and one more thing. Fuck Drew Pearson. Fuck Drew Pearson to Hell.