Every sports story is bound to annoy at least one person. Here are some recent stories that have rolled the old eyeballs or had me changing the channel immediately. The (very boring) Celtics won the NBA title by beating the Lakers, my favorite team. Tiger Woods won some golf tournament with a hurt knee. Congratulations, a golfer actually acted like an athlete. A horse broke its legs on the track because its owners pumped it full of chemicals. Then there’s Brett Favre.
I’ve been sick of the Brett Favre partay ever since the game after his father died (more on that below). I have nothing against his play on the field. People say he was one of the greats in his prime (I wasn’t into football yet back then), he puts up great fantasy numbers (because interceptions are weakly punished) and can make a game entertaining because of boneheaded decisions. It’s the way the press and the public seem to worship the man that rubs my tummy the wrong way.
Great athletes are given undue leniency all the time. Michael Jordan, despite trying baseball for two years and an ill-fated comeback (during which he was actually pretty decent), has his reputation as G.O.A.T. (thanks LL Cool J!) intact. Everyone seems to have conveniently forgotten Ray Lewis’s (possible) involvement in a murder. And so on. Brett Favre is also unlikely to have his record smudged after his latest possible un-retirement. Most people probably still want him to play even though the dissenting voices are thankfully louder this time around.
Unlike Jordan and Lewis and most other flawed athletes, Favre’s actions are widely destructive. He’s holding a franchise hostage and displaying the type of selfish behavior that usually turns public opinion strongly against an athlete. Instead, we hear that for some reason he’s earned the right to make his decision how and when he wants to make it. That’s a load of bullshit. No one earns the right to continually string along his employers, his teammates and his fans for an extended period of time. When I think about Brett Favre, I can’t help but wonder how things would be different if he were black.
I think the answer is obvious. Forget about his current tomfoolery, he would have been crucified during his loafing at the beginning of last season. (Another question: would Mike Vick be in jail now if he were white?). Of course, he doesn’t walk away unscathed just because he’s white. Many white athletes would probably be crucified as well. My theory is that all black athletes would lose in the court of public opinion (this theory will be tested in a few years when LeBron walks away from the Cavs). Compare Favre’s recent conduct to the media lynching Randy Moss received for being “selfish” when he walked off the field with a couple seconds left in an unwinnable game. Or the circus that ensued during Terrell Owens’ holdout with the Philadelphia Eagles. Favre’s conduct is, in my opinion, ten times worse than either of the wide receivers’.
Two Brett Favre incidents that stick out in my mind. Remember when Brett Favre criticized Javon Walker for holding out? In many circles, Favre was held to be the correct party. But the truth was that Walker was grossly underpaid (relative to his position and performance) and was completely justified in asking for more money. Favre will have financial security for the rest of his life because of fame but the playing years are the main earning years for guys like Javon Walker. While a true great athlete and teammate would have taken ownership to task, Favre targets the player.
The other incident is the game Favre played after his father died. The one where he cried and everyone cried with him. I’ll bet that game ends up on some top ten lists of greatest football moments on ESPN at the end of the decade. People talk about it as if it was a superhuman performance. While tragic (for Brett Favre personally, not for Chris Berman and John Madden and the rest of the country), it wasn’t superhuman. Here’s another great performance after a parent’s death story that for some reason didn’t get as much ink. Frank Gore’s mother (who raised him and his three siblings and various other family members on her own) died and within the week he scored twice in a winning effort. It’s athletes like Frank Gore (whose story is rather remarkable) that deserve praise and adulation, not one like Brett Favre.
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