Brett Favre....sigh

Sometimes I let people and their actions or inactions have to much control over my emotions. The former NFL quarterback Brett Favre is one of those people. Somewhere, there is a paper I wrote years ago about watching him in my first ever viewing of a football game. I was quite enthralled. There was a difference in the way he played compared to other athletes on my TV screen. He seemed to care and try and fight for every play, and that made it entertaining and inspiring. Far from perfect, Brett still gave his all in every down he played. That made me a fan. I followed the last leg of his career with the Packers, which ended in him throwing an interception in the NFC championship game...and running to tackle the guy who had pulled his hopes, and mine, out of the cold Green Bay air. He "retired,"a heartbreaking time for me, and then returned shortly to play for the Jets. His season with the Jets started well, but ended with him getting injured, which cut short his record streak of consecutive starts. I watched sadly as he "retired" again, ending his career on a mediocre season. However, Brett came back again. I bitterly thought that this was going to be yet another mediocre season for him. I thought wrong. In his last season (hopefully) Brett Favre lead his new team, the Vikings, on one of their best runs in the team's history. Leading the team with his best statistical season ever, Brett played like I'd never seen him play before. The Vikings had a great run through the playoffs until...the Championship game against the New Orleans Saints. In the final seconds of the game, a combination of bad play calls and imperfection by Brett crushed the Vikings hopes of a Super Bowl trip. Now Brett is retiring again, and I hope that this is for real. I have loved seeing him play and rooting for him to go all the way, even though it never happened in my football time, but I am ready for him to leave and stop disappointing me, and himself, every season.