Why We Needed Brett Favre to Win Super Bowl XLIV

It’s not because we necessarily wanted to see Brett Favre win the Super Bowl, but because he had to. It was essential that the man win it all again so he could ride off into the sunset, never to be heard from again on a football field. Though he is an amazing player to watch – his talents at 40 are still far and above those of most players – and most of us are too in awe of him to truly be bothered by him during the season, he has become a nightmare during the off-season.

Perhaps it is not entirely his fault, and has much more to do with the love affair the media (i.e. ESPN) has with Favre, but for any sports fan, enduring the winter-summer Favre storyline that has become a yearly tradition is also something I dread.

It starts innocently enough, with Favre saying “It’s hard to even think about anything other than the loss”, though we will all know what he’s thinking soon enough. Or not thinking. Or at least mulling over. Maybe he’ll retire – yeah, he’ll definitely retire. But, hey, he looked good at forty, so why not? Will he? Won’t he? Isn’t there other sports news out there?

The overhead video last summer that chronicled Favre simply getting off a plane to meet with Brad Childress was like watching a video feed of the Pope; Favre has become sacred, something other-worldly. Apparently, the media circus – with ESPN inevitably acting like the ringleader – likes to think we hang on every word of those who study the game, as if they have any idea what Favre might do. They beat the subject into the ground until it has become well, fodder for articles like these, and they refuse to learn their lesson.

Which is why Brett Favre not only needed to beat the New Orleans Saints, but he needed to go to Miami and defeat Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. Winning that Super Bowl would have all but guaranteed the end of the torture that we are most assuredly about to be subjected to.

But don’t be fooled by a press conference announcing his retirement! That is merely the first trick to be played on you. You might be thinking, “Well, this is it, it’s finally over. Favre has shed some tears and he’s going to walk away from the game under his own accord.” Then the rumbling begins.

There will always be a team that needs a quarterback that didn’t score one through free agency or the draft. Favre will be lingering out there, those old bones tantalizing coaches looking for an edge. And who can blame any of them? Favre is still a great quarterback, despite the last two throws of his last two NFC Championships. I’d be fine with him playing until he was 50, or even 100. But I can do without all the useless speculation.

Yet, here I am talking about it. Man, it would have been really nice if Favre could have won Super Bowl XLIV.