Brett Favre to the Cleveland Browns? Get out of here!
By Thomas Moore
Sep 21, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns helmet on the field before a game against the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports
Five years after he last threw a pass in the National Football League, Brett Favre still believes he can play in the NFL.
Good for him.
More importantly, there is absolutely no scenario where the Cleveland Browns should even consider signing the 45-year-old Favre.
Favre spoke with Sports Illustrated for its “Where Are They Now?” issue. (Which is weird since Favre won’t go away so we can’t imagine anyone is wondering where he is.) And with just a few words Favre fired up the speculation machine for quarterback-starved teams across the league.
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“I think I could play,” Favre told the magazine. “As far as throwing. Of course, we’re not trying to start some he’s-coming-out-of-retirement deal. Do I think I could play and lead a team? Look, no. But I could play. I could make all the throws I made before, I just couldn’t throw it near as far, but that never matters anyway.”
Yes, Favre is a three-time Most Valuable Player and was once a talented quarterback. But he last won the MVP in 1997, which is so long ago that current Browns quarterback Josh McCown, who will turn 36 this weekend, was still in junior high school. It was so long ago, that Johnny Manziel was in preschool. It was so long ago, Cleveland didn’t even have a football team.
In other words, in case you didn’t get the point, it was so long ago that it has no place in the conversation over whether or not Favre can play in 2015.
In addition, in Favre’s last season in the NFL, with Minnesota in 2010, he completed just 60.6 percent of his passes (which would have ranked him 24th in the league last year), threw 19 interceptions (which would have tops in 2014) and just 11 touchdowns.
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During his final three seasons in the league, Favre threw 48 interceptions – not exactly the type of game manager the Browns are looking for at quarterback – and over his final six seasons his teams won just nine more games than they lost.
Even if Favre could give the Browns something resembling average quarterback play in 2015, how much would that help the franchise in the long run? At most, he would make it through one season, leaving the Browns still looking for a quarterback.
As unattractive as the Browns current quarterback situation may be, there is little reason to believe that Favre would make things any better.
If Brett Favre is serious about playing this season, should the Browns give him a call?