The Last Favre Post.

Well, it's done. Brettfavre is a member of the New York Jets. There is nothing new that I can say the subject that has not already been said a million times in the media. The coverage of this topic has been insane, particularly on ESPN. Here are my final thoughts on the Favre conundrum and I am done.

When the news broke about Favre's retirement, I personally questioned whether or not he could stay retired. This is not uncommon for professional athletes, and I didn't think his ego would allow it. Never in a million years would I have ever believed that Favre would be traded to another team, however. I still am in a state of shock and awe as to how it got to that point.

I have never seen another human being that is so worshipped for playing a game, literally almost to a religious level, as Brett Favre. There is no question that Favre is a first-ballot Hall of Fame Quarterback who played (plays) the game with the spirit of a child. He restored greatness to the Packer franchise after two-plus decades of futility. Because of this, however, Favre also got a "free pass" for his transgressions from a frightening number of Packer fans throughout his career. This "free pass" can still be seen today from the many comments from people who want Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy fired (or worse), even though they've built a pretty decent young team. Favre got bigger than the Packers to many people, and I think he bought into his own hype. I see his so-called "fall" as almost a "Karmic leveling" of the sports universe. In Kiln, Mississippi-speak, Favre got too big for his own britches. Personally, this reminds me of the Kirby Puckett story, which came to a very sad ending for other reasons. There was a time I thought Kirby could do no wrong. Well, he could.

My kids know I am a sports fanatic, and they seem to be following in my footsteps. I have warned them, however, not to get too wrapped up in individual players. They are just men, after all. They are the best at what they do, which makes the games fun to watch and the teams fun to follow. But if you look at players as "heroes" or "role-models" they will most-likely let you down. Players come and go. It's like Jerry Seinfeld said - we're basically cheering for laundry. We're cheering for the jersey and whomever happens to be wearing it at the time.

It going to take many Packer fans quite some time to get over this one. It happened when Bart Starr left (Randy Wright, not so much). Young Aaron Rodgers is going to have some pressure put on him this year, whether it is deserved or not. I kind of feel bad for the guy.

Good luck, Aaron. You are going to need it.

Jeff