Top 12 Reasons why Packer Nation needs to embrace Brett Favre back into the family once and for all
By Daniel
By Paul Cutler (originally posted to Flickr as IMG_0950.JPG) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
“To err is human; to forgive, divine” Alexander Pope once wrote in his eighteenth century poem An Essay on Criticism. Author, professor, and ethicist Lewis. B. Smedes once said, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”
There is no denying that the messy divorce between Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers in 2008 left a lot of fans feeling burned. It was one of the most widely discussed topics in the history of professional sports. The bad blood was real, the bitterness was felt from all angles, but time has served as a buffer for some to recover from this situation. For others the animosity, either at Favre for joining the Vikings or at the organization for letting him go, still lingers. It’s not only time for Packer Nation to say ‘It’s ok, we’ve moved on.’ It’s time to truly embrace Favre back into the Packers family. He doesn’t deserve for Packers fans to simply tolerate that he’s coming back into the picture. He deserves to come back to arms wide open. He’s the NFL’s most infamous prodigal son — it’s time Packer Nation throws him a party.
By Paul Cutler [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Did Favre jerk around the organization toying with retirement for years? Sure. Did he eventually join the one team the Packers specifically asked him not to, which happens to be a bitter rival? Sure. Did he throw far too many interceptions and let entire seasons crumble to the ground on an unnecessary risky throw? Sure. But can Cheeseheads really say they’ve ever enjoyed watching a football player play the game more than Brett Favre? Most likely not.
Aaron Rodgers is an amazing talent and Bart Starr helped build this franchise into the respected power that it is. But it was Favre who played the game with the boyish, yet fearless reckless abandon that came to define an era of Packers football. It was Favre that shouldered the burden of 29 years without a championship in Green Bay and him that lifted the Packers back to their former glory — where they’ve been ever since. His personality was appreciated in Green Bay. He was always quick to make a joke and never changed his game to appease his critics. He would gamble, come up with a loss and do it again, because that’s the type of guy he was. But like all relationships there were bumps in the road and problems to work through. Like the cliche says, if you love something let it go and if it comes back it’s truly yours. In 2008 the Packers organization let Favre go. He went to the New York Jets and then to the Minnesota Vikings, but now he’s coming back. Now he’ll be Green Bay’s forever, just like it always should have been.
If you’re a Packers fan that’s still not convinced, here are the top 12 reasons why you need to embrace Brett Favre and his impending return to Green Bay. Despite being known as an ‘iron man’ he is only human after all. He made mistakes, but it’s time to forgive.