Great news for those Packers fans still in mourning. Brett Favre will be gone but never forgotten: the team announced today that Favre's No. 4 will be retired later this year. Virtual high-fives all around.
Packer Report's John Lombardi is as psyched as the next guy about the news, but asks a pretty important question about another great Packers player ($):
... [Favre] should have his number retired as soon as possible, but why did it take so long [for the organization] to get around to [retiring] Reggie [White's number]? The swiftness with which the announcement about Favre's number is striking when compared to Reggie. What was the holdup? Did the Packers know he was going to unretire? Did Reggie say or do something that made it impossible to do it in 1999? Were the Packers embarrassed by him and some of his actions? I guess we will never know for sure. The Packers will undoubtedly not comment on this and Reggie took it to the grave.Lombardi points out that White's last season in Green Bay was in 1998, but that he did come out of retirement to play with the Panthers in 2000. Who knows, maybe that had something to do with it. Whatever, White's number was eventually retired in 2005, some nine months after his death and almost a year before he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Or maybe this has everything to do with Favre being, well, Favre, and nothing to do with anyone else who ever played for Green Bay. Either way, Lombardi's right to ask.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-19-2008 @ 9:22PM
claytor said...
I tend to disagree.
Comparing Reggie White to Brett Favre is apples and oranges.
Reggie White had an oustanding career, but one that was already defined by plenty of great seasons in Philadelphia. And to be honest, trying to say someone spending six entire seasons even comes close to a seventeen season career with pretty much the only team Favre had come to know is a tad silly.
Truth be told, Favre played longer in the NFL than White did, for basically the same team, and was nothing short of storybook. While i commend Whites decision to choose a small market town over the glitz and glamour of New York or a California team, its just not the same situation.
Interesting opinion, but nothing to blahzay about.
Reply
3-19-2008 @ 10:41PM
joe said...
without reggie white favre and the packers do not win the superbowl.
Reply
3-20-2008 @ 8:12AM
George B Vieto said...
Maybe Reggie's speech about his Christian faith and how God created the races with certain abilities and that homosexuality is a sin offended some Packer higher ups.
Reply
3-20-2008 @ 8:13AM
EskinSux said...
Truth be told the packers only retired Reggie White's number because he prematurely passed at a young age. And as far as #1's comment about taking a small town over the glitz and glamour of a big city...Give me a break, it was the 4 million a year the Packers wanted to pay him.Hell, who can blame him after spending years in philly were A-hole owner Braman made the players buy their own socks. This isn't about God, a calling or whatever..After Reggie made his inflammatory comments, GB wanted nothing to do with him....And after he died, suddenly they retire his #...In the end...It's the NFL...and it's all about the money
Reply
3-20-2008 @ 8:24AM
Ken R said...
The great John Wooden had a policy that no players number is ever retired. His reasoning was that it was disrepectful to all who wore that number before. As a Miami Dolphins fan, I experienced this when they retired Dan Marino's #13. There was another Dolphins #13 named Jake Scott, who just happened to be the Super Bowl MVP in their undefeated season.
Reply
3-20-2008 @ 8:54AM
nale said...
It really a non-issue as clytor pointed out.
Farve player 17 years for the Packers. He only threw four passes of another team. White played only six years as a packer. White was a seven time all-pro and defensive player of the year BEFORE he came to the Packers. White was an Eagle longer then he was a Packer. Farve was the PAckers for 17 years White was a part of the Packer team for six years.
There is no reason to question why Farve number is retired quicky.
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 12:39PM
LA said...
Kind of a no-brainer. I actually objected somewhat to Reggie White's number being retired, as he had spent less than half his career as a Green Bay Packer, and in fact, his less productive less-than-half of a career. Yes, he won the Super Bowl with the Packers, but so did Sean Jones, Keith Jackson, and Eugene Robinson.
The Philadelphia Eagles retired the same #92 at almost the same time as the Packers, if that wasn't awkward.
Favre is essentially a lifelong Packer, and certainly, his achievement rank up there with the other essentially lifelong Packers with illustrious careers who had their numbers retired: Don Hutson, Bart Starr, Tony Canadeo, and Ray Nitschke. I'm not sure Reggie White belongs in that group with those four and Favre, simply based on the fact he wasn't a Packer.
And, it would be remiss to forget that White was under attack for being "politically incorrect" at the time he retired from the Packers. Perhaps someone should ask the Eagles why they waited even longer to retire Whites number.
Reply
4-01-2008 @ 2:09PM
Dylan said...
In response to an earlier comment, white turned down MORE money to play in San Francisco where he not only would have had a bigger paycheck, but also would have gotten much more money in endorsements in a large city and state.
Favre played 16 seasons in a Packer uniform, White only played 6. Favre holds almost every major quarterback record, and then some, doing it entirely as a Packer. A quarterback is more critical to a teams constant success, and Favre only had one losing season in his 16 years here. No DE could ever boast to helping their team as much. End of story.
Reply