Why Are People Still Defending Brett Favre?

If there is something I've learned in my brief time with the NFL FanHouse group, it is this -- people get as heated when you criticize Brett Favre as they do when people bring up politics in casual conversation.

Well Favre lovers, I'd toss down that handful of Gouda and get ready, because some Brett bashing is about to begin.

Earlier on "Pardon The Interruption," (and yes, that is me admitting that at times I watch "Pardon The Interruption") Ron Jaworski was asked about the Jets fans booing Favre. A reasonable person would agree that booing a quarterback that hasn't eclipsed a passer rating of 76 in the past three weeks, and has thrown twice as many interceptions (7) than touchdowns (3) over that stretch deserves a little hazing.

The guy was downright dreadful in the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs, almost causing his squad to fall to a team without their star running back and with Tyler Thigpen as an integral part of the offense.

What did Jaws say when Michael Wilbon asked about the booing? "Brett Favre does not deserve to get booed," as Tony Kornheiser, in all seriousness, replied, "Yeah baby." This is the moment when I call Jaworski another biased member of the media. Favre deserves to get booed, shunned, ridiculed, egged or at the least given a mean look if you're a fan of football.

The guy has had one great game this season, one decent one and five forgettable ones. He is tied with ~~Derek Anderson~~ J.T. O'Sullivan for most interceptions in the league. His Jets lost to Oakland last week. The guy is even being accused of calling the Detroit Lions and spilling the beans about his old team. He's almost 40, not four, right?

Earlier today Boomer Esiason said on his radio show that the Jets fans are completely justified in their animosity towards number 4. Esiason's points are actually valid.

Esiason described some of Favre's recent interceptions as "horrendous," and that he looks like he's struggling in the Jets offense.

In a few cases, Esiason believes that Favre was "completely just throwing the ball up and hoping" that a teammate would catch it. Boomer cited the fact that Favre is older than his head coach as a reason for Eric Mangini's difficulties in controlling Favre. At one point, Boomer suggested (jokingly, we think) that Mangini might not have had a job on Monday if receiver Laveranues Coles hadn't made a bobbling, one-handed catch on a fade-stop-style route for the game-winning score.

It takes a little chutzpah for one former quarterback to call out another, but at least Boomer gets it.

Favre had an amazing year last year with the Packers, taking them to a place nobody thought was possible with the personnel surrounding Brett. The key word in that sentence is "last year."

Just because the guy is a "legend" doesn't mean he gets a free pass on bad games. How is anyone ever going to change if all they're told is how good they are?

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-27-2008 @ 7:31PM

giant fan since 57 said...

If I'm Green Bay I am confident I made the right choice. Rogers will never be as flamboyent as Bret was but he is a solid quarterback. Favre simply throws too many interceptions.

Has everyone forgoten the horrible years he had before 2007? He has all the records because he played for so many years. He is slipping fast. He should have retired.

10-27-2008 @ 8:03PM

LSpell said...

From Hancock County Mississippi.... Maybe you need to know he will still set records... He was raised to play ball and NEVER give up.. Coach Favre rasied him to give it his all and that is what he is doing.. It is not time to crawl off the field yet. Just sit back and watch the BEST QB of all times.

10-27-2008 @ 8:08PM

BlueStarDude said...

Jaws is great at breaking down game film, but he has a huge blind spot when is comes to personal allegiances. E.g., He was one of the first analysts to suggest the Cowboys could be better off with his boy Brad Johnson, even though anyone who saw BJ play with the Vikings a couple of years ago, and looked at it objectively, knew (or should have known) that he's pretty much done.

10-27-2008 @ 8:12PM

Desides said...

Why are people still defending Brett Favre? Look in a mirror. The media has built him up for 15 years.

10-27-2008 @ 8:22PM

LMpanel said...

We continue to defend Brett Favre because of people such as yourself, (Oh, and the notoriously two-faced Boomer ) that continue to degrade him! We have the exact same right to defend him as you do to rip him apart.

You seem to spend a major amount of time on someone you seem to despise... If I didn't know better, I would say you were a short guy...lol.

10-27-2008 @ 8:38PM

former4fan said...

Favre stinks.
When you're mentioned with Derek Anderson, you are very bad at your job.

10-27-2008 @ 9:40PM

bob said...

Quartarback is a glamour position and Brette was considered to be among the best but football is a team game and a qb is just as good as the supporting cast.He is not a miracle waiting to happen as some jets fans hoped but the season is just starting for the playoffs so give him his year and let see where it goesand if by chance the jets happen to make it,give the credit to all the jets not to just Brette as it is a team that wins consistently not a individual and the same is true for losing.

10-27-2008 @ 11:03PM

Mark said...

Love him or hate him ..hes still Brett Favre ..career interception leader..and touchdowns and yards passing...and.. and.. and ..and.. and will see another Super Bowl

10-28-2008 @ 2:24AM

Kimberly said...

Dear Mr GiantFan since 57

First off you can't even spell RODGERS name correctly. Yes, I am from Wisconsin city boy, and I can spell! =)

Favre played almost his entire career with the Packers a west coast offense... so, yes, he is going to struggle with the Jets. Let's not forget that the Jets were 4-12 last year with Chad Pennington. All Favre has to do is win one more game and he has improved the Jets from last year.

Favre is and will always be the greatest QB to ever play the game of football. Look how long Dan Marino played football, and he NEVER won a superbowl. Favre hasn't missed a single game in over 17 years... Yes, he's an ironman!

If you don't like Favre... turn the channel, because us faithful Packer fans will always cheer for #4, and he will ALWAYS be a Packer in our hearts. Not to mention, when he does retire Green Bay is where his heart will remain, but I don't think it ever left.

As for this Cheeshead... I'm a BRETT FAVRE Fan 4 Life! =)

10-28-2008 @ 9:32AM

Dick said...

Shane Bacon- never heard of him. Brett Favre is the reason the Jets are winning. He still holds every record in the NFL and is the No. 1 QB of all times until someone breaks his records. So anything you or all the loonies want to say about him goes on deaf ears. Get another job!!!

10-28-2008 @ 10:47AM

jeff said...

hey, anti-favre...your article blows.

10-31-2008 @ 1:34PM

Jim Peplinski said...

He is the QB of a team that had 4 wins in 16 tries last year, and they have 4 wins in 7 tries this year. Ultimately the NFL is about winning. I could care less if my QB threw 10 horrible INT's in a game if they come out with the win.

He's got what - 160 wins in his career? How many do you have. None, you just like to score cheap hits on your blog.

10-28-2008 @ 11:11AM

Eric said...

Favre should not be booed unless his performance destroys the team's chance for winning the game. Since he brought the team back to win, he shouldn't be booed. Look, his picks have looked awful. Just awful. But that's Favre - he forgets that sometimes he just needs to be vanilla against an inferior team. He's always trying to score, even if that means throwing the ball up for grabs. It's how he's built. You can't, as a fan, embrace him upon arrival and then boo him after HE DOES EXACTLY WHAT HE'S ALWAYS DONE.

The fact is, this is a terrible team that might make the playoffs, mainly because of Mr. Favre. On the other hand, he left a 13-3 team with a lot of talent, a team that might not make the playoffs. The loss of Favre is palpable here in Wisconsin. His addition in NY may lead to the playoffs. Why is anyone in NY booing?

10-28-2008 @ 12:49PM

AC said...

Tony Romo has been just as careless with the ball yet no one is booing him. This article sucks. I don't know why so many people have an axe to grind against the same guy they were trophy polishing for so many years. The fact is, people don't like him because he's old, he's still better then many of the starting NFL QBs, or because they are fans of another NFC East team.

10-28-2008 @ 8:48PM

randie baird said...

You can't spend 15 years playing in a certain offense and pick up on another one in a day. sure he throws some ducks but that is part of what makes him so great. favre is not afraid to take some chances that could result in something negative on the chance that it will be positive. Some of his best games have come off of his improvs. lets not forget the guy that ran the west coast offense better than anyone. Brett gives the jets a whole other demension that chad couldn't. With Brett the jets make the playoffs and once in its anybodys game.

11-24-2008 @ 11:04AM

tonys said...

I attended at least fifty Packer games and never heard him booed personally as he stated after the Jets game last week. He owes the Packer fans an apology.

10-29-2008 @ 1:04PM

A.J. said...

Why are people still defending Brett Favre?

Because people are still trying to demonize him. Why isn't Daunte Culpeper receiving an equal amount of crap for deciding that he wants to come in halfway through the season and be someone's starting quarterback?

The fact of the matter is, the team around Brett Favre this year is just flat not as good as the team that was around Brett Favre in Green Bay last year. The Jets aren't as good as the Packers. The Jets-Favre deal was a match made in heaven. Favre wanted to come back and start. The Packers didn't want to start him. The Jets wanted to put people in the seats so they would stop being treated like New York's resident B-squad. (This is why you don't base two teams out of the same city, let alone the same STADIUM, but that's another rant entirely.)

Football fans can be uneducated and fickle. A large contingent of people in Green Bay wanted Brett back, and why not? He had led them to the playoffs last year. Then, as soon as he leaves Green Bay, everyone goes, "Oh, he sucks, I'm glad we kept Rodgers."

Ted Thompson and the Packers put themselves in a no-win situation in handling their quarterbacks, and the way that they handled it - as screwed up as it was - was the only way they could dig themselves out of the hole. Let's face it. If Favre had stayed in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers, as classily as he handled the entire situation, wanted to play football. If he couldn't, for no other reason than everyone was still fixated on Brett Favre, he would have eventually expressed a desire to play football somewhere, if it wasn't going to be in Green Bay.

If they committed to Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre (who would sooner retire than be on the bench when he knows he can still play) would ask - as he did - to go somewhere else where he could play.

Then, it's simple economics. Favre was likely getting one of the heftier sums among NFL QBs for his services. Then, sitting on the bench, you've got a first-round contract that's supposed to have been on the field by now. Now that they're not carrying Favre's salary, they can invest their money other places - like the defensive line, which can't seem to stay healthy for anything this year.

Jets fans just need to shut the hell up, if you ask me. This is who Brett Favre is. He's the all-time leader in TD passes, but he's also the all-time leader in picks. You can't honestly think, at this point, that your team could do better with Kellen Clemens or Brett Ratliff. They're the heirs-in-waiting who can learn from Favre's veteran leadership.

Just take the fact that it's Favre out of this equation. If you yanked Peyton Manning out of Indy and stuck him in...say...Tampa - a couple of weeks before training camp, to be precise - don't you think that, as good a QB as Manning is, there'd be a bit of a learning curve in terms of knowing a system, a coaching staff, teammates, environment? Favre is a good football player, but at the end of the day, he's just that - a football player, and he has to go through the same adjustments that any other football player that gets traded would have to go through...and that's a lot harder when you're almost 40 and started for the same football franchise for a decade and a half. That doesn't happen anymore nowadays.

I'm not saying he's God, like people think that everyone who ever defends Brett Favre is saying, but honestly. He's just another guy. Give him a break.

10-29-2008 @ 9:30PM

joseph said...

the man is the Best face it every qb makes mistakes,but c mon Brett Favre played at GBwITH EVERYTHING HE GOT AND PUT'S EVERYTHING INTO THE GAME.NUMBER 4 IS STILL THE BEST TOUGHEST QB Ever to play the game.Favre haters look at all the the good he did an still dose on the field with the Jets yet.he did some great things that no qb can do are ever do.Brett Favre is the NFL.and a good man.Favre 4 ever

10-29-2008 @ 9:28PM

11-14-2008 @ 10:37PM

Greg Gehrig said...

All you Favre haters better believe, Your precious Rodgers is leading a losing Pack team and old fart Favre has the Jets riding top of the AFC East. Yeah he just sucks, If the Pack had Favre this year they wouldn't have won a game and the Jets would be undefeated if they didn't have Favre.... The Packers would have won 7 Superbowls without Favre, right? My god you are all a bunch of fickle haters.