Here We Go Again

How delusional can one aging, overrated, and washed up quarterback be?

Now that the NFL lockout appears to be hours away from concluding, the countdown has begun. No, not the countdown to free agency and when players get to go into training camp; but rather the countdown as to when the narcissistic preening that is the inevitable Brett Favre ‘Will he or won’t he’ return saga. As it stands, the Philadelphia Eagles are rumored to be interested to bring in the Ol’ Gunslinger as the backup to Michael Vick once Kevin Kolb is traded.

The question that needs to be asked here is why. Why would the Eagles take this guy on when it is obvious from last year that he has nothing left? Of course, the Brett Favre sychophants, and there are a lot of them, will blame his offensive line, his injuries, and Sidney Rice getting hurt. What they fail to realize is that Favre simply did not have the arm to blindly throw into quadruple coverage and get bailed out by his receivers anymore.

When players age, they need to adapt. They need to find other ways of being effective in whatever position, whether by running crisper routes as a receiver, relying on their experience to give them an advantage, or to develop a new move. Favre never had the capacity to adapt. All he ever did was to fire the ball as hard as he could, regardless of how far downfield his receivers were. And of course he didn’t want to throw all of the underneath passes and hit the open receivers – it looked better on his highlight reels if he fired the football fifty yards downfield into a non-existent window and had his receivers make spectacular catches.

Plus, for Favre there is a bonus to his being a backup – the cameras of whatever station that is televising the game will comtinue to show him on air as the announcers fall over themselves to gush about what a competitor and person he is. In fact, there may be more footage of Favre holding a clipboard, getting a Gatorade, or standing there as he mentally sings his name to himself over and over again than there will be of the actual game. This is particularly likely if he signs and they show his new team on ESPN. It almost seems as though it is written in his contract that he is mentioned every fifth story on that station.

For the sake of all of our sanity, just leave Favre on the scrap heap of players that no longer can perform. He is no longer any different than any other washed up quarterback, aside from his inability to see what is directly in front of him.

Just Go Away

Well, it's the offseason for the NFL. This means that certain things are considered to be inevitable. And here is one such thing - rumors of yet another Brett Favre return.

Apparently, Favre has been part of the crew that has been mentoring Cam Newton, as he tries to get ready for his rookie year. His interest in mentoring Newton has given rise to the speculation that Favre may be considering another comeback. In fact, Favre has said that he is throwing the football now as well as he ever has. Which means that he can now overthrow short receivers or gun the ball into quadruple coverage with the greatest of ease once more.

Look Brett, just go away. You have had more comebacks than a horror movie villain. At this point, Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones think that your inability to hang it up and move on is pathetic. You have nothing left, and have had nothing left for a couple years now. Take that tractor, your jeans commercials, and your tears and mow a lawn someplace else.

Unfortunately, some team desperate for a quarterback (Seattle, Carolina, maybe even Arizona) will come kicking at Favre's tires and sniffing around to see if he's interested in returning. And sure enough, the Ol' Gunslinger will have numerous press conferences, where he cries more than a jilted schoolgirl. And once again, he'll do his 'Aw shucks, they like me, they really like me' routine and show up for yet another final season.

Favre, give something back to the fans of the NFL for once. Give us the enduring image that we all treasure - the image of you writhing in agony as Arthur Moats stands over you. For once in your life, do something that is not all about Brett Favre.

Replacing Franchise Quarterbacks

In this era of the NFL, having a franchise quarterback is of the utmost importance. Teams such as the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts compete year in and year out, due in large part to their quarterbacks. If Tom Brady or Peyton Manning were to miss an extended period of time, their prospects would be rather grim. Yet, both quarterbacks are approaching their mid-30's, bringing it close to the point where their teams will need to look at finding their replacements.

Bringing in the heir apparent at quarterback can be a tricky proposition. In San Fransisco, when the 49ers brought in Steve Young, it lit a fire under Joe Montana to prove he was still great. While he helped develop Young, facing his football mortality in the face pushed him to continue to elevate his game. Montana had four more great seasons, and a couple of solid years in Kansas City after leaving the 49ers. In Green Bay, Brett Favre refused to help develop Aaron Rodgers, and continued to be Brett Favre - throwing ill-advised passes into double and triple coverage, yet being bailed out by his receivers and somehow avoiding any criticism by members of the media. Finally, the Packers tired of Favre's "it's all about me" attitude and on-again, off-again retirements, handing the reins to Rodgers. In both cases, this plan worked out, as both teams won Super Bowls with the new quarterbacks.

The Miami Dolphins, meanwhile, did not draft the next quarterback when it was obvious that Dan Marino had barely anything left. Since Marino's retirement at the end of the 1999 season, the Dolphins have used 16 different quarterbacks. Meanwhile, they have only drafted four quarterbacks (Josh Heupel, John Beck, Pat White, and Chad Henne). Needless to say, they have only won one playoff game since Marino's retirement, and that win was in 2000.

With such history being there, should the Patriots and Colts look to draft their future quarterbacks this year? This year may not have a guaranteed great quarterback, but there are a lot of solid options available in the draft, especially in the middle rounds. Pat Devlin of Delaware, Ricky Stanzi of Iowa, and T.J. Yates of North Carolina would make solid options for the Patriots and Colts anywhere from the third round on. Of course, the Patriots may feel that they have their future in Brian Hoyer, who has looked decent in his limited opportunities thus far.

Given the intellect of the Colts and Patriots, expect them to handle the quarterback position, and the future of the position, with the same skill in which they have built their rosters. This will not be a Miami Dolphins situation for them.

Should the Bears be looking for another quarterback?

Early in the third quarter of their playoff game against the Green Bay Packers, Jay Cutler left the game with an apparent knee injury. However, at no point did it appear that Cutler actually injured his knee (which they are now claiming is a torn MCL). In fact, when asked directly about it, coach Lovie Smith directly contradicted his statements in back to back questions. When asked what happened, Smith claimed that he took a shot to the knee at the end of the second half. However, when asked a follow up question, Smith said the following: "He hurt his knee and he was out, all right? There's nothing else for me to tell you on that," Smith said. "I don't know exactly when it happened. He couldn't go, and we moved on. Let's go to some other questions, how about that?"

Usually, when someone injures themselves to the severity of what is being claimed about Cutler, they are receiving extensive treatment either on the sidelines or in the locker room. In fact, they are kept off that leg and carted into the locker room more often than not. You definitely don't see them wandering about the sidelines with their head down, with a look of complete apathy.

Cutler, for all of his talent, is not someone that wins football games. He makes stupid decisions with the football, throwing into double and triple coverage because he thinks that his arm is strong enough to get it there. He does not take the safe throws underneath to get the first down, because he is looking for the home run ball every time. He just doesn't have a head for the game. In fact, Jay Cutler is a lot like Brett Favre, only without the great receivers to bail him out for every misguided throw that he makes.

At this point of his career arc, Cutler has a lot of similarities to another quarterback with all of the measurables who could never win - Jeff George. Both possessed strong arms. Both put up gaudy stat lines. Yet, neither have ever been able to take a team to the Super Bowl, or win anything of consequence. The reason? Neither Cutler nor George were capable of making adjustments to their games nor were they capable of actually being a leader of their teams.

Given the fiasco that occurred last night, is it possible that the Bears would go in another direction at quarterback? This year's draft is anticipated to have a lot of solid quarterback prospects. Several big name quarterbacks should be made available by the teams they are presently on. Nothing is guaranteed for Cutler in Chicago right now.

Yesterday proved that teams cannot win without a leader at the quarterback position. Jay Cutler is not a leader. The Bears will not make the Super Bowl until they can fix that situation.

The end of an era

Today, Brett Favre's consecutive start streak ended at 297 games when he was listed as inactive with a sprained SC joint. Thus far through the 2010 season, he had played with a broken foot and severe elbow tendinitis. He has taken shot after shot after shot behind an offensive line that essentially best resembled a turnstile this season. There were points in time when Favre could barely walk, yet still rose up each time. Now, some of this may have been an overdramatization, since he very much enjoys being the center of attention, yet somehow these hits may have hurt more than even he let on.

Watching the Vikings struggle this season, one has to wonder how often Favre questioned his decision to return for one final year. He did not get along with his coach, the now deposed Brad Childress. His primary option at receiver had a severe hip injury, and was not even on the field for most of the season. He seemed a step slower, and never got in sync with the players around him. The receiving corps was a bit of a revolving door, with Sidney Rice hurt, Greg Camarillo being brought in right at the end of training camp, Randy Moss being there for a month, and Percy Harvin's ongoing migraine issues.

If this is truly the end for Favre and he does not play any further this season (as of now, there is talk of placing him on the injured reserve list), what will his legacy be? Some will remember him as the Ol' Gunslinger, who was out there firing the football around and having fun with his friends like it was an afternoon pick up game. Others will remember the narcissistic soap opera that was his waffling between being retired or being unretired, which stretched over four offseasons. Still others will recall how he is the main reason as to why two head coaches (Childress and Eric Mangini) got fired from their jobs.

When looking at Favre's legacy, it is important to remember all of this about him. It is also important to recognize his accomplishments, both positively (most touchdowns in a career, most career passing yards, the multiple MVP's) and negatively (most career interceptions, most career turnovers). Yes, Favre accomplished a lot of milestones and some achieved some potentially unbreakable records. Yet, how many of them are seemingly out of reach due to his ability to avoid injury (or his ego forcing him to continue playing) and the sheer length of time that he did play? To draw a parallel, Nolan Ryan has a lot of the same going for him. A lot of positive milestones (most strikeouts in a season and all-time, 300+ wins, seven no-hitters) and negative milestones (most career walks, never won a Cy Young award). Yes, both were great, but both played for a long time and managed to compile statistics just from the volume of games played.

In the end, Favre's last pass (fittingly intercepted) may have been thrown, and he is now set to limp off into the sunset, until the point in time when he arrives in Canton to wear the mustard yellow blazer signifying his due place in the NFL Hall of Fame. When recalling his remarkable career, don't just focus on the positive, but keep in mind the full portrait of this unique player who seemed incapable of receiving criticism from the pundits. Perhaps that is his greatest legacy of all.