Most people grow up watching superstars right before their very eyes. Right now, children across the country stand back and watch as Drew Brees passes his way to the Play-offs, watch as Jamal Lewis flirts with the best rushing season ever, watch as Ty Law wrecks passer after passer with skillful picks. As great as each of these players are now, they don’t begin to grasp the stuff of legend.
Legend is a term thrown around too often, it should be a term used for the truly iconic, the players who changed not just every game they played in, but the game as a whole. As great as Hall-of-Famers like Art Monk or Emmitt Thomas once were, there’s a reason their names aren’t recognized except by the greatest of sports fans. They aren’t legends, legend is the word for the men among men. What Michael Jordan was for basketball, and Wayne Gretzky for hockey, and Babe Ruth for baseball…
And what Brett Favre was to football.
If I know anything about sports, it is that the legacy of Brett Favre is unheralded, likely to never be compared to another again. Favre’s reputation in the NFL is quite simply too unique. He’s the improvisation master, with a cannon for an arm, and the uncanny ability to put the game on his back, making sure he was the man for whom fame or blame would be placed upon game’s end. As the Packers quarterback for the decade and three quarters, Favre lived or died as each game was won or lost, either throwing the key touchdown, or the crucial interception. And though Favre will always be judged by those mistake-filled moments (and there are many) his legend will live as a man whom defenses feared, and everyone respected.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
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