Column: They did it right

Matt DeWalt
sports@weatherforddemocrat.com

July 14, 2008 09:21 am

— Does anyone know what John Elway does for a living now that he is no longer leading the Denver Broncos down the field and into the end zone with a helicopter spin en route to a Super Bowl win? Or how about Joe Montana? What’s he doing to make a buck? In fact, come to think of it, I don’t know what most of the great quarterbacks who played when I was a kid are doing now. Jim Kelly, Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham ... where did they all go.
I can find some of the guys I used to watch who are no longer in uniform, but that’s only because they chose to remain connected to the game in some fashion. Troy Aikman works for FOX as an analyst. Steve Young is also an analyst with ESPN and Dan Marino is in the CBS studio on Sundays, again, as an analyst.
There aren’t many quarterbacks who I grew up watching that are still playing the game, in fact, there was only one until March. Now, they’re all retired and living their lives however they choose. At least that was how it was going to be, until recently when word got out that Brett Favre had an itch to play again.
The quarterbacks who came before Favre did it right. They realized it was time to walk away, some for medical reasons, some because they couldn’t play at the level they were used to anymore. Either way, they walked away and stayed away. Well, at least they stayed out of uniform.
Favre is the last of the group of quarterbacks I grew up watching. Needless to say I am a big fan and enjoyed the opportunities I had to watch him play the position. Many times he was great, many times he was awful, but no matter the end result, he was always in a Green Bay uniform.
The reports are that Favre wants to return to the NFL, after his four-month retirement, to play for the Packers. However, Green Bay seems ready to move on with Aaron Rodgers who has been a backup to Favre for the past four seasons. Either way, with Favre or without him, I don’t envy the position of the Packers front office. It seems like a lose-lose situation from where I’m sitting at this desk.
On one hand, you have one of the greatest to ever play the position knocking at your door, actually texting as it were, asking to play again. On the other hand, you have a guy who has paid his dues who seems to have been the consummate team player waiting for his opportunity to lead your franchise. What do you do?
As much as I would enjoy seeing Favre play another season, maybe two, I don’t think that will happen with Green Bay and if that’s the case, it’s not worth it. Sure Montana played for another team after the 49ers and Moon and Cunningham bounced around a bit after memorable years in Houston and Philadelphia, but they did it all before giving a retirement speech. Even the great Joe Namath and Johnny Unitas played for teams other than the ones where they grew to enormous fame and popularity, so that’s not the issue, although it would be horrific to see Favre in a Detroit Lions jersey or a Carolina Panthers uniform.
In this instance the whole issue is that Favre, a sure-fire Hall of Famer, took time after the season, consulted with family, looked at his future and decided to call it quits — and he did it in the national spotlight. I listened to the retirement speech on the radio on the way to cover a game. The whole sports world was overcome by clips, photos and recordings of is press conference. He went out on top. Granted, he didn’t win the Super Bowl, but he’s done that. He helped the 2007 Packers go where no one thought they would by reaching the playoffs and he led them to the NFC title game. The entire country watched and listened as he said goodbye to the NFL. He went out on top. Now, he wants to come back.
Elway didn’t come back. Neither did Montana, Kelly or Cunningham. In fact none of the quarterbacks I have mentioned ever came out of retirement once they walked away. Well, Aikman did, or we thought he was going to, but that was for a lotto commercial. Anyway, those guys all walked away from the game the first time and it has left us all to remember them as the greats they were.
With all the speculation about his future and the status of his retirement, Favre is making it hard for us to do that. We can easily forget the season’s of 20-something interceptions and talk about the Monday Night game against the Oakland Raiders, but with something like this tacked on to the end of his career, it’s going to be hard to remember the Monday Night game.