4 all the hoopla
I’m really getting tired of this Brett Favre story that’s been dragging on since the first time he contemplated retirement. The only thing that annoys me more is all of the talking heads who speak as if Favre can do no wrong; all of them reiterating the catch phrase “Favre has earned the right to do this.” Wrong. Favre had earned the right to take as long as he needed to make the decision, but I wholeheartedly disagree that he has earned the right to retire in March, contact the team in late May saying he wants to play again, change his mind when the team wants to talk to him about it, then contact them again July to start the same thing all over again. I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again, Brett Favre is not bigger than the Green Bay Packers.
I read a comment on a message board at the end of one of ESPN’s innumerable stories on this never-ending story which had the audacity to call Brett Favre, “the greatest quarterback to play the game.” Just take a moment and let the pure, unadulterated lunacy of that statement wash over you…kinda makes you feel like Tim Robbins escaping from prison in The Shawshank Redemption, huh? (500 yards of sewage, think about it). Not that it has anything to do with this story, but the author of said comment was also a Michigan State Fan, go figure. Anyway once I had gotten the taste out of my mouth, I sat and I thought to myself, “How can anyone seriously make that statement?” Then it hit me, they’d probably have to have never watched any football for themselves and must just base that statement over what they’ve heard about Brett Favre from the media. Nobody gets passes from the media like #4, and honestly if you just listened to the Chris Bermans and Tom Jacksons of the world, you would believe that Favre was no worse than the second best quarterback ever.
Before I lose some of the less objective readers, I’m not saying Favre wasn’t over the course of his career a good quarterback who put together some great seasons (8 by my count), but I am saying (and only because I can’t speak for all of history) Brett Favre is the most over-rated player of my generation (I’m 24, 25 in December). Brett Favre has been a starting quarterback since the second game of the 1992 season. 16 years as a starter, 16, and only 8 times did Favre finish the season with a quarterback rating of 90+. I’m not saying that’s not good, but the way they talk about him; you would think he was Football Jesus. Just to put that in perspective for you, let me ask you this question, “What does that say for the other half of his seasons as a starter if half of his career was spent playing 90+ (93.9 to be exact) rated football, but his career quarterback rating is an 86?” For you non-mathematicians, it means [holding average attempts constant, of course] he spent the other half of his career playing 78 rated football, not that impressive, in case you weren’t sure.
We all know that quarterbacks’ careers are evaluated by a completely different standard than every other position; Super Bowls and consistency. Except for Brett Favre, he is only measured by his consecutive games started streak, and how warm and fuzzy he makes mainstream America feel (as long as you don’t think about his alcoholism and addiction to pain killers, but that’s neither here, nor there, America prayed for him and he-no, WE got through it together…thank the lord). So let’s do something totally radical, let’s evaluate Brett Favre the same way we would any other quarterback in the NFL [gasp!]
Let’s start with how we look at every other “pantheon player” (I really like that Josh), Brett Favre has (drum roll) one Super Bowl victory (cymbal?). Yes, boys and girls the talking heads may give you the impression that he’s won many more, but it’s just one, right there with Kurt Warner, and Trent Dilfer, in recent history. But really think about that for a second. EVERY quarterback from Eli Manning on who is lucky enough to win one Super Bowl, will have just as many as Favre. And people love to slurp the fact that he’s played so long, I don’t necessarily see that as a good thing, I say “you’re supposed to be “the greatest” and in 16 seasons as a starter, you managed two trips to the Super Bowl and one win?” I look at people giving Brett Favre dap for his iron man status the same way I look at people giving Hines Ward dap for his blocking. They just really like the guy, but they know they’ve gotta have something other than the numbers, otherwise all the love just wouldn’t make sense.
People are quick to throw out that Favre is tops in touchdown passes and tops in yardage. Both points are taken, but those same people love to conveniently omit that he is also tops in interceptions, and most importantly, tops in ATTEMPTS. Doesn’t it stand to reason that if you’re a good quarterback, and NOBODY in the history of the league has ever attempted more passes than you, then theoretically you should be number one in completions and yardage? This is another thing that it’s important to note, Dan Marino, who has all the “longevity statistics” Favre has been surpassing; a) NEVER had teams around him like Favre did, and b) Only completed 59.4% of his career attempts. That being said, Favre has less than 300 more career passing yards than Dan Marino on 401 MORE attempts. Again, for the non-mathematicians, that’s less than three-quarters of a yard for every additional attempt. We economists would call those piss-poor marginal returns. Marino, by the way, with his almost two decades with weak supporting casts and a sub-60% career completion percentage, managed a career quarterback rating of 86.4
Let’s look at efficiency. As I mentioned before, his career quarterback rating (which is the best holistic measure of efficiency we’ve got) is an 86 (or 85.7 to be exact). Again, I’m not saying Favre wasn’t good (great at times, awful at times) but here are some stats I want you to consider, in relation to the way Favre is lauded. We’ll skip Peyton Manning; 10 years, 94.7 rating, and Tom Brady; 7 years starting, 92.9 rating, and point out some other characters you might have just assumed Brett was just leagues better than, in terms of efficiency. This is done by looking at how the quarterback rating said player has posted since becoming a starter (I understand some have missed time due to injury or sucking, but understand the beauty of efficiency as measured by the quarterback rating is that it isn’t affected by time you’re not playing; it’s strictly a measure of you on the field. So it gives you an idea of what these guys do while they’re on the field. Jeff Garcia; 9 years, 87.2 rating, Donovan McNabb; 9 years, 85.8 rating, Kurt Warner; 9 years, 93.2 rating, Brian Greise; 9 years, 83.6 rating, Chad Pennington; 6 years, 88.9 rating. Those are just the active players.
Lastly, Favre has thrown so many interceptions, it almost makes his consecutive games streak a true testament to how over-rated he is. Favre has thrown 20+ interceptions in a single season five times in his career (including a career high of 29 two seasons ago). 20 interceptions is a nightmarish season for any quarterback most quarterbacks wouldn’t get the opportunity to throw 20 picks 5 times in a career because they would’ve already been shown the door. But not Brett, he’s “gunslinger,” whatever that means. Where I’m from, 20 interceptions in an NFL season either means you’re a rookie, you can’t understand the playbook, or you can’t read coverages. Favre didn’t start as a rookie, and only threw 13 interceptions his first year as a starter, while completing 64.1% of his passes (which, until last season, was his second highest completion percentage ever). So that means that in the 15 years of starting since his second year in the league, Favre throws 20 picks once every 3 seasons…wow. I know a lot of you are going to point out (well at least the ones who do their homework) that my boy Tony Romo threw 19 interceptions just this past season. That is true, and that is indefensible. That being said, Romo also did throw 36 touchdowns, and finished with a quarterback rating of 97.4. So if you’re going to throw 20 picks, you better have a helluva lot of touchdowns to go with it, to maintain a high efficiency. Favre on the other had had quarterback ratings of 72.2, 87.8, 74.7, 90.4, and 70.9 in each of his campaigns when he eclipsed the 20 interception mark. So let’s just cool all this talk about Favre being the greatest.
Favre was good, but not so good that he can treat the Packers like some girlfriend with low self esteem. He only brought them one Super Bowl, which at the end of the day, is all that matters. And I’m pretty sure one Super Bowl is less than the number of backbreaking interceptions he’s thrown in post-season play. Brett Favre is no linkJoe Montana, and if the 49ers could part ways with him, the Packers can most assuredly part ways with Favre.
