Favre defied the corporate yoke

ShareThis

Very few, if any, athletes will have a national soul-bearing farewell as Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre did announcing his retirement Thursday.Favre may be the last true warrior, in the way that John Unitas was and Kobe Bryant has a chance to be, the individual transcending the team, at the end of no one's leash.It is what made Favre a favorite of fans beyond the little corner of Wisconsin where he played. There was in him the free choice to succeed or to fail, to concoct answers to challenges as they came, his weapons his own nerve, confidence and talent.There is something so thoroughly American in that, so anti-corporate, non-regulation, off-playbook about it, so self-reliant, not to get too transcendental or anything.There is always a special place in the American heart for the rube, he who knows not which fork to use, or which wine to order or how to knot a necktie, but yet seems so much wiser than those who do.Favre was Bogart on the African Queen, Crazy Horse refusing the reservation, Sgt. York seeing his duty and doing it. Better paid, of course, fiction and non.The bonds of convention, of daily necessity, of simple travel these days all gang up against the personal and the peculiar, making conformity and obedience the easier path, impeding rebels with or without a cause.There was in Favre that lost spirit of the radical, as personally traditional as Favre himself might be. For there on the football field he would improvise or gamble, or he might play the next play by ear, his most endearing moments coming completely off script.The world cannot work this way, of course, just as football teams cannot. Schedules must be met, rules must be followed, and performance reflects practice.But how wonderful it is to have an example that could break the rules and get away with it, who found a use for inspiration and enthusiasm, traits drilled out of so many others, someone who so clearly enjoyed the journey.Favre might have had a greater career as measured by Super Bowls and dynasties and even adulation, so in that way he will always trail in weight to Joe Montana and John Elway and Terry Bradshaw and even Troy Aikman.His numbers are those of longevity as well as accomplishment and do not, as they might with a different soul, measure the substance of Favre's career.Even as a three-time MVP, Favre was never considered the quarterback of his time, having Elway and Aikman at the beginning, Dan Marino along the way, and Peyton Manning and Tom Brady at the end.As is usual, when the end overwhelms tough men, Favre wept. The tears came early, and the sobs lingered as he explained that it is over. Those were his words. It is over.We may choose not to believe him. He has teased about retirement before. But as his press conference wore on, there seemed a settlement to it, a personal relief that this would be his last public obligation.To do this again -- and Favre repeatedly reassured all that he could still play the game -- would be just too exasperating. He would be the boy who cried quit.We contrast this with another good man, the Colorado Avalanche's Peter Forsberg, refusing to admit his hockey career is over and confessing doubts whereas Favre had none.The Forsberg way is the most usual, and in an ideal scenario warriors are carried off on their shields, as Favre admitted might easily have happened to him, as will likely happen to Forsberg.Only Favre can know if it is time to leave, to decide if the game is no longer worth the candle, but what it does to the rest of us is remove a very necessary choice from our options.How reassuring to know on a Sunday afternoon or Monday night that there was a place and a person who remained original and natural and unpredictable, where success and failure would be treated with equal scorn. And what a valuable thing to lose.(Contact Bernie Lincicome at lincicomeb@rockymountainnews.com.)(Bernie Lincicome writes for the Rocky Mountain News at www.rockymountainnews.com.)