By Chris
MontanoLike most of America yesterday, i sat and watched Brett Farve tell the world he was leaving the game of football for good. Unlike most of America, however, I wasn't sad or crying out my ears like Brett.
It's not that I hate Brett Farve or am a Minnesota Vikings fan (far from it). It's just that after watching hours and hours of people talking about Brett this and Brett that, and I'll always remember Brett for this, I started thinking, "When I think of Brett Farve, what will I remember most about him?"
The answer, his selfishness.
It sounds funny a quarterback, the one guy on a football field whose job it is to distribute the ball to his teammates, being selfish, but it's true. Forget him running around like a nut after beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl, forget him breaking the record for most passing yards, the thing I will always remember about Brett Farve is when he said, after the Packers drafted Aaron Rodgers, that it wasn't his job to prep Rodgers to replace him when he retires.
Now I know what all you Farve lovers are saying, 'It's not his job." You know what, you're right, it's not. No where in his contract does it say he is supposed to prepare the backup quarterback to take his job once he quits. But that doesn't mean that the act itself is unselfish or right.
For example, look at Joe Montana. He was the best quarterback of all time arguably, and he had a Hall of fame QB behind him breathing down his neck for many years in Steve Young. When the 49ers decided to draft Young out of BYU, Montana didn't cry about it. He didn't take it as a personal shot against himself. Instead, he took young under his wing because he knew that one day he was going to retire and that the 49ers were going to need a new quarterback to carry on the legacy of winning that he created.
That's the difference between a guy like Montana and a guy like Farve. Montana took it upon himself to give back to the San Francisco organization and the fans that supported him for all those years. Farve on the other hand basically said he didn't want any part of helping Green Bay rebuild and spit in the face of the Packers organization (which took a very big gamble on him when he sucked so bad in Atlanta he would have made Ryan Leaf look appealing), as well as the fans that worship him no matter how many interceptions he throws.
Numbers can tell you a lot about a player, but it's the little things they do outside of the game that will tell you just how great they really are. Sometimes, it's those little things they are remembered for.
NOTE: I know Brett's last name is spelled wrong. I feel he didn't want to take the time to help out Aaron Rodgers, why should I take the time to spell his last name right.