As most of you are well aware, I'm a HUGE
Brett Favre fangirl (and how can I not be when he looks like
this?), and have been for a ridiculously long time.
Most people think it's because I jumped on the Packers bandwagon when they won Super Bowl XXXI in 1997. That's a filthy lie. I've liked them since I was about 5, when my dad was watching a game between my beloved Packers and the Chicago Bears. (I chose to cheer for the Pack because dad was cheering for the Bears. This was a common theme in our house, but it stopped when I tried to cheer for the Maple Leafs....bad idea.) It was team love at first sight. Or something. (And at that point in time, Favre wasn't even in the NFL; he was still in college.)
At any rate, for the last six season, Favre has played the 'retirement shuffle', known through Packer Nation and the rest of North America as "The Will He or Won't He Sweepstakes". The now-38 year old Favre is coming off a career season, in which he broke a ton of NFL quarterback records, including:
- Most consecutive starts by a quarterback (NFL): 253 (275 including playoffs)
- Most wins by a starting quarterback (NFL) regular season career: 160 (Regular season record: 160-93)
- Most career passing touchdowns: 442
- Most career passing yards: 61,655
- Most career pass completions: 5,377
- Most career pass attempts: 8,758
- Most career interceptions thrown: 288
- Most career games with at least three touchdowns: 63
Those are some pretty impressive stats. If he comes back and throws 51 touchdowns, he'll break Tom Brady's single season record as well.
I'm a little obsessed with the whole retirement watch thing. I check GoogleNews feeds at LEAST twice a day. I want to be the first to know that he is or isn't. I want to go to Lambeau Field and watch a game. I want to be there when he breaks the all-time consecutive starts record. Mostly, I want to be there to see the pure, unadulterated joy on his face when he walks out onto the field.
Please Brett, one more year.