Is that a little harsh?? Bret Favre will supposedly announce his retirement in the coming days. I think I may be the only person in America sick and tired of hearing about Favre. I think he's a great person and a generally likeable guy however I have grown very tired of the media love affair with a guy who has thrown almost 300 picks in his career. Was he good? Certainly. Was he great? I would say so. Is he in the conversation of the best QB ever? No way, IMO. Just my thoughts. I'm sure there will be some who will disagree.
Well I do think there were times when he would get into a zone and he just made some incredible throws. But when out of the zone he, as you noted, threw picks he shouldn't have. I assume he just believed his arm could get the ball anywhere. Winning a Super Bowl and his long career will get him into the HOF, but he's not in the same conversation with Joe Montana or Terry Bradshaw or those guys when it comes to all time greats. But hey Packer fans love him!
See my thinking is that Favre finally realizes he was holding back the development of Aaron Rodgers and that it was best for him to move on and let the young QB mature with a very good group of WRs including a potential star in Greg Jennings. Rodgers looked pretty good in relief duty of Favre against the Cowboys. I'm sure someone will have Quinn going to the Pack though.
I believe Farve was a great QB. The best ever? I think I don't really believe in that label, there were a lot of great ones and Farve is one of them. He'll be in the Hall of Fame the first year he is eligible.
Aquila, I'm with you when it comes to the way the media fawn over Farve. On the other hand, I think his longevity record surpasses Cal Ripken's. Since the Lions are in the same division, I've seen him play for years. He's one of the few QBs I've seen, Tarkington was another, who could make plays from anywhere in any circumstance. His underhanded flip last year in the playoffs was just one of many I've seen him pull off during his career. Yeah, he's had his share of picks but it's only because his coaches knew that in the long run, he'd win more games for them with his gunslinger style than he's lose. HOF first ballot, no question.
I agree that Favre is a surefire first ballot HOFer. You don't throw for more TDs than anyone else and get slighted by the HOF. When he broke the TD record though, some were hailing him as possibly being the greatest ever and I think that is laughable at best. Yes, I agree that the consecutive games played record is incredible and I also do not doubt he has guts and that his gunslinging style and ability to make plays won more games for the Packers than it lost. The thing I'm saying is that the guy is not in the same discussion as the other top QBs. I even think that Brady and Manning are better right now than Favre. I also think that Manning will eclipse Favre's TD mark while throwing considerably fewer picks. I just have grown so tired of the every season saga of "will he retire?" This guy has been nearly as bad as Clemens when it came to that and the media coverage of Favre is almost certainly worse than what it was/is for Clemens. I'm glad to see him gone. Now if I can weather the storm of media attention from now until the beginning of the regular season, I may be all right. Of course, then once the season starts the storyline will be about whether or not Rodgers can feel those huge Favrian shoes or something along those lines. BTW, I am not a Bears, Vikings, or Lions fan, in case you were wondering.
I have great respect for Joe Montana. He truly was a great quarterback and a perfect fit for the Niners' offense under Walsh and Siefert. But since his name has been mentioned as an all-time great, so should another... Johnny U.
I have no problem with Unitas being in the conversation. I think the fact that he comes from a different era makes it somewhat difficult to compare. I think it's a little easier to compare guys like Montana, Elway, Favre, Marino, and Aikman, among others. I know it's just a matter of opinion anyway but I can tell you that if I had a team and had the choice of any QB in history in their prime to be my field general, Favre would be a considerable ways down the list.
Actually, my choice would be Johnny U. whose middle name IMO was field general. I feel that way despite his disdain for the Indianapolis Colts, which I understood from his perspective. My second choice would be John Elway.
You'll be hard pressed to find a QB that had more passion or gamemanship than Favre had. To call him the most overated QB in the History of the NFL is an absolutely ridiculous, uninformed and worthless statement. Remeber the game that Fat Ass Warren Sapp hammered him and Favre immediately got up in his face when Sapp did his F.A.D. and Favre slap him in the head and said "Yeah Baby!! Now we're playin Football!!" ? If you don't, then my accusations of being uninformed are true, if you did, then you just didn't appreciate a 37 year old kid still playing the game.
Johnny U belongs in that special group of QB's for sure. Like I said earlier I don't go with one guy being the best, there are a number that are special. Probably some others from earlier era's also like Otto Graham. I think that no matter how you cut it Farve belongs on that list also. I have to agree with AJ as to calling Farve the most over rated QB. I'm not sure who I would say that about, but not Farve.
You're missing the point I'm trying to make. I don't question Bret Favre's guts or gamesmanship. What I do question is his worth as a QB which is different. In my personal opinion, I would rather have a guy I could count on playing QB to make plays for my team not make plays for the other team. The NFC championship game and Favre's apparent last throw as a pro is a perfect example. What makes him great to so many is the reason that I can think of several QBs that I would take before I would take Favre. He wasn't aware of his limitations and by forcing passes he made a ton of mistakes.
I would never think of Brett Favre as one of the greatest quaterbacks of my lifetime (I'm 65). But he certainly was one of the most exciting. He's one guy I'd pay to watch.
Well Joe Montana won 4 super bowls and was the MVP 3 times, not to mention he was NFL MVP 2 times. But it's really impossible to say who was the greatest, Joe was one of the greatest who ever played the game.