Sports That Mattes

Here we go again, folks. This season, NFL fans will be forced to suffer through one more (allegedly) drama-filled, over-hyped and downright infuriating year of watching the one-man soap opera that is Brett Favre. Every time Favre completes a pass, wins a game or perhaps even when he decides to try out a new shampoo, you better believe that ESPN and every other sports media outlet in America will be there to fill us in on every painstaking (and most of the time completely unnecessary) detail. I know that he is an NFL legend, but it's time to knock this arrogant and overrated superstar down a few pegs.

First of all, I truly don't even consider him one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. I'm not saying that to sound unique or edgy. I'm saying it because once you look beyond his career passing touchdown record (which is 497), the other numbers seem to paint quite a different picture than the one you would get from SportsCenter or most other NFL affiliated media networks.

The record that I just mentioned is certainly impressive, and not just any run-of-the-mill quarterback could attain such great heights. But what most people don't know is that Favre also holds the all-time record for interceptions thrown, which is the absolute worst thing that a quarterback can do in any football game. Many would say that this is due to the fact that he has also thrown the ball more times than anyone else in the game's history so such a high amount of interceptions is not really that bad. Regardless, the fact of the matter is that he has thrown 15 or more interceptions in 13 of his 18 full seasons in the league, including six seasons in which he has thrown over 20.

Favre also only has one Super Bowl ring. Yes, one. To be clear, I'm not harping on him for not winning more; winning a Super Bowl is not easy to do. But for as long as I've been watching professional sports, true legends are judged by the amount of championships they've won. Michael Jordan isn't first on the NBA all-time scoring list; in fact he isn't even second on the list. Yet he won an incredible six NBA titles, and you would be hard pressed to find anyone that doesn't consider MJ as the biggest legend in the game of basketball.

And it's not so much the fact that I think Favre is so vastly overrated that really bothers me. Rather it's the way he carries himself that truly irritates me. I've tried and tried to come up with an athlete that is more conceited and self-involved than Mr. Favre, and while many have come close (such as Alex Rodriguez, Terrell Owens and LeBron James), there is just no one that tops Favre's egotistical and selfish nature.

In my opinion, the man thinks he can do no wrong. When it comes to the Green Bay Packers, the team he was with for 16 of his 19 career seasons, he acts as though they maliciously ruined his career out of pure spite. And while Favre continuously rips the Packers whenever the subject is brought up, there are very few athletes in the history of sport that were so immensely idolized and adored by coaches and fans alike as much as Favre was during his career in Green Bay.

The irony of the whole situation surrounding the last few years of "As the Favre Turns," is that he tries to paint all of his former comrades as the bad guys, when it was actually Favre that pulled one of the biggest back-stabbing moves that I have ever seen in my life. Two years after leaving Green Bay, he signed with the Minnesota Vikings. That would be like Derek Jeter leaving New York next year and then deciding to suit up for the Red Sox. It's just not right. Yet Favre doesn't care because after all, he only cares about himself.

So while many in America will be pulling for Favre and the Vikings this upcoming season, I will be sitting on my couch every Sunday hoping for nothing less than complete and utter failure. I must admit that he did have a terrific season last year (33 touchdowns, 7 interceptions), but it all went for naught after his last pass of the season was an interception in the NFC Championship game, which by the way was the second time that he has done that in his career. Yet, that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone because come on, who throws interceptions better than Brett Favre right?

I do believe that Favre deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, and his astounding consecutive games played record is pretty impressive. But should he be considered one of the very best ever? Absolutely not.

Sports That Mattes is a bimonthly column where staff writer Mike Mattes discusses current hot topics in sports.