The boy legend hangs it up

The iconic image of a 27-year-old Brett Favre basking in the glory of his only Super Bowl title is the perfect way to remember him now that he’s announced his retirement.\nAs a boy.\nThat is how Favre played the game. Unlike the superstars of today, football was his life, his religion. It certainly was not a business. If Vince Lombardi ever knew him, he’d love him, for Favre encapsulates Lombardi’s version of the Trinity (God, family and the Green Bay Packers).\nAnd like Lombardi, Favre will go down in history not as a great player and not even as an icon. He will go down in the annals of history as a legend – a title earned by only a select few in sports. We will speak of him in the same breath as Johnny Unitas, Red Grange and Walter Payton.\nLet’s face it, there will never be another Brett Favre.\nFor a grueling 17 years, he played his heart out – every game, every down. Cal Ripken, Jr. may have been baseball’s Iron Man, but he didn’t have to endure the physical wear and tear football players do. Favre played 253 straight regular-season games – nearly 16 years straight. If you want to include the playoffs, go ahead and bump that number up to 275. Factor in all the injuries the average quarterback endures over the course of his career, and if you’re not combing that figure over in disbelief, then there’s something seriously wrong with you.\nHad he come back for year No. 18, he certainly could have led the Packers to the playoffs again. Who knows? Maybe he could have taken them back to the promised land and played for the Pack’s first title since 1997. After all, who wouldn’t feel good after seeing Favre, the epitome of the average Joe, flash that boyish smile one more time, knowing he genuinely loves playing the game and playing it the right way?\nMechanically speaking, he played the game horrendously wrong. A typical Favre play consisted of a hard play-action fake to the running back, then scrambling while throwing off his back foot into triple coverage. Amazingly, he completed that feat more often than not. \nHis arm, which is still stronger than those of a good chunk of the quarterbacks in the NFL, should have its own case at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. That thing should be frozen and embalmed so generation after generation can witness its greatness.\nEven though that arm can still throw, Favre’s head and heart aren’t where they need to be for him to continue wearing green and yellow on Sundays.\nIt’s not as if he doesn’t love the game anymore. Simply put, he’s tired, and deservedly so. When you don’t miss a day of work for 16-plus years (including the playoffs), you’re entitled to a little bit of rest.\nSo that’s what he’s going to do. He’s going to take a little rest. Only he’s not going to come back. And that boy, who loved to play the game, will be frozen in history and revered for all he did for football.