Favre, make up your mind

Dear Brett Favre,
Please make up your mind already.
Sincerely,
Cheeseheads, NFL executives, sportswriters.
To retire or not to retire? That is the question former (or current? I get confused) Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre has been contemplating for months now. When he announced his departure from football in March, he was showered with praise. Fans mourned his loss while sportscastors debated how Green Bay would live without such an icon.
After months of training next-in-line quarterback Aaron Rodgers, it seemed that the Packers were ready to move on. Favre had his spot secure in the hearts of NFL fans everywhere.
Until he changed his mind.
Favre’s case isn’t new. Retired athletes frequently regret their decisions, especially great ones, when they realize just because they’re gone doesn’t mean they don’t miss competing. But Favre can take a lesson from the following example of another superstar.
In 1998 when Michael Jordan decided to retire, he left under ideal circumstances: He had just won his sixth championship and his second three-peat. Both coach Phil Jackson and his fellow teammates dispersed. Jordan had left just the way he wanted to. Even producer Jerry Bruckheimer couldn’t have scripted Jordan’s decision to leave any better.
But, of course, he decided to come back and ruin the storybook ending to his career.
Has Favre not learned anything from Jordan’s return? The entire world saw Jordan rejoin the NBA not as a ferocious Bull, but as a Wizard. Unlike Merlin, Jordan couldn’t spark his team. The Wizards floundered as younger stars reminded Jordan that he was no longer the Most Valuable Player, but more like the Most Valuable Veteran.
Not anymore. Favre’s decision to come back and try to reclaim his starting spot from Rodgers is reprehensible. Rodgers has been preparing for the starting spot for four months now and somehow Favre expects everyone to give him his spot back. Favre is more indecisive than a 16-year-old girl picking out a prom dress at Macy’s.
In 1998 we saw two ultimate endings: Jordan’s second retirement and the end of the hit sitcom Seinfeld.
Both exited when people were clamoring for more, when fans and critics weren’t ready to say goodbye. But even the biggest Bulls supporter or Seinfeld addict had to admit, they went out on top.
Every athlete dreams of saying goodbye on his own terms, when he has the choice to stay, but chooses to go. Houston Rockets forward Shane Battier once said, “I hope I can leave the game when I want to, not because they don’t want me.” Even Oakland Raiders legend Tim Brown said Favre should stay retired or risk damaging his legacy.
Great athletes are decisive; they can be counted on when the pressure’s on. Now that the pressure is on Favre, the best thing he can do to ensure he remains America’s sweetheart is to stay just where he is: home.