For the Love of the Game
Anthony Russo
To those of you who still get chills down your spine during the national anthem, and to those who drink up the nectar that is highlight reels and sometimes sit back and bask in the spirituality of the greatest sports moments witnessed in your life, then Brett Favre’s performance on Sunday is a story worth watching.
This was a great Sunday for me as I saw some of the pure and true childhood love of sports delivered by none other than Brett Favre. Recently displaced from my home of 7 years in Wisconsin to move to North Carolina I was able to use some Sunday afternoon Packer football to transcend me to a better place, a place familiar and a place with friends.
Year after year I have watched Brett Favre fun and gun, and I stress the word fun. Now, 37 and change years removed from his prime he can still lead a team better than anyone in the league. But it wasn’t just the what that on this Sunday that enriched my day, it was the how; the joy he still displays on a play-by-play basis.
Green Bay essentially threw away the rushing game in the fourth quarter, and began using a sandlot playbook that read: “Give the ball to Brett.” Most of the time the backfield was empty, the patterns almost always looked broken but Favre managed to lead his team to a comeback win and a 3-0 record. This 3-0 is no ordinary 3-0 either as this is the first Packer team to win their first three games of a season against teams that ALL made the post-season the year before.
On this day Favre also entered the record books as he passed for three touchdowns, tying the career TD record held by Dan Marino - 420 touchdown passes. It was an electrifying day in Green Bay and there was no one else to thank but Favre.
Amidst the great start to the season, and the tied touchdown record, there was something else to this story that went much deeper for myself. As I watched Favre in the fourth quarter I watched the epitome of the human spirit in sports, and the joy of the game. I love Favre for so many reasons, but his childhood fervor is what makes him special.
Critics have been telling him to retire for years now, to go out when you are still known as elite. To that he has responded by putting up numbers all the while having a huge grin on his face. Behind this grin is a sadness that is cured by competition as in the last few years he has dealt with his wife’s battle with cancer and the passing of his beloved father.
For his wife Deanna he shaved his head last year as support to her and her battle with cancer. One Favre moment I will never forget is the first half of the game 24 hours after the unexpected death of his father in 2003 that included one of the most impressive performances of a quarterback ever. 311 yards in one half of football that included 15-18 completions with the maximum quarterback rating of 158.3. I remember watching that game on television with tears in my eyes as I tried to digest the greatness that I was watching, and not for himself, instead for his father.
As a die-hard sports fan when I see excellence exhibited by a player I become incredibly emotional. Examples of this include Kirby Puckett telling his team to jump on his back in the ’91 World Series as he lead his team to victory with an extra inning walk-off to take his team to game seven, which they won 1-0. Michael Jordan of course had several of these games to speak of, and today I saw Brett Favre take me to that special place.
After his third touchdown pass putting the Packers in the lead, Favre, as we have come to expect, sprinted from the line of scrimmage 50+ yards away to congratulate his teammates. I saw exuberance and passion in the 5 seconds it took for him to make it to the end zone that some players in pro sports have never shown. Sure Favre has one of the strongest arms in NFL history, but so does Vick…what makes Favre better than great is his love for the game. When he celebrated with his team in the end zone as they took the lead with 2 minutes to go I became emotional.
I had just witnessed greatness combined with the love of a thirteen year old throwing a pass to his best friend in Pop Warner football. After the touchdown he lifted up Donald Driver up on his shoulders in the end zone. What makes this special is that Driver wasn’t even the recipient of the TD pass, it was just part of his celebration to share the moment with his teammate of 9 years that he clearly has become very close with; a glimpse of team loyalty in a league and in a world of sports where that is often overlooked and forgotten.
Minutes later the camera showed Favre on the bench with his head in his hands and only one can speculate what he was thinking about. He had just tied the record; he also had just lead his team back to a late 4th quarter lead. What was on his mind? Was he thinking about his father, was he thinking about doubters, or was he thinking about his wife and her struggles and yet her never-ending support of her husband.
When I think of the discussion that Deanna had with Brett telling him to continue playing I just picture a Rockyesque scenario and Deanne looking up at Brett after he asked what she wanted him to do and she says “I want you to play, and win…win Brett, win.” And against all odds this Sunday, with an underrated receiving core, with a lack of superstars, and with a weak running game he did just that, he beat the odds again, he won.
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