10 MONTHS AND FAVRE AS A VIKING

It’s been 10 months since my last post, so I’m sure my loyal readers (all zero of them) are glad to see me post again. Unfortunately the last 10 months have been rather hectic, with my father in hospital three times, myself in hospital once, a relationship that ended, and many late nights at work. However things seem to have settled down, and work is quiet, so I may blog again, at least until things go to hell again!

From a card collecting point of view, the biggest thing that has happened to me over the last 10 months without a doubt is Favre retiring again, unretiring again and joining the Minnesota Vikings – leading them to a 12-4 record and first round bye and the number 2 seed in the NFC while throwing for 4,202 yards, 33 TDs, 7 Ints and rating of 107.2.

But how did I, as the self-proclaimed biggest Brett Favre fan in the Southern Hemisphere, feel about Favre becoming a Minnesota Viking? Was I disgusted by it, happy with it or some where in between?

I like the Green Bay Packers, and follow them religiously from year to year. I like the fact that they are a community owned team, and not owned by some evil owner like Jerry Jones or Dan Snyder. I also like their history and some of the great players they have had – Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Ray Nitschke, Tony Canadeo, James Lofton, Sterling Sharpe, Paul Hornung and Don Hutson (who I think is the greatest Wide Receiver of all time, greater even than Jerry rice, but that is for another time). But the main reasons I like them is because initially Brett Favre played for them. The combination of getting a Favre Rookie in the first pack of NFL cards I bought (1991 Proset) and his play in 1994 made me a Favre fan for life. So, the reality was I was a Favre fan first, a Packers fan second.

Did I want to see Favre leave the Packers and go to another team? Not in a million years. But unfortunately it did happen when Favre went to the New York Jets in 2008. Thankfully they were in the AFC, which meant I could pretty much safely follow both the Jets and the Packers and hope they would meet in the Super Bowl. If they had of met in the Super Bowl, who would I have followed? To be honest, the Jets because of Favre – as I said before, I am a Favre fan first, a Packers fan second.

However in 2009 Favre signed with the Vikings, who are not only in the same conference as the Packers, but the same division while also being historic rivals of the Packers. So how did this play out for me? Having not grown up with traditional rivalries (I started following the NFL as an adult), I didn’t have the same hatred of certain teams most fans do. Sure, I don’t like the Chicago Bears, but who does? As for the Vikings, I was never a big fan of them, partially because of their rivalry with the Packers and partially because of some of the shady players they had in their time (Cris Carter, Randy Moss, Daunte Culpepper etc.). I did not however hate or despise them, and even liked some of their players (such as RB Robert Smith).

So while I would have preferred it that Favre did not go to the Minnesota Vikings, it didn’t change the fact that I am a Favre fan first, a Packers fan second. I thus went for both the Packers and Vikings, and on the 2 occasions they met this year I went for Favre – that is the Vikings. It would have been difficult for me had the 2 teams met in the playoffs, but with the Packers heart-breaking overtime loss to the Cardinals this won’t happen this year. It is thus the Vikings all the way now in the playoffs.

Go Favre and the Vikings!