Part way through the Packers Patriots game last Sunday the camera cut from the field to the crowd. It was a standard NFL game shot that we’ve seen 1 million times. Something great happens on the field show the happy fans in the stands. Smack dab in the middle of a joyous group of Packer faithful was a woman wearing an old school green number 4 jersey.
Then I heard it. From the corner of our living room.
“F@*! Brett Favre”
It was my 85-year-old father. My lifelong Packers fan father. A man who I had only heard publicly curse maybe five times in my entire life. And a man who I had heard criticize Packers alumni even less.
This is a guy who sat through miserable Packers football in the 70s and 80s before seeing a return to dominance with back to back Hall of Fame quarterbacks in the last three decades. A man who knows how to enjoy the good times and remember the bad times. He has a huge appreciation for what every member of this organization has given it. Hell if Donald Driver started a barbecue sauce company tomorrow my Dad would be the first person to buy a bottle. And he’d be quick to tell you how happy he was to do it. How happy he is to support the team that has been such a great escape for the entirety of his life. But here we were.
“F@*! Brett Favre”
And I want to be clear, this is a man that can’t stand the political bickering. You couldn’t pay him enough to turn on CNN or Fox News. He’s not interested. But he’s always been a man who stands for what’s right and even in a world where we are so forgiving of professional athletes for their transgressions Favre had crossed a line that even my diehard supporting father couldn’t look past.
I tried to respond but he wasn’t interested. It was clear that he just simply wanted to make it clear some things are bigger than sports.
It’s tricky to walk that line in a world that is so based on whataboutism. The moment you stand for something somebody else will use a completely different example to try to call you a hypocrite for not also standing for something else. But I appreciate my Dad making his feelings known. I appreciate him taking a stand from his recliner.
My father is not the only one. This scandal seems to be so much larger than what people are willing to forgive especially for a man who wasn’t exactly gracious on his way out the door. It’s becoming more and more clear even the diehards can’t overlook this. You have to look pretty hard to find a cheesehead that is willing to get within in a mile of supporting or defending Favre in any way. At best you might find some ridiculous troll on a message board who says something insane like “we all make mistakes.’ But these people aren’t real life. The real life conversations I’m having all feel the same.
I was at the Sunday night Bears game in Lambeau and it was very apparent how many fewer number 4 jerseys were in attendance.
Aaron Nagler of Cheesehead TV noted an incredibly poignant moment in London.
Brett Favre could’ve gone down as an all-time NFL icon and a member of the Wisconsin Mount Rushmore but his greed wouldn’t allow it. Brett Favre did what Brett Favre always seems to do, he put himself first. And he hurt a lot of people in doing so. I never thought I would say it but even Green Bay seems to be turning their back on Brett Favre.
