All of the major news outlets yesterday and today picked up on and are running stories about Brett Farve. According to sources (I love how they never give the name of the "sources", give me a name, damn it!), Farve has informed the New York Jets that he only desires to play for the Minnesota Vikings for the 2009-2010 NFL season. Of course, it goes without saying that the Vikings are in the same division, the NFC North, as Farve's former team The Green Bay Packers.
These "sources" also state that Farve's motivations for playing for the Vikings come from a desire to exact revenge on the Packers for their actions during the off season last year. As many of you recall, the Packers choose Aaron Rodgers as their starting quarterback and sent Farve off to the New York Jets. That is the short version of course. The longer one involves much unnecessary back and forth between Farve and Packers GM Ted Thompson after Farve decided to un-retire and return to the Packers. I won't bore you with too many details here. If you want more of the back story, I suggest visiting ESPN and search under Farve as they will have plenty, believe me.
Now at first I was going to write an objective op-ed that expressed my thoughts on Farve's actions as of late. But then I thought I would take a different tact here and write an open letter to Brett Farve. I know realistically it may never be read by the man, but the act of doing seemed appropriate at this time.
Dear Mr. Farve,
First, I want to thank you for all of the great football seasons you gave us here in Wisconsin while you were the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. It truly was an honor to watch you play and I have great respect for your abilities and enthusiasm on a football field. You brought an NFL Championship back to Green Bay, not single-handedly of course, and with Reggie White restored respectability to our storied franchise. For those things, I am grateful.
With that said, I am disturbed by your behavior as of late. Now I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt due to the fact that the comments attributed to you in the media recently have not been confirmed by you or anyone close to you. But, if true, these comments and actions by you paint you as an egotistical, self-absorbed, and bitter man. They also tarnish your legacy, not only with the Green Bay Packers and their fans, but also with NFL fans, both casual and devout, across the country and around the world. Instead of being remembered as the great Hall of Fame quarterback that you certainly are, you will also have your actions now and your childish and reprehensible actions last year tacked on as a footnote.
When you were still a Green Bay Packer you talked of loyalty and integrity when asked by various media interviewers if you would ever play for another team. I believed you then and viewed you as a decent, up right, and moral person who would take the high road whenever possible. In truth sir, you have not been acting with integrity and you have not shown your loyalty to the organization that helped you attain the great levels of success you have enjoyed until recently. It leaves me wondering if you ever truly meant any of it. Were you simply playing lip service to the fans of the Packers and the city of Green Bay? Are you not a man of integrity, a throwback to a different type of NFL player thought long extinct? I just don't know anymore what the answers to these questions are and neither do many of my fellow fans.
Mr. Farve, my suggestion to you (during your down time here) is to seek out Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick. In it you will find the story of the battered and crippled Capt. Ahab. You see Ahab was consumed by his own thirst for vengeance against the whale that crippled him. In the end his obsession cost him his life, his ship, and the lives of his crew. In your quest for revenge against that metaphorical Green and Gold Whale that hurt you Mr. Farve, you will tarnish your professional reputation, destroy the hopes of a team with deep playoff aspirations, and ultimately disappoint their loyal fan base.
Revenge is a cancer and it will eat you up Mr. Farve until you are nothing but a shell of your former self. You need to move on with your life now post football. You have a beautiful wife and children. You have plenty of money and many great opportunities outside of the game. Seize those opportunities and make a clean start on the next chapter of your life. Don't allow your personal vendetta against the Packers to dictate your choices or force you to come back to the game when you clearly should move on.
Another Hall of Fame quarterback had a similar journey to yours, it was Joe Montana. As you already know I am sure, Mr. Montana was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1993. Unlike you he had injury issues, as many older players do, the two seasons previous to the trade. But like you, he had been replaced by a young upstart named Steve Young. You see Mr. Montana did not make a media spectacle after it was announced that he would be traded. He went and played for the Chiefs for two years and gave them all he had. Not out of some desire to exact revenge on the 49ers organization, but rather due to his drive to excel.
You see Mr. Montana returned to San Francisco to announce his retirement at the end of the 1994 football season. The event was a joyous one with Bill Walsh, Montana's former coach, serving as emcee. Mr. Montana could have been bitter and resentful toward the 49ers organization for casting him aside after all he gave them. But he didn't. He chose to return to the city and the fans who loved him. He took the high road and was better for it.
Please consider your fans prior to making this decision. Think of all of the children who admired you and continue to do so. Do you really want to teach them that seeking revenge and acting out in spite is proper behavior? Do you want to tell these children that when they perceive they have been wronged, that they should obsess over it and then go after those responsible?
If you still choose to play football for the Minnesota Vikings, and it is in any part due to seeking revenge, know that your fans here in Wisconsin will cheer loudly for Aaron Rodgers and his team when you and your Vikings visit Lambeau Field. They will not cheer for you out of some misplaced sense of loyalty. No, the people of Green Bay are Packers fans first and Farve fans second. I, for one, hope that Rodgers puts to rest once and for all who is the more skilled quarterback at this time. His statistics from last season when compared to yours bear that assertion out already. But I welcome you giving him the one and absolute best chance to silence his critics once and for all, that being two games against you.
In closing, I certainly mean no disrespect towards you Mr. Farve in this letter. Instead, I am writing to you because at one time I had great respect for you. I am disappointed in your behavior as of late and don't want you to make enemies of fans like myself. Please take my concerns, as well as those of other fans, to heart. You still have an opportunity to walk away from football with integrity and class. Don't allow these petty feelings you are harboring toward the Packers allow you to destroy that opportunity.
Sincerely from a loyal Packer fan,
Neil Goertz
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