Brett Favre: The Chimercal Trickster of American Sports

After the game last night, I turned to NFL Gameday Final on NFL network.  Rich Eisen, the host, seemed to be emotionally shaken-up that Favre lost; so, too, did Steve Marricui.  Both men are white.  Marriuci’s upset is understandable as he is personally close with Favre.  But Eisen said he was upset because he hated to see Favre go down; he is just an everyday guy out there trying to win one for the team.  Deion Sanders and, to a lesser degree, Michael Irvin were not buying his line of argument and wanted to get back to what happened on the field of play–namely, an awful interception that, in a crucial way, cost his team an opportunity to win the NFC Championship at the end of regulation.  Sanders and Irvin are both black.  I don’t think it is a coincidence that they did not identify with the Favre narrative.

Rather, I argue that when we look for heroes and aspirational figures, we are hard-wired to look first at those with whom we share racial identification.  Of course this is not wholly problematic, per se.  However, it too often forces us to miss the rotted forest for the verdant and shimmering trees.

The case of Favre is particularly thorny because it is so multidimensional, and conflictingly so.  On the one hand, his charm, bodily sacrifice, and hard work (during the season) are ideal models for young athletes.  At the same time, however, the specialized treatment and expectation of privilege that accompanies Favre is exactly the opposite of what we say we want sports to teach our children.  Contra Dilfer, it is atrocious to excuse a player’s disregard of a coach by saying he is bigger than the game or league itself.  Can you image someone saying that about Allen Iverson, Barry Bonds, or the Williams sisters?

In the final analysis, when he finally does retire what must be kept in mind is this: Favre is a first ballot Hall of Fame quarterback who had the greatest durability in the history of the NFL.  At the same time, he was not an everyday guy and is full of personal and professional flaws that too must be accounted for.

I understand that all people need heroes; it is just the reasons many give for their admiration of Favre too often glosses over the totality of the man.  (But perhaps that is part and parcel of hero-worship.)  If people consider his entire record, they might begin to see Favre as he truly is: one of the greatest slingers and trickster figures in the history of professional sports.

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