These days, Brett Favre sees plenty of gain in no pain

Being a Green Bay Packer fan for as long as I can remember—and the first two decades of it when the team was in the dumper--any enunciation of the name “Brett Favre” emits mostly positive energy. For some bad but mostly good reasons, Favre and his devil-may-care play put the Packers back on the NFL map. Still, when I heard the news that the St. Louis Rams had contacted his agent, Bus Cook, about a possible return after more than two years in retirement, for a moment I wondered if this was a joke in bad taste, or some cynical effort to get himself back in the news. 

But just for a moment. This wasn’t Steve DeBerg who didn’t play for four years before returning for another season at age 44 in 1998. DeBerg wasn’t away from the game like Favre has been; he was the quarterbacks coach for two season with the New York Giants and apparently every off-season he “worked-out.” In 1998, the Atlanta Falcons with a battered quarterback situation decided that he looked good enough to be a back-up. Favre, on the other hand, hasn’t given even the slightest hint that he has been considering a return. 

Still, Cook kind of fanned the flames when he said Favre is in the best shape he’s been in since he left the Minnesota Vikings, which frankly wasn’t that hard an accomplishment. Cook even claimed that Favre is "better than a lot of (the quarterbacks) out there today." But Favre threw cold water on the hopes of maybe more than one team, stating that he was “flattered” by the interest, but had no interest himself. He did nevertheless cause some waves to flutter when he claimed to be experiencing frustrating bouts of memory loss—something that might be expected after enduring an NFL record 525 sacks—and he wanted to save his health for spending time with his family.

There is little doubt that a Favre “comeback” would have been the lead NFL story for weeks and would have been a constant distraction every Sunday. Even his many detractors would be obsessing over him. And the Rams are not a bad team—3-3 before Sam Bradford’s injury—and maybe the Favre magic could catch on one more time like it did in 2009, one interception away from the Super Bowl. 

However, a few years of taking it easy has taken its "toll" on Favre; he obviously doesn't miss being addicted to painkillers. The occasional appearances or interview, coaching high school kids and promoting his charity foundation is the extent of his public notoriety these days. He obviously prefers playing the part of Gentleman Farmer in Mississippi; on his website there is a photo of him doing some lumber work.

Favre obviously isn’t hurting for cash, either. On his website he obsesses over the sale of items on EBay that supposedly have forged autographs, which is perhaps not surprising since in his fan store he sells a whole Favre Museum of items in which those with an “authentic” autograph would likely cost most fans like you and me both of our arms and half the second leg. 

Anyways, how did DeBerg do in his comeback? He started just one game, a 28-3 loss to the Jets—completing 9 of 20 passes for 117 yards and an interception before being replaced by the original back-up quarterback, Tony Graziani.