Depending on where your pro football loyalties lie, Brett Favre’s career affected your life in one of two ways. For the millions of fans that comprise “Packer Nation,” Favre’s arrival from the Atlanta Falcons in the summer of 1992 was nothing short of a godsend. The quarterback took a franchise that had fallen on mediocre times and turned it into a perennial divisional, conference, and league-wide contender, year in and year out. For everyone else, Favre was the face of the enemy, a monster that trampled the dreams of division rivals and playoff opponents on a regular basis. Favre looked good on the field only when buried under a pile of defensive linemen or tossing one of his NFL record 288 picks.

But behind the love-to-hate relationship many fans hold towards No. 4 is a sincere level of respect for an athlete that is truly an anomaly in today’s NFL. Favre personified the essence of sports, and not just because he didn’t run over traffic control officers or shovel thousands of dollars onto the floors of strip clubs. There’s something about the image of Favre racing around the field after throwing the game-winning touchdown against your favorite team, a huge smile painted on his face, that rouses a sense of awe at not only his ability to compete at such a high level, but the passion that allowed him to enjoy the game so completely after so many years.

Two words fell out of my mouth this morning when ESPN.com refreshed on my computer screen: “Oh no.”
After years of harboring resentment towards Favre and his beloved Packers, my initial reaction was not one of celebration or relief, but of disappointment with a trace of remorse. Favre was a competitor, and, above all, a winner, that played with the same vigor whether his team was in first or last. You can say all you want about Favre the Packer, but there is little honest criticism one can offer about Favre the football player.

SportsCenter replayed a telling interview this afternoon that Favre did with Rachel Nichols. In his college days at Southern Mississippi, the coaches would often have a difficult time locating the ecstatic Favre after a touchdown pass. “Where’s Brett?” they would ask. After seventeen years of exhibiting the same youthful infatuation with the game, there will be something missing from the world of sports now that No. 4 has departed.

No matter your disposition, fans everywhere will have one question on their mind when the new season begins in September:

“Where’s Brett?”

Entry was written by Kevin Kaplan

As the new intern at the DI, this is my first day at the office.

Luckily for me, I did not have to spend much time pondering what this first article would be about since this day coincided with one of the most attention grabbing broadcasts in all of sports. As a welcome change of pace, this announcement did not involve steroids, NCAA violations or an arrest of any kind. Instead, it simply marked the departure of one of the most popular and successful athletes in sports history.

At a press conference in the early hours of Tuesday, March 4, Brett Favre announced his retirement effectively the end of an era. Maybe some expected him to quit after going 4-12 in 2006, but surely not after a season that had him firing a career-best 66.5 pass completion percentage. Regardless of outside perceptions, Favre called it quits, citing the fact that he did not have the mental strength left to win another Super Bowl.

As all of the cheeseheads begin their mourning, the rest of sports nation must figure out what to make of this. As an admitted fan of all St. Louis sports, I spent 2007 with modest hopes that my Rams would have a better season than the Miami Dolphins. It turned out to be no-contest, as the Rams went on a run towards the end of the season to triple Miami’s win total.

Unfortunately, the future doesn’t look particularly bright for the Rams, and the quarterback situation in St. Louis is in a state of uncertainty as starter Mark Bulger has faced his share of injuries in recent months. While I was still waiting for the Rams to win a game halfway through the season, Favre was busy dominating the NFC North, all the while looking like his old self and pushing memories of a 29 interception season behind him.

While this resurgence after 17 seasons in the league was inspiring in the eyes of many, it may have hurt the eyes of fans of another Midwestern team: the Chicago Bears.
Living in the conveniently centrally located city of Champaign, one may find fans of any variety of teams, but by far the largest fan-base is that of the Chicago Bears. With so many fans of “Da Bears” around, a person doesn’t have to spend much time in Champaign to find some animosity towards Favre. After all, as Favre cleaned up the NFC North en-route to a playoff loss to the eventual NFL champion New York Giants, the Bears found themselves at the bottom of the division with some major quarterback questions.

With a love-hate relationship between fans and Bears starting quarterback Rex Grossman and the trade of Brian Griese for a draft pick, Bears fans are left with about as much certainty as the Packers with likely 2008 starter Aaron Rodgers.

This puts fans of local NFL teams in interesting spots, as each of them face a degree of uncertainty with their quarterbacks. The thing is, regardless of what will happen in the future and no matter how good any of these teams become, there will never truly be another Brett Favre.

Rex Grossman can’t be mentioned in the same sentence as Favre, but neither can the current most famous/infamous Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Favre’s appeal was on a much higher level than just skills. Despite his problems, which he had just like every other human being, Favre symbolized all the good things about the game.

Now he symbolizes a different era of football that has now officially ended.

This was not the way it was supposed to end. Not this time, not this year.

Everyone expected Bill Belichick and Tom Brady to become the new Don Shula and Mercury Morris—the new perfect team of the modern era of football that would tout themselves until no end as the greatest team ever because of their unblemished record, popping the corks every time the last unbeaten fell.

Someone forgot to tell Tom Coughlin’s New York Giants that that was how it was supposed to go. Eli Manning, the Giants defensive line and David Tyree ruined the dreams of sports fans hoping to see history and shut up the ’72 Dolphins, while at the same time showing everyone that some things are still right in the world. That cheaters never prosper. And that the underdog always has a shot.

It is nights like February 3, 2008 that reminds me why I love sports. As cliché as that sounds, Bill Belichick’s early exit from the manicured turf of the University of Phoenix Stadium was a touching end to my football season, not to mention seeing a gigantic smile creep across the boyish face of the much-maligned Eli Manning while hoisting the Lombardi trophy his older brother brought home just a year ago.

But I’d like to focus on Belichick, the most-hated and most-copied coach in the NFL. The man known for “Spy-gate.” The man, that after eighteen straight wins, couldn’t hold himself to a high standard and take his first loss in over a year with some class and dignity. The incident I’m referring to is when the clock had one second left and Belichik and Tom Coughlin met at midfield, thinking the game was over. The two shook hands with as much enthusiasm as if they were in the waiting room for a prostate exam, exchanged a few words, and were then rushed off the playing field because the officials, rightly so, were requiring the Giants to snap the ball in order to run the clock out.

It is what happened immediately after this moment that really grinds my gears and shows how little respect New England’s head man deserves.

I’m talking about when Belichick refused to give Eli Manning and the Giants their moment in the sun: the endgame knee. The point where Manning takes the snap, kneels and finally gets a chance to revel in his success. It’s the point where the opponent is supposed to realize and accept the fact that his team didn’t play to its potential and just got beat.

Belichick was not man enough to give Eli his moment. He was too much of a coward to have some class and civility. He walked off the field early, further showing that he is a classless individual when it comes to the basics of sportsmanship. We’ve seen earlier displays this last season when his teams would run up the score on lesser opponents and throw long bombs throughout. I don’t even want to get into the fourth down attempts when the game has been well in hand.

And I can hear you yelling out right now. “It was just one second!” “Everyone thought it was over!”

Mybe you’re right. Maybe I’m being too picky, but the other truth is this: you are supposed to respect your opponent. That’s the first rule of sportsmanship, and Belichick refuses to follows these rules. It has been seen in the Spy-gate incident, his postgame walk-off, running up the score during the regular season and his laughable post-Super Bowl interview with Chris Meyers (You couldn’t help but feel bad for that guy).

But, the sports world confirmed Sunday that some things do ultimately work out—the Pats lost and Belichick could face further repercussions with the Spy-gate situation. Thank goodness karma exists.

credit AP

The showdown is set for Super Bowl XLII and it could be one of the less sexy match ups.

This Super Bowl has the potential to be a dud, as the 18-0 Patriots will look to beat up on the somehow still alive Giants, and repeat their performance when they came out on top in Week 17, 38-35. My lack of enthusiasm could be rooted in the fact that I am sick of the love fest that is Patriots and Tom Brady. (Does every guy have a man crush on him? It must be his new cologne.) The only thing that would have made this Super Bowl worse would have been if the Packers and “I must hate Aaron Rodgers because I won’t retire” Favre were the NFC Champs. (By the way, nice job on throwing that interception to pretty much end the game and possibly your career.)

Honestly, the Pats seem like they are on a mission and won’t be stopped until they win it all. They want to go down as one of the greatest, if not the greatest team in NFL history and become the next ‘72 Dolphins, especially after the whole “Spygate” scandal.

As for the Giants, they definitely took the hard route to the Super Bowl, having to beat the Bucs, Cowboys and Packers, all on the road. Plus they received the honor of playing in the third coldest game in playoff history (minus-3 degrees temperatures and wind-chill of minus-24), which was clearly evident based on Tom Coughlin’s frostbitten face.

Eli Manning has had to play his best football and he has done just that. In 85 pass attempts this post season, Manning has zero interceptions. No other post season quarterback this year can say that. And yes, we are talking about the right Manning. While Peyton does have a Super Bowl ring, it took him much long than his younger brother to have that chance. Eli is currently in his fourth year in the NFL. It took Peyton nine years to get to the Super Bowl.

And now Peyton is taking advice from Eli.

Lawrence Tynes should be thanking the stars that he made that 47-yard field goal because I’m pretty sure Coughlin would have cut him before he had even gotten back to the sideline. Tynes hit the game-winner, which was the longest made by a Packers’ opponent in their playoff history.

Hopefully this game turns out better than I think it will. The Giants did play some of their best football of the year against the Pats and had many opportunities to close them out and win the game. The Giants are yet again in charge of preventing the Patriots from reaching perfection, this time from 19-0.

ESPN.com’s Todd McShay, one of the few ESPN personalities I both respect and can enjoy, put out his first mock draft. Just reminding me how much the Patriots are going to continue to dominate for the foreseeable future.
For those of you who have grown sick of this Patriots undefeated streak as I have, here is something else to add to your list of grievances.

Early this year, the NFL punished the cheating Patriots for using a camera on the sidelines taping opposing teams sidelines, from this is an excerpt from an interview that Don Schula did with ESPN.com earlier in the year about Pats Coach Bill Belichick being fined $500,000 and the team being fined an additional $250,000 and a first-round draft pick.

“That tells you the seriousness or significance of what they found,” Shula said, according to the Daily News. “I guess you got the same thing as putting an asterisk by Barry Bonds’ home run record.”

While losing what would have surely been a 32nd pick in the first round is undeniably a huge hit to the Patriots, it is really moot. In a trade made last year, the Patriots acquired the 49′ers first pick for this year in exchange for their first-round pick in last years draft and a forth rounder last year.

For those who don’t know how poorly the 49′ers are playing this year, it hasn’t been pretty. Alex Smith has been hurt and hasn’t performed well when he has been, stirring murmurs that his college career may have been more helped by his Urban Meyer system than thought. Smith’s replacement, Trent Dilfer, isn’t exactly a spring chicken, either and has played to the tune of a 53 completion percentage and 11 interceptions on the year. The 49′ers have the best young linebacker in the league in Patrick Willis, but he is playing for arguably the worst team in the NFC.

Due to the 49′ers horrid play, the Patriots will likely have a top-5 if not top-3 pick. While the Patriots have a great track record of drafting it won’t take a stroke of genius for Belichick, the “de facto” GM to pick Darren McFadden James Laurinaitis, or possibly Michigan’s Jake Long.

The following is from McShay’s said mock draft. (Todd has the Bears taking Mike Jenkins, a defensive back from South Florida with the 14th pick, by the way. I’d rather see them trade up for a QB or taking a offensive linemen because Olin Kreutz is the only one on the current line sans AARP card. Jerry Angelo will likely trade down for a chance at Jason Reda) I think that the first sentence more or less sums it all up.

“This hardly seems fair. The league’s best team lands the draft’s top talent — or strikes another lucrative draft-day deal for him. Both McFadden and Laurence Maroney split carries in college. A two-back rotation would make both last longer, not to mention the possibilities for an offense already overloaded with talent.”

So while I commend the NFL for taking punitive action against the Patriots, if they wanted to make the Patriots to understand the severity of their infraction they should have taken their pick that they traded for from ‘Frisco .

Instead, the talent rich will get richer, and the first round of the draft will only have 31 picks.

Hey guys…the gang at Kissing Suzy Kolber has come up with exclusive blueprint to come close to beating the Patriots. ENJOY!

With today’s tragic news of the death of Redskins safety Sean Taylor dying of a gunshot wound, we are all reminded that being a top-tier athlete doesn’t stop you from being a target of crime. This incident and others that occurred with NBA players over the summer show that they are almost bigger targets with the immense fortune that comes with being a pro athlete. My heart goes out to Redskin players, staff and fans because I know how you feel (the deaths of Walter Payton and Brian Piccolo still bring me to tears). The emptiness you feel now will never go away, but it will lessen with time. Most of all, my condolences go out to Taylor’s family, who has been credited with his growing into a great man in the past couple of years.

RIP Sean Taylor–not only will members of the Taylor, Redskin and Hurricane families miss you. Fans of big hits, outstanding play and just fans of the NFL in general will miss you. Here’s a reminder to all of you of how special this kid from Miami was.

Sorry guys, but I’m still stuffed full on turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, cheese (wow, I ate alot) and still full of myself after that great 3-0 Thanksgiving pickdom.  So, I’m going to try not to tear my rotator cuff patting myself on the back and leave you on your own for picking this weekend’s NFL action.  I hope everyone has a safe holiday weekend and has fun rooting against all the teams that need to lose tomorrow for the Illini to sneak into a BCS bowl game.

Wow…I’m really dissapointed in myself after last week’s 6-8-2 showing. But you know what? I’m totally okay with it because tomorrow is my favorite day of the year–THANKSGIVING!!!! What better day than to eat massive amounts of food, watch football, take a nap and then repeat. There are three games tomorrow for your betting pleasure to spice up a little bit of your family fun. So when Uncle Jim asks who you wanna take in the early game, be glad you read Alex Picks the Pros first.

Green Bay -3.5 (9-1) at Detroit (6-4)

This is always the traditional Turkey Day matchup, too bad John Madden isn’t with Fox anymore to give out his 8 million leg turkey. But even without him, I can continue my Thanksgiving tradition of rooting against the Packers in this game. Although this game is nationally televised at Ford Field and the Lions should be amped up, Favre hasn’t got the memo yet that he’s 38 years old. It kills me to type this again. GREEN BAY

N.Y. Jets +14 (2-8 ) at Dallas (9-1)

Games like these are why they invented the point spread. But don’t worry, the Jets still won’t be able to cover in a loud Texas Stadium where I’m sure Jerry Jones will have another halftime show involving the Salvation Army. Romo gets the ‘boys goin early and the Jets never catch up. DALLAS

Indianapolis-11.5 (8-2) at Atlanta (3-7)

The night game that no one that doesn’t have digital cable or a dish isn’t going to see…yay? I’ll have it here in East Peoria, but not in HD (crying in the background), dang Insight. But that’s enough of my life, let’s get back to the NFL action. I think this one’s gonna be closer than most people think. The Colts are not the same Indy team that was dominant early in the season. The Colts are still missing Marvin Harrison. That’s the difference in this one. ATLANTA

So there you have, take this picks to the family gathering to sucker your relatives into paying your tuition for the next couple of semsters, but everyone please have a wonderful Thanksgiving, eat a ton of turkey and the fixins, and stay safe.

I hope my 8-5-1 record helped you out last week…much better than the previous 7-7. Let’s see if I can keep this up. Here’s this week’s skinny:

Arizona +3 (4-5) at Cincinnati (3-6)

These teams coming into this game after getting big victories. Who woulda thought it? This guy didn’t. But this is a game of two offenses that can be potent when awakened. Even with Cincinnati’s weak D, they should still be able to take Arizona’s o-line to school. CINCINNATI

Carolina +9.5 (4-5) at Green Bay (8-1)

You don’t know how tough it’s been for me to pick the Packers to be victorious the past two weeks, and with the way that they’re playing, it’s going to be hard to go the other way this week. And although Carolina is undefeated on the road, they are are 1-9 against the spread in their last 10 games on grass. GREEN BAY

Cleveland -3 (5-4) at Baltimore (4-5)

Cleveland has been playing like a team possessed, even with their letdown in the second half against the Steelers last week. And even though they’re a young team with a defense that is lacking, the Ravens offense simply has trouble scoring. I think I’m sipping Romeo’s kool-aid. CLEVELAND

Kansas City +14.5 (4-5) at Indianapolis (7-2)

The Colts are coming off two straight losses, and there’s nothing better for them coming into this week than getting the reeling Chiefs this week. Peyton Manning and Joseph should have a field day against the Kansas City defense. Even with the big point spread, take the favorite. INDIANAPOLIS

Miami +10 (0-9) at Philadelphia (4-5)

Well my “semi-upset special” of the Iggles in Fed Ex Field seemed to turn out good for me, so I’m going to pick the Dolphins on the road right? Wrong. The Dolphins don’t get their stoner running back Ricky Williams back until Monday, and even with him I don’t think they could pull this out with ten points on their side. PHILADELPHIA

New Orleans +1 (4-5) at Houston (4-5)

This one’s a looks to be a toughie. It was tough for me to not tear my rotator cuff patting myself on the back for picking St. Louis last week. And I just don’t know where to go with this one. I hate these games. NEW ORLEANS

Oakland +5 (2-7) at Minnesota (3-6)

This is another tough one. Two sub-par teams, one that can’t win a game and the fans are calling for their number one pick to play, and another whose stud number one pick is out with an injury. Without Adrian Peterson, the Vikes really won’t be able to move the ball. Take the points. OAKLAND

San Diego +3 (5-4) at Jacksonville (6-3)

After The Chargers’ big victory over Indianapolis last weekend, it’s hard to tell if they’re going to ride the momentum from that win or have a letdown against a good Jaguar team in Jacksonville. If they were still playing Marty-ball, I’d vote for momentum. But they’re playing Norv-ball. JACKSONVILLE

Tampa Bay -3 (5-4) at Atlanta (3-6)

It’s surprising to see myself typing that the Bucs are the leaders in NFC South. And even though my buddy Joey wants them to tank for the draft, Gruden, Garcia, and the boys are thinking along those same lines. TAMPA BAY

N.Y. Giants -3 (6-3) at Detroit (6-3)

The second half of the season is upon us and with that has come the talk of whether both of these teams can sustain their first-half success or they’re going to have a letdown that has become to commonplace. I think Tom Coughlin’s team will have the letdown considering he’s supposed to be about discipline while his players commit some of the dumbest penalties in the League. DETROIT

Pittsburgh-9.5 (7-2) at N.Y. Jets (1

Big Ben is firing rockets all over the place no matter what turf the black and gold is playing on, including that comeback against the Browns last week. No way Mangini’s boys stops the Steelers. PITTSBURGH

Washington +10.5 (5-4) at Dallas (8-1)

This one looks to be either a thriller or a blowout and I’m kind of torn. I think this savvy veteran Redskin secondary keep Romo honest enought to cover. WASHINGTON

St. Louis -3 (1 at San Francisco (2-7)

Here’s another close. I tell ya, these afternoon games are going to be the death of me. The Rams picked up their first victory last week on the heels of Stephen Jackson’s return. He sparks their second one out West. ST. LOUIS

Chicago +6 (4-5) at Seattle (5-4)

Both teams need this one (well I guess you could say that about every game). But the Bears are sexy again with Rex Grossman at the helm. I don’t know what to expect from him. I don’t even think Rex knows what to expect from himself. But I think Grossman back at the helm will help give this offensive line somebody to rally around. CHICAGO

New England -16.5 (9-0) at Buffalo (5-4)

This New England team hasn’t been stopped all year, and this Buffalo team doesn’t look to have the tools to do that. It’s amazing how they can put up with the pressure and attention put on them to produce every week. I don’t think things will change, even with the big spread. NEW ENGLAND

Tennessee +2.5 (6-3) at Denver (4-5)

This Denver defense can’t stop the run, and the Titans sure can. It looks to me like Jeff Fisher’s team won’t shudder under the national spotlight, and will come out with it in a close one. Take the points. TENNESSEE

So, there ya go. That’s how I see it. I’ll see you next week.