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Watching Brett Favre hold his press conference and talk about his retirement an hour ago wasn’t any easier than I thought it would be. Man, this sucks.

To be honest, I’m not too shocked he retired. You knew it was coming sometime soon and ever since at least two or three years ago, I’ve been trying to prepare myself for it. I really thought it was going to come last season, especially after everybody was congratulating him after his last game and he started crying and everything. I thought there was no way he’d be coming back after that. At the same time, I thought there was no way he’d not be coming back after the season the Packers just had. Go figure.

I’m just glad I got to see him play live and in person. Even though the second time kinda sucked.

Last year I wanted him to come back simply so he could prove how good he still was. I won’t lie and say I saw this past season coming, as I’m sure nobody thought Green bay would go 13-3 this year. But after the way they finished up the prior season, I honestly felt 9-7 was doable and 10-6 wasn’t that farfetched. And in the NFC, that’s easily playoff material. So having him back this past season was great. Having the Packers play the way they did was awesome. That damn Seattle playoff game was absolutely icing on the cake. Many people will say they’ll remember his poor performance against NY as his final game, but I’ll choose to cherry pick and remember that Seattle game in the snow.

He’s right though, there’s no guarantee Green Bay will be the cream of the crop again next year. The NFL is finicky like that. To be able to go out on your own and at the top of your game, no less, is something that has to be appealing to him. Nobody liked seeing Michael Jordan sucking it up in a Washington Wizards uniform. So I can understand and respect his decision to bow out now. As a fan, though, I can’t help but wish he’s lace up for another few years though

If you hate Green Bay, I can understand how all the constant media attention of Favre could be nauseating. Just thinking about them taking the same approach to a Derek Jeter or Tony Romo makes my stomach curl. But seeing as how I bleed Packer yellow (which can’t be healthy, I might want to see a doctor about that…), I’ve been loving every second of it. One thing that’s been bothering me, though, is listening to people try and rank him on the “all time” list of best QBs. To start with, that’s an almost impossible task, especially when comparing QBs from different generations. But even so, there’s a few things to keep in mind.

• As much as I love Donald Driver, Favre never had a Jerry Rice type receiver. Just look at the past receivers of his who have come out of the woodworks to talk about Favre in the past few days. Antonio Freeman? Don Beebe? Robert Brooks? Dorsey Levens? We’re not talking about perennial Pro Bowlers here and the few times they were in the Hawaii, Favre happened to be having a brilliant season. Coincidence? I think not. John Elway had Terrell Davis, Steve Young had Rice, Troy Aikman had Michael Irving and Emmitt Smith. Only Dan Marino had to work with less than Brett. Favre was one of the few QBs who could work his magic with or without great players on his offense and that should speak volumes.
• People like to point out that he holds the record for most INT’s, but when you’ve played as long as Favre and made as many attempts as he has, you’re going to throw some picks. Yes, as a fan, sometimes he’d drive you crazy with bad throws, but that was part of the Favre Package and you knew that coming into the game. Not once did the fanbase turn against him and start bemoaning that he needed to step aside (something the NY Giants fans could learn about…) and if all those interceptions were so bad, wouldn’t you think they’d be the first group of people to point out that he threw so many of them? Nolan Ryan is considered one of the best pitchers in baseball of all time, but people forget he holds the record for most walks.
• I don’t know how many other QBs in the 90s had to battle drug or alcohol addictions, but Favre not only battled and beat them both, but he had to do so while in the public spotlight. Just sayin’…

I think what I’ll miss most about Favre is simply watching him play. I dare you to name another athlete in ANY sport that plays with as much love for the game as Favre did. Watching him made me feel as if I was back in Spartanburg running BA passes with Chong or trying to score the winning touchdown by running through the rosebushes in our neighbor’s yard. He made watching football fun, almost to the point where you forgot about what a win or lose might do to the team’s record. All you cared about was seeing what other crazy ass play he could pull from nowhere and no matter how many times he made you scream out “NOOOOOOO!” in agony, he almost always single handedly redeemed himself with a miracle play here or a methodical drive there.

Brett Favre’s retirement isn’t tragic or sad or heartbreaking. It’s not something to dwell on or become depressed over. The man isn’t dead, he’s simply not going to throw a football for a living anymore. But damn if I can’t help but feel a small sense of loss over the simple fact that I’ll never get to see #4 running around a piece of grass with his helmet in one hand, his other arm stretched upright with one finger in the air, and a giant ass smile on his face.

Like I said two days ago, I miss the bastard already.