Brett Favre's Place Among the Greats
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by user Coreyisarealboy
The best quarterback ever debate has arisen twice in the past week on ArmchairGM, with John Elway being picked by Shrubbery and Joe Montana being chosen by JuTMSY4. Shrubbery did not mention Favre, and JuTMSY4 called him a "potential new member" to the group of greats. Both were probably just analyzing retired quarterbacks, but the question raised in my mind was "Where does Favre really rank?"
So, At the risk of sounding like a homer, I'd like to offer an objective analysis of Brett Favre's career thus far as an argument for one of the best, and if not the best.
After 15 NFL seasons, one of which was spent as the No. 3 quarterback in Atlanta where he attempted five passes all season, Favre ranks second behind Dan Marino in a number of NFL passing records. He is 7,747 yards behind the Dolphin great in career passing yards and 25 touchdowns behind Marino for the career touchdowns record. He also can surpass Marino in career completions this year, even before he surpasses him in career attempts.
He also ranks third in career wins as a starting quarterback, 10 behind John Elway (148) and nine behind Marino (147). If he never breaks this record it will certainly be no fault of his own due to the Packers' inept general managers.
As a side statistic to think about, Marino played 17 seasons and Elway 16.
Favre is also the only player in history to have won three Associated Press Most Valuable Player awards, and he did it in three consecutive years (1995, 1996 and 1997).
True, he doesn't have a Super Bowl MVP, but the one Super Bowl he won he threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and simply lost it to Desmond Howard because Howard's 99-yard kickoff return broke New England's back in the game.
One thing that I think separates Favre from the rest of the greats is the fact that he has continuously been surrounding by adequate--not great--talent on offense.
He didn't have a Jerry Rice or Roger Craig, a Terrell Davis or Shannon Sharpe, a Lenny Moore, a Lynn Swann, or a Paul Hornung. He won Super Bowl XXXI with Edgar Bennett and Dorsey Levens in the backfield, Antonio Freeman and Andre Rison as his wide receivers, and Keith Jackson and Mark Chmura as his tight ends--none of whom you will ever find in the Hall of Fame and only one of whom (Jackson) even made the Pro Bowl that year.
Favre has never been surrounded by great players on offense. He's been surrounded by guys like Freeman, Bill Schroeder, Robert Brooks, Darick Holmes and Travis Jervey, and the Packers have still managed to pile up 138 wins in his 14 year tenure with the team.
So why doesn't Favre get mentioned in this argument? It could be because of his interception total, which sits at 255 after the 29 he tossed last year, ranking him worse than Montana, Elway, Unitas, and Marino. It could also be because of his well-publicized substance abuse during the early stages of his career. The drinking and pain killer addiction may have caused him to slip, but he also had arguably his best season after spending time in rehab. It also could be caused by the bad name he has given himself with the retirement talk. He now has stated 2006 may not be his last year.
Either way, I believe he deserves a mention, if not now then when he finally retires.
So now, I ask the members of ArmchairGM to join in and offer insight as to their thoughts on Favre and his place among the NFL's great quarterbacks.
Date
Sun 06/18/06, 10:24 am EST
