Spring Break
I'll Tell You How We feel
Andy Buss
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Sports
Sunday evening was definitely a low in my sports life. Brett Lorenzo Favre-the same one now wearing Viking purple-took my Green Bay Packers from years of mediocrity to a Super Bowl championship in the '90s. He was a fixture of my childhood, the face of the franchise. That is, the green-and-gold franchise-the one in Wisconsin. Sunday evening was terrible (did I say that?). After literally months of hype, and then months of hype condensed into a couple hours of pregame, Favre came out of the tunnel in sacred Lambeau Field and did exactly what Packers' General Manager Ted Thompson was afraid of. He tore us apart. Now this isn't what I want to write about. Yes, the game was unbearable. But that's that. The point I'm trying to make is… Packer fans hate him.
I can safely speak for myself, friends and family members who are die-hard Green Bay fans. We all agree that no matter who offended who, no matter who moved on first-and then came back, and then moved on, Favre drew a definite line in the sand when he chose to go to the dark side.
For years, the Minnesota Vikings have been the most hated, challenging and thuggish (Randy Moss, Jared Allen) rivals of the Packers. Favre led Green Bay into battle against the purple monsters countless times and formed much of what's left of his Packer legacy in game-changing moments that stuck a fork in our division foe. Sunday, much like the Monday night game in Minnesota, I can honestly say I was sitting on the couch wishing the man ill. I was just waiting for a knockout hit or eight embarrassing, "gun-slinger" interceptions that brought him so much criticism until he left Green Bay.
If you are not a Packer fan, you just don't get it. And that's fine. We don't expect you to. But what brought this rant about is all the talk on ESPN, the columns online and the "Favre" fans who masquerade as quasi-Packer fans saying repeatedly, "I think Packer fans were rooting for Favre. They were happy for him."
Ha! What? Sports writers, like Skip Bayless and Jamele Hill crack me up. The Tuesday after the first Packer-Viking matchup on ESPN's 1st and 10 show, they both adamantly proclaimed, on behalf of Packer fans everywhere, that we were cheering for Favre. They both-now get this-agreed that by the third quarter, we were hoping he'd stay hot and just "pour it on." Thank you very much Skip and Jamele but stick to debating Michael Phelps' image after puffin' the magic dragon and leave sensitive sports issues-that fans actually care about-to the fans. The bottom line is Favre was a Packer-possibly the best Packer ever. Packers, and thus Packer fans, hate the Vikings. Favre is now a Viking by a very deliberate process of choosing to "get back" at the team that decided to finally move on with life and stop waiting for him to re-retire and un-retire. Therefore, stay with me, we Packer fans hate Favre (transitive property). It's true. We back our team. Favre fans are not Packer fans. Those fans who clapped and cheered at Lambeau Sunday when our once great, heroic leader stepped onto the Frozen Tundra in the purple uniform of our most hated rival, don't deserve the tickets they held and definitely don't understand the most vital rule in all of sports: no one individual is bigger than the team. Clearly not now, as Favre plays dumb and acts oblivious to the hatred, but someday, the man who held Green Bay and an entire state in his hands will be undeniably faced with the destruction he brought to his legacy by turning his back on the most passionate fans in the world.
The Packers are all Green Bay has. Favre's one-year slumber party with Adrian Peterson-for which he's getting paid about $12 million-doesn't land in the heart and mind of rural Wisconsin.
I can safely speak for myself, friends and family members who are die-hard Green Bay fans. We all agree that no matter who offended who, no matter who moved on first-and then came back, and then moved on, Favre drew a definite line in the sand when he chose to go to the dark side.
For years, the Minnesota Vikings have been the most hated, challenging and thuggish (Randy Moss, Jared Allen) rivals of the Packers. Favre led Green Bay into battle against the purple monsters countless times and formed much of what's left of his Packer legacy in game-changing moments that stuck a fork in our division foe. Sunday, much like the Monday night game in Minnesota, I can honestly say I was sitting on the couch wishing the man ill. I was just waiting for a knockout hit or eight embarrassing, "gun-slinger" interceptions that brought him so much criticism until he left Green Bay.
If you are not a Packer fan, you just don't get it. And that's fine. We don't expect you to. But what brought this rant about is all the talk on ESPN, the columns online and the "Favre" fans who masquerade as quasi-Packer fans saying repeatedly, "I think Packer fans were rooting for Favre. They were happy for him."
Ha! What? Sports writers, like Skip Bayless and Jamele Hill crack me up. The Tuesday after the first Packer-Viking matchup on ESPN's 1st and 10 show, they both adamantly proclaimed, on behalf of Packer fans everywhere, that we were cheering for Favre. They both-now get this-agreed that by the third quarter, we were hoping he'd stay hot and just "pour it on." Thank you very much Skip and Jamele but stick to debating Michael Phelps' image after puffin' the magic dragon and leave sensitive sports issues-that fans actually care about-to the fans. The bottom line is Favre was a Packer-possibly the best Packer ever. Packers, and thus Packer fans, hate the Vikings. Favre is now a Viking by a very deliberate process of choosing to "get back" at the team that decided to finally move on with life and stop waiting for him to re-retire and un-retire. Therefore, stay with me, we Packer fans hate Favre (transitive property). It's true. We back our team. Favre fans are not Packer fans. Those fans who clapped and cheered at Lambeau Sunday when our once great, heroic leader stepped onto the Frozen Tundra in the purple uniform of our most hated rival, don't deserve the tickets they held and definitely don't understand the most vital rule in all of sports: no one individual is bigger than the team. Clearly not now, as Favre plays dumb and acts oblivious to the hatred, but someday, the man who held Green Bay and an entire state in his hands will be undeniably faced with the destruction he brought to his legacy by turning his back on the most passionate fans in the world.
The Packers are all Green Bay has. Favre's one-year slumber party with Adrian Peterson-for which he's getting paid about $12 million-doesn't land in the heart and mind of rural Wisconsin.
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