No Brett, No...

It pains me to see this day. I hate to see The Man, The Stud, The Local Green Bay Deity, Brett Favre Himself, getting choked up. But it is for good reason - he is passionate about the game of football. He loves the game, he loves to compete, he loves the other players on his team (even if they do not have the skill Brett really needs to succeed), and he always loves to win.
It is hard to consider the prospect of leaving something you love, but I hate hearing all of this talk of Favre retiring. If he is going to retire, then let him retire. Don't play all these stupid commercials and promotions and have the female sideline reporters (I am pointing my finger at you, Andrea Kremer) stick a mic in his face after every game with questions and pressure for answers. It is to the point where it is impossible for Brett to feel like he isn't being pushed out the back door. Everyone keeps asking and prodding and talking about him retiring, but he hasn't even made the decision yet. It is his call to make. Don't let your zealous desire for the "big story" become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In my opinion, he is a great quarterback and competitor and athlete and can still play in the NFL. He has more desire to win than 95% of the rest of the league. He is not surrounded by a ton of skilled players and that has led to him feeling like the outcome of the game is on his shoulders. He takes risks, tries to force things, and ends up making mistakes. That is human. But if he didn't have to do it all on his own, he wouldn't be forcing the ball so much. In spite of all the talk about him being too old and the pressure for him to retire, he still led the team to 4 straight wins to finish the season 8-8. That is pretty good. He can compete. He can lead. If he retires, it needs to be his decision alone that makes that come about, not the pressure of the media.