March 6, 2008

Mississippi ranks No. 31 nationally in population, yet on the gridiron this state has produced arguably the greatest set of offensive skill players the NFL has ever seen.

The last of these, Green Bay Packers quarterback and Gulf Coast native Brett Favre, retired on Monday night ending a 17-year career that saw him break myriad passing records.

A surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer, Favre is the only player to three-peat as NFL Most Valuable Player and owns a Super Bowl ring.

Imagine building a franchise of skill players from Mississippi. We have Walter Payton, arguably the greatest running back of all time, to tote the mail. Payton grew up in Columbia, then starred at Jackson State before his career with the Chicago Bears.

When not handing off to Payton, Favre could drop back and pass to Jerry Rice, a Crawford native who drew national attention during his days at Mississippi Valley State before a record-setting career with the San Francisco 49ers.

Payton retired in 1987 and Rice left the game in 2005. Until Monday night, many thought Favre’s inevitable retirement would be put off for a few more years.

Just last season he helped the Packers to the NFC Championship game against the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants. The last pass Favre threw was intercepted in overtime and led to the Giants’ game-winning field goal.

Had Favre thrown a touchdown instead of an interception, and then then led the Packers to the Super Bowl title, retirement would have seemed logical. But to go out on an interception? Many believed he would return because of that.

He left on Monday night. The fact that the Packers did not pursue superstar wide receiver Randy Moss in free agency certainly played a part in Favre’s decision. The only thing left for him would be a shot at another Super Bowl and Moss would have added a key component in reaching that goal. Moss re-signed with the New England Patriots on Monday, soon before Favre made his intentions known.

From out-of-control college football player to national football hero, Favre has run the gamut. He’s played through injuries, family tragedy, and conquered a prescription drug problem to become one of the most popular players in the NFL. His popularity spiked because of the way he played, with youthful exuberance. He’d throw passes that would in one moment make you cringe and in the next make you cheer.

He started a ridiculous 275 consecutive games including the playoffs, playing the Lou Gehrig to Don Majikowski’s Wally Pipp. Favre replaced an injured Majikowski on Sept. 27, 1992, never to be replaced again.

A quarterback may one day play more games than Favre, or even break some of the records he set. But there will never be another Brett Favre, just like there will never be another Rice or another “Sweetness.”

For this state’s sake, that’s a mighty good thing.

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Sean P. Murphy is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. E-mail him at

smurphy@vicksburgpost.com