Is Brett Farve the New Roger Clemens?

This isn't the first time we've seen star athletes past their prime that refused to go quietly into the night of retirement. Muhammed Ali would probably slap Don King if he could keep his right hand steady for about thirty seconds. Roger Clemens pimped the Houston Astros to the tune of 22 million dollars. He could pick the days he wanted to pitch and he avoided the bulk of spring training. He could fly in off vacation and pitch the next day, promptly leaving for another rendezvous with Mindy Mcready. Sound familiar and ain't life grand?(I'm not suggesting that Farve is having an affair)

The last two years Farve has been able to use "retirement" as the scapegoat for not wanting to attend training camp and OTA's. Farve has been given special treatment throughout his career. John Madden helped to soldify the Brett Farve myth. Farve is known as a "gun slinger" with a strong arm. Some of that is true considering Farve has produced several seasons of throwing 30 or more touchdowns and keeping his interceptions in the mid teens. In 1993, Farve threw for a then career worst 24 interceptions. He's had a few seasons where he's topped twenty plus interceptions. In fact he has done that 6 times out of his 18 year career. He did it last season as well throwing 22 interception against 22 touchdown passes.

In the 2004 season Farve threw 29 interceptions against 20 touchdown passes. Most guys would've been run out of town after that type of season. Most analyst would've called for any other guys head after that type of season. Surprisingly the national media and most fans didn't think so. We gave him a repreive considering some of his stellar seasons in the past that netted him 3 MVP's. At this point in Farve's career, Aaron Rodgers was still waiting in the wings. Luckily for Farve Rodgers wasn't some hot shot coming out of college. Pro scouts loved his skill set but that didn't stop him from sliding in the 2005 draft to 24th overall.

The Packers finally got a chance to catch a glimpse of what Rodgers could do late in the 2007 season against the Cowboys in a Monday night game. Farve responded by valiantly leading the Pack to the NFC championship game, falling short against the Giants by throwing one of his signature interceptions. Since that game we've been allowing Farve to hold us hostage. First in New York and now in Minnesota. We've all been holding on to the glory years of Farve. So we're all partially responsible for this circus that he's been putting us through. Yes, Fran Tarkenton blame us!!!!

Some of his New York Jets teammates didn't necessarily embrace him. All was forgiven while they were winning. But the chickens came home to roost when the Jets lost multiple games down the stretch. Thomas Jones spoke out about how there was trouble in paradise during the 2008 season. Once again Farve's image didn't take that much of a hit. The Jets and Farve went their separate ways. The Jets drafted Mark Sanchez and Farve waltzed off into "retirement". Never mind that he and Brad Childress were still communicating about him playing in Minnesota.

That never happened right? Childress also "closed" the door on Farve possibly playing for them after he failed to show up for the start of training camp. He even promised a an open competition for the job between Rosenfels and Jackson. Did you know that Minnesota Vikings owner Ziggy Wolf owns a private plane? O.J. Simpson and A.C. Cowans were jealous of that entrance that Farve made two weeks ago.

Most Farve apologist cited his rotator cuff injury for Farve's lack luster play down the stretch. Injuries are apart of the game and they're apart of the legend of Brett Farve. Farve has been one of the most durable and toughest quarterbacks to ever play this game.(Some may argue thanks to his bout with painkillers skewed that) If any other quarterback, young or veteran showed this type of lack luster leadership in the locker room, poor performance on the field and cried wolf (pun intended) this much about retirement he'd receive much more criticism than this. Not so for teflon don Farve.

Still don't see the comparison to Clemens? Both decided when they were going to play. Contrary to popular belief, Clemens 22 million for playing part time did cause some stink in the Houston clubhouse. Secondly, Farve is up to his old tricks again in Minnesota. He got ten million from the Jets last year and he's getting another 12.5 mil from the Vikes with an option for another year. There's been some rumblings about a "schisms" that are already happening amongst the rank and file of the Vikings. The players and Farve's rebuttal to the rifts amongst the team is that they all have no idea about what the word means. No wonder people think that most major college programs are football factories.

Sure the Vikings players will give us positive feedback when the cameras are rolling. However lets not be naive here. There has got to be some players that played with Tavarius Jackson last season are pulling for him and think they don't need Farve. They've witnessed his development up close and personal. For what he may lack on the field, he has proven that he is willing to be apart of the group. Secondly Jackson played very well down the stretch of the 2008 season. All he's gotten for his hard work was the drafting of John David shake yo Booty. Coupled with the acquirement of a 3 million a year Sage Rosenfels who is more unproven than he is. He's handled it a lot better than a lot of guys would have. If he pulled a Jay Cutler I wouldn't be mad at him.

Several Jets described Farve as "distant". Sage Rosenfels was brought in to compete with Jackson. Some teammates may feel that Sage is equally capable as Jackson. This segment of the team may have feelings that Rosenfels and Jackson were doing just fine by competing for the job. Plus they were both at all of the OTA's and in training camp. They have both been paying the price with the other guys.

Strangely enough analyst are saying the Farve gives the Minnesota Vikings the best chance to play in the superbowl. Yeah right. Before the 2007 season the Packers had missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons. The oldest quarterback to lead a team to a Superbowl championship was John Elway at age 38. Steve Deberg, Warren Moon, Vinny Testeverde, Steve Grogan, and Joe Montana are notable names in the superbowl era to have led their teams deep in the playoffs. Elway was largely supported by the dominance of Terrell Davis.

Rod Smith and Shannon Sharpe were reliable targets. The Vikings have Adrian Peterson and Bernard Berrian. Berrian had a stellar season last year but can he do it in back to back years? Is Farve willing to accept a reduced amount of passing attempts to feed Peterson the ball? Has his arm fully healed? Is Bobby Wade going to emerge has a dominant slot receiver? Farve is going to be 40 this year. Is he willing to return to the years where he made less mistakes while being supported by work horse backs like Dorsey Levins and Ahman Green? The NFC north isn't going to be a cake walk.

The Bears are better and so are the Packers. The Vikings and Packers will be must see TV twice this season First in Minnesota on October 5th and again on Nov 1st. Farve the wrangler man gets to prove that his game is still as tight as his jeans. We shall see. Strangely enough even after my rant I will be watching.... Ah opinions and Football season.. Doesn't get any better than that!!!!