Brett Favre is one of my favorite athletes of all-time. As a kid who grew up in the 90s, Favre was life. He is honestly the first quarterback I remember for the Green Bay Packers. For me, sports began to become clear in 1995 and somewhat in 1994. I weirdly remember a Philadelphia game that Favre lost on the road wearing awful throwbacks in 94′ or the 30-yard rain-soaked scamper on Halloween night in Chicago. 95′ then 96′ is when my Packers fandom grew and where it is today. Favre played a major role in that. I was crushed when he retired from the game and equally upset when he decided to play again.

Looking back through 2008 to 2010, it is crazy how much I hated Favre. More so when he played for the Minnesota Vikings than with the New York Jets because at the time, I went to school in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. If you know anything about students at Eau Claire, there’s a significant amount of Vikings fans. Therefore seeing a swath of Vikings fans wearing his number and name made me fucking sick. Additionally, I was 21 years old and did not have many cares in the world meaning I put my heart into sports and cared way too much. Part of me thinks the football gods did Packers fans a solid by not putting Favre up against Aaron Rodgers in the 2009 NFL Playoffs.

Favre being welcomed back in the good graces by Packers fans makes my heart happy. He deserves it. We had an awkward period after retirement but it was time to come home a few years back. Rodgers and he buried the hatchet and now, Favre is an ambassador of the Packers organization. Much like the players before him like Bart Starr and Jerry Kraemer.

Cheers to 50, Brett.

Charlie.