KIDWCKED
08-25-2010, 12:51 AM
c/p from FoxSports by the a/p
Unlike anyone else in America, Brett Favre has turned retirement into a windfall.
Brett Favre is back
Not long after Brett Favre apparently told his Vikings teammates he will not return for the 2010 season, he changed his mind.
I’m exempting certain corporate types and white collar criminals, of course, but those guys are all about the money. Favre, as you’ve heard by now, couldn’t care less about the dollars.
Sure, he keeps retiring, and these NFL owners — a group not widely known for their largesse — keep throwing money at him. But again, that’s just a coincidence.
Kind of like the numbers. In 2007, Favre was making about $11 million in base salary. After retiring, un-retiring and reporting to the Jets in late August 2008, he went up to $12.8 million. Last summer, he came out of retirement again and got a two-year deal worth $25 million.
Now he’s become the first 40-year-old in America to get an extra $3 mil guaranteed for taking another month off from work.
In all — with deferred payments and a new assortment of bonuses — Favre stands to collect about $28 mil this season.
But it’s not about the money.
You know this because Favre's said so himself. Kind of. Sort of. Actually, it was like a lot of things Favre's said over the last few years: conveniently ambiguous, and perilously close to a lie.
And that’s a damn shame, because his place was supposed to be unique, not just in football, but in American sports.
In the not so distant past, Favre was athletic virtue personified. He risked his body only for The Love of The Game. If he weren’t in the NFL, he’d be playing touch in the park in his jeans.
In Favre’s case, image and reality were thought to be congruent. But now, in coming to your senses, you’re reminded that the jeans company was paying him a boatload of cash.
Personally, I wouldn’t have minded if he told the Vikings: “I’m on the fence; a little more scratch might help me make up my mind,” or “My ankle hurts so bad, it’s gonna cost you.”
It’s not wrong for him to get more money. I’m just sick of the guy pretending he’s so damn pure.
Unlike anyone else in America, Brett Favre has turned retirement into a windfall.
Brett Favre is back
Not long after Brett Favre apparently told his Vikings teammates he will not return for the 2010 season, he changed his mind.
I’m exempting certain corporate types and white collar criminals, of course, but those guys are all about the money. Favre, as you’ve heard by now, couldn’t care less about the dollars.
Sure, he keeps retiring, and these NFL owners — a group not widely known for their largesse — keep throwing money at him. But again, that’s just a coincidence.
Kind of like the numbers. In 2007, Favre was making about $11 million in base salary. After retiring, un-retiring and reporting to the Jets in late August 2008, he went up to $12.8 million. Last summer, he came out of retirement again and got a two-year deal worth $25 million.
Now he’s become the first 40-year-old in America to get an extra $3 mil guaranteed for taking another month off from work.
In all — with deferred payments and a new assortment of bonuses — Favre stands to collect about $28 mil this season.
But it’s not about the money.
You know this because Favre's said so himself. Kind of. Sort of. Actually, it was like a lot of things Favre's said over the last few years: conveniently ambiguous, and perilously close to a lie.
And that’s a damn shame, because his place was supposed to be unique, not just in football, but in American sports.
In the not so distant past, Favre was athletic virtue personified. He risked his body only for The Love of The Game. If he weren’t in the NFL, he’d be playing touch in the park in his jeans.
In Favre’s case, image and reality were thought to be congruent. But now, in coming to your senses, you’re reminded that the jeans company was paying him a boatload of cash.
Personally, I wouldn’t have minded if he told the Vikings: “I’m on the fence; a little more scratch might help me make up my mind,” or “My ankle hurts so bad, it’s gonna cost you.”
It’s not wrong for him to get more money. I’m just sick of the guy pretending he’s so damn pure.