Looking back on the past five weeks of
the 1999 National Football League season,
the unpredictable zaniness that has
everyone shaking their heads in disbelief
has been offset by the realization that we're
only one-quarter of the way finished.
Could this be only the beginning of
such craziness? Can Minnesota, Denver,
Atlanta, and the New York Jets ever rise
from the debris and ashes of their first
month's crash? Is St. Louis and Kurt
Warner, the Dallas Cowboys, and the New
England Patriots for real?
The next 12 weeks will unfold with the
uncertain answers to those questions, but in
the meantime we look for some stable
ground, a rock upon which the league can
steady itself.
We find it in the hub of the league -
Green Bay - and the heart of that team -
Brett Favre. The chants can already be
heard. They sounded in the faint distance
last month, but have steadily increased
with each week: MVP! - MVP! - MVP! -
MVP!
Yes, count them. Four. The same
number which rests on his back and the
same number of Most Valuable Player
titles he could claim if his thunderous start
continues throughout this 16-game season.
For the 15th time in his career and the
third time this season, Favre guided the
Packer offense the length of the field in
seconds to produce the magic of a winning
touchdown against the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers.
He did it the first week against the
Raiders, the third week against the Vikings
and could have done it the second week at
Detroit had it not been for one good
defensive play.
So easily the Packers could be resting
on the bottom of the black and blue heap
known as the NFC's Central Division if
not for Favre. His play has saved the team
and placed them all alone atop that pile.
Never mind that Kurt Warner has
thrown five touchdown passes in a single
game and has an astronomical quarterback
rating. Favre has already done that.
Never mind that Warner's play has
brought his team into the winning ranks of
the league. Favre did that in 1992 and has
continued that trend for the past seven
years.
Favre has raised the bar once again this
year. A bar which few quarterbacks in the
game will ever reach. His play has been
truly special, something rarely seen on the
football field.
When we look at who Warner and the
Rams have defeated this season, there's
wonder who's next on their schedule?
Would it be the Sisters of Mother
Theresa's Convent?
Compare their schedule with the
competition Favre and the Packers have
faced so far and, well, there isn't any
comparison.
St. Louis has faced Baltimore, Atlanta,
Cincinnati, and San Francisco. Warner has
torn those teams to shreds, but whose
quarterback couldn't?
Favre has seen Oakland, Detroit,
Minnesota, and Tampa Bay and they are
just warming up. In addition to having to
face the Lions, Vikings and Buccaneers
once more, the Packers will also face the
red hot Bears twice, travel to Denver and
San Diego, host Seattle and Mike
Holmgren, play at Dallas and San
Francisco, and host Carolina and Arizona.
Warner will undoubtedly pad his
statistics while playing San Francisco and
Atlanta again, and will have the privilege
of hosting Cleveland, playing New Orleans
twice and hosting the Giants before ending
their season on the second day of the new
millennium at Philadelphia. Wouldn't
Brett love to see that schedule?
There are some players who can rise to
the occasion against weaker opponents, but
there are the special players who are able
to rise to an unprecedented level. Brett
Favre is that player. He is the Green Bay
Packers. As Favre goes, so goes the
Packers.
There is no other player in the league
who can take a game into his own hands,
even with a bum thumb, take control of it
and win it all by himself. That's what the
title of Most Valuable Player is all about.
That's what Brett Favre is all about.
So far, he is the MVP hands down.
There is still a lot of season left, but as he
continues to play like the seasoned veteran
he has become, he will earn his titles. MVP
may be one of the them.
For his play is more than a phenome non, it has become the expected -head and shoulders above the rest. With or without an MVP title this year, Brett Favre will continue to not only be the best, but will always be something special.