The Philly Phanatics

Everyone has had those guests before. We all know the type. You welcome them into your house as a formality and to be nice and polite. One hour turns into two hours. Two into three. Hours later, they're still there and now they're taking up all of your time and treading on all of your plans for the day. You subtly hint that they should leave. "Oh, look at the time." "I have to get up early tomorrow." "I don't want to keep you from anything else you need to do." But they just do not get the hint and just stay well past their welcome.

Brett Favre is one of those people. He just does not want to leave.

Favre is unquestionably a tremendously talented quarterback. I would not place him alongside Montana, Marino, and others in debate about being the greatest ever. But he is certainly Hall of Fame-worthy. However, with every "will-he-retire-or-play-another-season" off-season drama, he further taints his legacy. At one point, he could be seen as a tough player who loved the game and wanted to make sure he was still capable of putting up the same type of Hall of Fame caliber numbers. But after doing this for a few seasons and then going through this off-season's debacle, I think Favre should just hang it up and walk away before he tarnishes his reputation even more.
The Packers have already asked him politely to leave when they drafted Aaron Rodgers to be the quarterback of the future. Favre ignored that subtle invitation to leave...for a few years.

Finally the Packers have stood up and told Favre that's he an unwelcome visitor in their house. If he comes back, the Packers have strongly affirmed Rodgers as their starting quarterback and have a possible future quarterback for the future in Brian Brohn, whom they drafted this season out of Louisville.

I hope Favre gets the hint and remains retired. To come back to the NFL this season and perhaps play for another franchise would be a tragedy because his entire legacy is that he was the face of the Green Bay Packers for more than a decade. It would be simply wrong to see him take the field in any other colors. Additionally, how many other players are given the tribute of being placed on the cover of a videogame for retiring from the NFL? Favre was given this honor. How will it look if he comes back and plays this season, or furthermore for a different NFL team?

While I am pointing out Favre as one of these sports figures that does not take the hint and leave because he is at the forefront of the public's conciousness with his constant news headlines these days, he is far from the only person to be in the position. Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is another classic case of hanging on too long. He is the face of Penn State football, but he is also preventing them from reinventing themselves and creating any type of concrete succession plan for when he does leave coaching. Michael Jordan flirted with this same problem during his comeback with the Washington Wizards. How long was too long to stay in the NBA past the prime of his career?

Some guests stay too long. Favre and Paterno, among others, have overstayed their welcome and avoid tarnishing their legacies by holding on too long until they lack the skill to maintain their legendary statuses.