Thursday, August 7, 2008

Brett Friggin' Favre!!!

As I wrapped up my summer vacation, I was deciding how best to make my flamboyant re-entry to the blogosphere. The sporting world is starting to heat back up ... the EPL kicks off in just over a week, Fantasy Football draft prep is starting to hit full speed, the Dawgs are #1 pre-season, but none of those felt quite right. Then I woke up this morning and was greeted with news which ushers in a new era of Hope and Optimism. No, I'm not talking about the upcoming Obama presidency. I'm talking about a new era for the New York Jets. But before I get ahead of myself, let's go back a few years to one of the lesser known Jets draft day tragedies:

April 20,1991 Kiln, Mississippi. Brett Favre and his family gather along with what seems like half the town to watch the NFL draft unfold. Ron Wolf is personnel director for the NY Jets, and he plans to select Favre with the 34th pick in the draft. Brett had already been passed over for two other quarterbacks and after waiting for over 6 hours, he finally receives a phone call from the Jets. The Falcons are on the clock as he hangs up the phone with the Jets and turns to his family to declare, "Atlanta doesn't take me, they're taking me."

Well .... Atlanta selects Favre, and with the next pick, the Jets select their 'quarterback of the future' Browning Nagle. Unfortunately Nagle did not work out as well as planned, so over the next decade and a half, while Favre became the most productive quarterback EVER, the Jets ran through a motley assortment of signal callers including Glenn Foley, Neil O'Donnell, Vinny Testeverde, Brooks Bollinger, Jay Fiedler, Noodle Pennington (jk, chad I still love u), and most recently Kellen Clemens.

All of that changes today ... after waiting over 17 years, the Jets have finally gotten their 'quarterback of the future'. Brett Favre may be past his prime, but when he steps under center on Sept 7 to take his first snap for the Jets, he will instantly become the best quarterback I have ever seen play for my beloved Jets.



When I went to sleep last night, the jets were an after thought at best, a joke at worst. I woke up this morning to a constant stream of Jets information, optimism and enthusiasm. The Jets may not win it all this year, but today, it feels like we already have.


As Steve Mariucci once said, "It was almost divine intervention, but then you just sit back and say, no it's not, it's Brett Favre."


1 comment:

Marge said...

Marcus, I could not agree more. I do not expect a Super Bowl nor do I entertain the thought of a playoff, ok I lie, I do entertain the thought... The start of the football season is upon us and it has already exceeded my expectations before it has even begun. However this turns out, at least we had the guts to try... and threw the dice... the Jets have made this year a little more interesting, a little more exciting, and a lot more fun to be a JET's fan. And who knows maybe at season's end we'll have to find a room in Tampa. Aunt Florie, can you put us up?? J E T S, Jets, Jets, Jets !!! Love ya baby.