And Then There Were Two

I don't have all that much to say about yesterday's championship games; I only watched a few minutes of the AFC game, and I was doing something for school last night so I wasn't paying close attention to the NFC game. I'm glad the Saints won, because I like Drew Brees and always have been. I don't think people call the Chargers on the carpet enough for giving up on Brees so quickly; he had a decent first year as a starter, then struggled, and they gave up on him and drafted Phillip Rivers. He's been brilliant since then. Because Rivers worked out for the Chargers, it never gets mentioned, but if San Diego knew what they had in Brees, they could have used that pick on someone else (although looking over the draft, no one jumps out as the obvious choice. If only Larry Fitzgerald had gone after Rivers...). And then, even though Brees had developed into a Pro Bowler, and San Diego was by now a legit Super Bowl contender, they decided to let Brees go and start over with Rivers as the starter. And then, in one of the all time great personell blunders, the Miami Dolphins decided to go with Dante Culpepper (coming off knee surgery) instead of Brees (coming off shoulder surgery) as a free agent. Culpepper was 1-3 in 4 games in his only year with the Dolphins.

Of course, it was the other quarterback in the NFC championship game that's the big story. I suppose, if one believes in karma, one might think it finally stepped up and smacked Brett Farve around. But, if that was the case, it would have been the Green Bay Packers, not the Saints, to perhaps finally end the Neverending Quarterback. Peter King, in Monday Morning Quarterback today, pointed out something really interesting about Farve the last three years: in each season, the last significant pass that he threw (he would throw one more for the Jets last year) ended in an interception. Not exactly the way a legend wants to go out.

Of course, I fully expect Brett Farve to play next year. At this point, why not? Until he's dead and buried, I think the threat of Brett Farve playing another year will last. I have no idea what drives him; at this point, he's nothing else to accomplish. But I suspect that he wants to go out like John Elway. He, of course, was widely viewed as a "yes but" quarterback: "yes, he was great, but he never won a Super Bowl". Then he won two, retiring after the last, and many now started to call him the best ever. Farve doesn't quite have that problem-- he won his title, but it was 13 years ago, and since then the playoffs have not been kind, including a Super Bowl loss, ironically, to Elway.

Well, whatever. We'll all have to endure another "will he or won't he" offseason with Farve. You know what I don't get, though? Every story I read about him retiring basically makes it seem as if he has two choices in life: play football or mow his lawn. That's always given as his retirement options. Is that really why you keep playing, Brett? You don't want to mow your lawn, day after day? I just picture him waking up each day, walking to his bedroom window, staring out at the endless grassy hills of the Farve ranch, and sighing deeply. You really need to take up golf or something, Brett.