| 16 September 2009
Falcons Packers Retired Jets Retired Vikings quarterback Bret Favre spoke to the media today, and freely offered advice to the Lions' struggling young rookie, Matthew Stafford.
Per John Niyo at the Detroit News:
"I'm sure we'll chat at some point, and as far as advice goes, my motto has always been, 'Keep slinging it.'"
Wonderful. Some role model. And I'm not just talking about his attention whoring ways, or inability to make up his damn mind.
We've seen more of the Favre on the right as he refuses to change his "gunslinger" mentality...
As great a quarterback Bret Farve was (we can all agree at age 39, John Madden's sweetie is no longer "great"), he's the LAST person I want giving advice to a raw rookie.
Favre got away with murder as a QB, thanks to his arm strength and insane belief he could make any throw, in any situation, from anywhere on the field. There was a time, a little more than 10 years ago, when the Wrangler pitchman could get away with many of his crazy ass throws. But the things he did do, and admittedly, Favre did enough to make him a Hall of Fame lock, weren't exactly textbook quarterbacking. Hell, they weren't even in the book. It's not what you'd want an impressionable young player like Stafford emulating.
I've seen Favre give away more than his fair share of games,, or keep games closer than they should have been, even against the Lions (specifically back in the "glory" days of the 90's), thanks to his "I don't care if my receiver is triple covered and I have a 300 pound defensive end wrapped around my neck, I'm throwing the ball anyway" philosophy.
I was in the Silverdome and Ford Field stands for many a Packers-Lions battle (again, back when the Lions were a competitive team, which feels so long, long ago, my memories are becoming sepia toned.), and I often found myself saying, "I can't believe Favre thought he could make that throw!"
Media lapdogs like Madden and Chris Berman eat the "quarterback as gunslinger" act up. But there's a time and a place for "slinging it", as Favre suggests. Thing is, you also need talent on the other end of those slings, and talent giving you enough protection to allow you to sling the ball. For the vast majority of his career, Favre was surrounded by legitimate NFL talent. The Lions, save for Calvin Johnson, are sadly lacking in legitimate NFL talent around Stafford.
Stafford is going to throw a scary amount of picks as it is this season. Follow Favre's advice, and he'll shatter records...for interceptions.*
*The season record is held by, of all people, George Blanda. He threw 42 (!!!) INT's with the AFL Oilers in 1962. But when factoring his playing in the pass giddy AFL of the 60's, and remained in the league till he was older than Methuselah, I'd cut Blanda a little slack. For what it's worth, Favre holds the records for most interceptions lifetime, both regular season with 310, and playoffs (shared with Jim Kelly), with 28.
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