This seems hard to imagine, but on that spring afternoon in 1991 at the NFL Draft, when NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue came to the podium to announce the second round selection of the Atlanta Falcons, he mispronounced the player's name. His name: Brett Favre.

Safe to say, nobody will ever mispronounce "Favre" again. In 1991, he was a little known quarterback from Southern Mississippi. Today, 17 years later, the Falcons probably regret the day they traded Favre to the Green Bay Packers. After all, they don't have any problems at quarterback do they?

Through his career he won a Super Bowl, legions of admirers, multiple MVP awards, and in 2007 alone became the career passing yardage leader by passing Dan Marino.

He also, in 2007, became the career wins leader for a quarterback, passing some dude named John Elway.

The question today becomes why would Favre retire yesterday even though it appears he had a few good seasons left in that gunslinger's arm. That will be debated for weeks. Did he make the right decision? Did he make the wrong decision? In my opinion, it's HIS decision and we have no right to question it. Speaking of questions, there were many about Favre's future just a few years ago. To his credit, he evolved and became so GOOD again, that at the age of 38-----when almost every player in the league has been retired for years-----Favre still, according to many, had a FEW solid years in front of him.

That aside, there is more than just Favre football withdrawl in this country today, with the residents of Green Bay, feeling particularly blue. I think, Favre, as a person, may have been just as important as Favre, the football player.

One of the reasons I think Favre connected with America so well is because outside of the enormous shadow he cast and considerable paycheck he warranted, he is like so many of us. He dealt with the death of one of his inlaws, his wife's breast cancer, the death of his father, his addiction to painkillers, and ----he did it all PUBLICLY. His life was an open book and as a sports star in America, we were all interested. Athletes deal with issues, just like the rest of us, though, rare is the case that we got a peak inside the personal world of an athlete, like we did with Favre. The news wasn't all rosy, but that made him much more "human", likable, and a sympathetic figure.

The man is one of the few athletes whose face is known in a "helmet" league. For many years, he was the "face" of the NFL. Though, unlike, other sports, the NFL is more about the uniform than the person wearing it. The League just gets more strong by the year, despite the departure of star power. They just replenish the old stars with a constellation of new ones. We like the players, but we LOVE the game. The NFL will survive, it will almost certainly continue to thrive, but it just won't be the same without Favre there.

"z"