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On Hero Worship
Believe it or not, there's still more to say about Brett Favre
There was a moment in the first wave of this week's Brett Favre retirement coverage, before its repetitive nature began to remind me of a Saturday Night Live skit, that made me feel like a boy again. Turns out that one of the many all-time football records the Green Bay Packers quarterback now owns is most touchdown passes in a QB's final season, 28. Number three on that list is Brian Sipe.
Whoa. There's a name that you don't hear outside of Cleveland too much these days.
Now, Favre's career wasn't about records, even though he has a ton. It was, as ESPN analyst Trey Wingo astutely reminded on Tuesday, about moments. And while Favre inspires in me nearly the clichéd norm of admiration, dude will never come close to occupying the place in my memory that that third-ranked quarterback does. Shit, Brian Sipe used to make me cry.
The 1980 Cleveland Browns were known as the Kardiac Kids, because the unexpected AFC Central — wow, that was a long time ago — champions won so many of their games in the last minute en route to taking their first division crown in nine seasons. (They lost a bunch at the end, too, but I don't really want to talk about that.)
Sipe was an amazing player — my second favorite ever after Greg Pruitt —
because of his backstory. After leading college football in touchdown passes as a San Diego State senior, he was almost entirely overlooked by the NFL. Small and thin with an unimpressive arm, Sipe lasted until the 13th round to be chosen by Cleveland. Back then there was something called the "taxi squad," which allowed marginal players to hang around for development. And Sipe sure needed it. He didn't earn serious playing time until 1979.
Whoa. There's a name that you don't hear outside of Cleveland too much these days.
Now, Favre's career wasn't about records, even though he has a ton. It was, as ESPN analyst Trey Wingo astutely reminded on Tuesday, about moments. And while Favre inspires in me nearly the clichéd norm of admiration, dude will never come close to occupying the place in my memory that that third-ranked quarterback does. Shit, Brian Sipe used to make me cry.
The 1980 Cleveland Browns were known as the Kardiac Kids, because the unexpected AFC Central — wow, that was a long time ago — champions won so many of their games in the last minute en route to taking their first division crown in nine seasons. (They lost a bunch at the end, too, but I don't really want to talk about that.)
Sipe was an amazing player — my second favorite ever after Greg Pruitt —
because of his backstory. After leading college football in touchdown passes as a San Diego State senior, he was almost entirely overlooked by the NFL. Small and thin with an unimpressive arm, Sipe lasted until the 13th round to be chosen by Cleveland. Back then there was something called the "taxi squad," which allowed marginal players to hang around for development. And Sipe sure needed it. He didn't earn serious playing time until 1979.
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