Opinions are like assholes — everyone has one. And this week, every asshole with a forum is going to tell you and I how we as Green Bay Packers’ fans should react to the return of Brett Favre.
I’ve got news for you. I may be just another asshole with a forum, but I am not presumptuous and arrogant enough to tell you how you should feel about Brett Favre, much less how you should react when he runs out onto Lambeau Field on Sunday.
There are plenty of people out there preaching class — telling Green Bay Packers fans they should remember Brett Favre for helping return the Packers to prominence, while simply ignoring the fact that Favre spitefully engineered a path allowing him to play for the Packers arch enemy. They ignore the fact that this outcome was all about bruised egos and revenge. That’s certainly classy.
So now you have guys like Journal Sentinel sports editor Garry Howard telling us to cheer Brett when he comes onto the field, but boo him during the game.
Show him the love and affection he has certainly earned by leading this franchise back to respectability and its rightful place as “Titletown.”
Empower yourselves by showing off your obvious class with this rousing ovation.
Make him cry huge teardrops (he may just do that, mind you) all over his graying beard.
And then, after four strong minutes of this lovefest, hope that your boys, the Packers, kick his Hall of Fame (expletive deleted).
Thanks for the suggestion Garry, but fuck you.
I understand. You don’t want the people of Green Bay looking like a bunch of bitter, ignorant assholes in front of a national audience. You don’t want people saying, “look at those stupid rednecks.” You don’t want to be embarrassed. Well, this isn’t about you, Garry.
On the flip side, Green Bay Packers great LeRoy Butler encouraged fans to boo Favre and make the beginning of the game about Aaron Rodgers.
“The reaction should be 100% about Aaron Rodgers. When Aaron Rodgers comes out there you should give Aaron Rodgers a standing ovation because he’s our guy for the next 10 years. When Brett comes out you do like any other opposing quarterback, you boo him. If you don’t want to boo him, don’t say anything. But if you’re going to stand up wearing Packer clothing or a Packer uniform and cheer when Brett Favre comes out, you should bring a bag and put it over your head. You don’t cheer for somebody to beat your team, I don’t care who it is.”
We love LeRoy Butler. After all, this is the guy who said, “Instead of wasting one year in Minnesota, I’d rather retire. Instead of wasting one year of having my football card in a purple jersey, I’d rather just retire.”
I agree with LeRoy. Packers fans should cheer for the Packers. The Vikings are the enemy and Brett Favre plays for the enemy. However, there are a lot of Green Bay Packers fans who still have a soft spot for Brett Favre. It’s understandable – the guy won a Super Bowl and led the Packers for 16 seasons. I’m not going to chastise them if they want to keep following the man and cheering him on. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing – Packers success.
But there’s certain to be some conflicting emotions on Sunday. That’s just the way it’s going to be.
I talked to a friend yesterday who had been the biggest Brett Favre fan I knew, up until the minute he signed with the Vikings. He’s flying back to Green Bay for the game this weekend, or as he said, “Going to boo my childhood hero.”
In a lot of ways, it’s sad that it’s come to this, but this is the reality.
I’m personally inclined to boo anyone who plays for the Minnesota Vikings, whether he happens to be a Green Bay Packers legend or not. I despise the Vikings. I despise their ignorant, classless fans. I despise that the franchise can barely sell out their games. I despise that they play in a dump like the MetroBarn. I could go on…
Saying that, what you do when No. 4 runs out onto Lambeau Field is up to you. If you are emotionally invested in the Green Bay Packers, like many of us are, no one can tell you what to feel. How you react is up to you.
If you want to cheer, go ahead. If you want to boo, then boo. If you break down crying, that’s fine. If you don’t do anything, that’s perfectly reasonable. If you want to stuff marshmallows with coins and throw them, no one is going to stop you (well, maybe the police).
I think after all we’ve been through with Brett Favre, any of these responses would be acceptable.
Just don’t let some fool with column space tell you what to do, because assholes are like opinions. Every asshole has one to stuff their opinion up.