In most sports that I follow, besides rooting for a favorite home team, I have individual favorite players, whose teams transitively get my allegiance as well. For instance, I’ve been partial in the past to the Detroit Red Wings because of all the Russian players on their roster or the Utah Jazz while John Stockton was playing.
I started following American football in mid-nineties, right around the time that Brett Favre came into his own as one of the best players in the NFL. I liked the way he visibly enjoyed playing, so much so that he quickly became my favorite football player. I’ve always since said that I root for the Green Bay Packers.
But I do have a requisite home team that I root for as well, the New York Jets. And to my utter delight, I learn today that my hands-down favorite player is coming to play for my home team.
Wow! I don’t think this has ever happened to me before. Alex Rodriguez to the Yankees does not really count – that was the best player in the game coming to my home team, rather than my most favorite (despite all of Rodriguez’s personal achievements, he has never merited as much esteem in my eyes as Derek Jeter).
I’m all aflutter (although you hopefully would not notice that by observing me just now).
By the way, Kostyan, sleep easy. I no longer despise the Chicago Bears 🙂
I will sleep easy. The last thing I needed was Bret going to the Vikings, Adrian Peterson is enough. Still, i think he should have retired. He achieved enough, putting Aaron Rogers and the Packs in the position he did was not very nice.
Anyways, I have always respected him as THE Player. No matter the stats, Peyton and Brady have a long way to go to become legends like he is.
Good luck to Jets.
Lemieux came back with the Penguins, Jordan came back with the Wizards… Examples of a super-star having an itch to come back are aplenty.
I agree that the Packers were a bit blindsided by Favre’s sudden un-retirement, but this is not unique either. They should have been more nimble in dealing with the fallout, taking a month to get to a resolution that could have probably been achievable much quicker.
The pick turns into a third-round selection if Favre plays in 50 percent of the plays this season, a second-rounder if he plays in 70 percent of the plays and the Jets qualify for the playoffs, and a first-round pick if he plays in 80 percent of the plays and Jets make it to the Super Bowl.
I like the trade options the Jet agreed on.
Agreed. He has not missed a game in, what, 15 years, so reaching the percentage of plays is a given, but the Jets will certainly not go all the way to SB, although playoffs should be within reach. My bet would be on a second-round pick.
I would play him sparingly in the first half of the season, to see if Jets has any chance going to the playoffs. Again, having himi on the team does not neccesarily mean that hey they would win every game, i am not sure how Jets are standing in the offensive ranking (should look it up now). But play-offs would not be out of the question.
You can’t play a living legend just coming off an MVP-caliber season sparingly.