About retirement

So there's a whole gigantic mess in the sporting world right now. And, unless you've been living under a rock, or just outside of North America, you're probably quite versed in many of the inner workings of Brett Favre and his decision to come out of retirement. Living where we do, we've been hearing plenty about how he's showing himself to be a destructive personality, that it's all about his ego, and that he should have just faded off into the sunset.

The biggest problem, so far as we can tell? The guy decided that, at 38, he wasn't as done playing the game as he thought he was. It's not like it's never happened before where players have come out of retirement. In fact, more often than not, when it's someone of a similar pedigree in their chosen sport, they are welcomed with open arms.

Just last year, the Anaheim Ducks had two different players that had hung up their skates decide to lace them on again. Colorado saw Peter Forsberg back on the ice. It's happened before, and it'll happen again. These teams were forced to move on without their respective pieces, and then shuffled things when the player wanted to come back. In the meantime, the Minnesota Wild were dealing with Wes Walz, an on-ice leader, trying to decide if he still loved the game enough to put himself through the physical punishment.

Green Bay had moved on from Favre. Favre obviously had not completely moved on from the game. Scott Neidermayer and Anaheim had moved on from each other, until Scott decided that he just couldn't be done as a hockey player. When he made his announcement, the Ducks cleared a space on their roster, inserted him back into his old role, and let the transition happen as it should. And many other sports have done the same with key players (Roger Clemens ring a bell? Admittedly, not completely fair because of the financial element, but still somewhat apt). Why should the Packers not being willing to take Favre back, when it's clear that he rushed into his decision to leave football behind?

It seems like, largely, this is coming down to a matter of pride, and that pride is not the pride being displayed by Brett Favre. He simply wants to play again, and originally hoped to do it with the team that made him a Hall of Fame player. It was clear a month ago that he couldn't do that, because the Packers management was too proud to admit that their heir apparent wasn't ready to helm a college team, let alone a team that was one win away from the Super Bowl.

Is Brett innocent in this? No. Not in the slightest. But then, neither are any of the other players that have decided that they just want one more shot at the big time. The onus falls on the team that owns the rights. Either accept them with open arms from the get-go, and force them to prove that they still deserve the job they left behind, or cut them loose from the beginning, saving hard feelings, and give them that chance to make their mark elsewhere.

But when a player wants to reverse his decision to retire, never offer them a financial settlement to keep them off of the field. It's just a slap in the face.