Sports Then and Now

The Vikings will be playing their first outdoor game since the days of Metropolitan Stadium.

The final home game of the 50th season for the Minnesota Vikings will be a cold “blast from the past” as the recent deflation of the roof at the Metrodome means the Vikings and Chicago Bears will be clashing Monday night outdoors at the University of Minnesota’s TCF Stadium.

From their creation in 1961 through the 1981 season the Vikings played all their home games outdoors at Metropolitan Stadium.  During that time, there were a plethora of frozen memories as the Vikings enjoyed significant success playing on their frozen tundra.

Overall, the Vikings were 91-56-4 at Metropolitan Stadium during the regular season and 7-3 on the frozen turf during the post season.

When the Vikings played their first game at Metropolitan Stadium on September 21, 1961 they showed signs of what was to come as they surprised the veteran Chicago Bears 37-13 behind the four-touchdown passes thrown by rookie quarterback Fran Tarkenton.

The Vikings were 15-26-1 during their first six seasons playing at Metropolitan Stadium under head coach Norm Van Brocklin and overall posted just one winning season. However, once Bud Grant arrived in 1967, the team soon started to develop into one of the elite teams in the league and Metropolitan Stadium was an important component of that success.

In 1969 the Vikings were a perfect 7-0 at home during the regular season and then won consecutive cold weather playoff games over the Los Angeles Rams (23-20; 10 degrees, -1 wind chill) and Cleveland Browns (27-7; 8 degrees, -6 wind chill) to reach the Super Bowl for the first time. Read the rest of this entry →

After 297 consecutive NFL starts, Brett Favre watched from the sidelines Monday night.

Brett Favre’s streak of 297 straight NFL starts ended Monday night in Detroit, but ironically, the end of the streak could actually do more to enhance the quarterback’s legacy than if he would have played against the Giants.

Once one of the most admired and beloved players in the NFL, the last three years have not been kind to the veteran signal caller.

The worst thing a player can be labeled in professional sports is selfish or self-centered. With his annual “will he or won’t he” saga, Favre’s indecision has turned many former admirers into critics.

Favre has always been seen as a tough and hard-nosed player who left everything on the field. However, over the last several years many have believed that Favre was more concerned about playing to preserve and grow his own legacy than to actually help his team win.

After three straight off-seasons of wondering if Favre would return, the Green Bay Packers finally gave up and moved on with Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback.

During his single season with the New York Jets, Favre started out strong, but injuries late in the season reduced his effectiveness and cost the Jets a playoff spot. Favre’s eventual admission that he probably shouldn’t have been playing was seen by many as just another example of how the quarterback put his own records over the success of his team.

Favre engineered his exit from New York and after waiting until the end of training camp joined the Minnesota Vikings for the 2009 season.

While the mainstream media did everything they could to hype the 40-year-old Favre’s amazing season, he and the Vikings were met by a mix of indifference and ridicule by many fans who were conflicted as to whether to root for or against Favre. Read the rest of this entry →

Brett Favre is back...again.

So is anyone really surprised that Brett Favre has made his way to Minnesota in time for the second preseason game of the year? Even though he wanted to keep everyone in suspense until the very end, his decision to play in 2010 was about as surprising as seeing hamburgers and fries on the menu at McDonalds.

I guess after all these years there shouldn’t be any self-absorbed behavior by Favre that surprises me, but I must admit that his comments during his latest comeback press conference are a new wrinkle.

According to Favre, he is coming back this year as a “favor” to his Viking teammates.

I guess that sounds somewhat noble, but coming from Favre it just isn’t an easy line to swallow. Given his past actions, I just can’t believe that Favre doesn’t do much that isn’t in some way slanted toward benefiting Brett Favre.

Certainly his $16.5 million salary is a motive, but I think the bottom line is that Favre just isn’t ready to give up his status as football’s greatest gun slinger. Read the rest of this entry →

Brett Favre could have his own reality series based around his regular retirements and flip-flops.

Given that I have previously written two stories about Brett Favre retiring from the NFL, please pardon me if I am not totally convinced by the rumors today that the future Hall of Fame quarterback is again announcing his retirement.

As many have written in other stories today, I will begin believing that Favre has played his last game if he is not in uniform on September 9th when the Minnesota Vikings face the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints. However, I won’t really be convinced until I see Favre mugging with his bust at the Hall of Fame ceremony in Canton.

Though in the last four years Favre’s indecision has become the butt of many jokes and he has made some of the worst PR decisions this side of LeBron James, he is still a ferocious competitor and very proud individual.

For that reason, if he has indeed decided not to play again it seems highly likely that the reason is that his 40-year-old body has finally betrayed him after 19 years in the NFL.

Though he would never officially commit for 2010, up until the last couple weeks it seemed that even Favre was preparing for him to play this season. At the time he underwent ankle surgery in May it was generally believed that action pretty much guaranteed that he was readying himself for another season. Read the rest of this entry →

So, the Favre talk starts again…

He is reportedly said to retire… again. If he really does retire from the sport, he would retire with the most wins (181) and touchdowns (497) of any quarterback. He also holds the record for most consecutive starts, of course. Brett has started every game since September 27th, 1992. That’s right… 285 consecutive starts. The closest person to him in that category is Peyton Manning. Manning has 192 consecutive starts throughout his career with the Colts.

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Courtesy of Engy’s

Favre was beaten and battered by the Saints.

The popular question following the victory by the New Orleans Saints over the Minnesota Vikings to clinch the NFC Championship and the right to play in the Super Bowl has been, “Are you happy now?” Happy is not the word I use.

Watching Sunday’s game I grimaced at every painful hit given by the Saint defense onto the Viking quarterback. Every tackle that was borderline late, I winced at. But each time the veteran QB got up off the Superdome turf and returned to the huddle. Every time but one, then he was helped off the field at the end of a possession. While watching the trainers and doctors of the Vikings checked him out and re taped his ankle, many wondered if he would answer the bell. But like a great title fighter he came back in to take his licks and fight his team one more time.

But was I happy the Vikings lost? No, I was relieved.

I was relieved that the one time QB of my favorite team, the Green Bay Packers wasn’t able to take the division rival to the Super Bowl. Throughout the year all Packer fans were expecting the “old” Favre to come back. We were waiting for Brett to begin forcing the ball, being intercepted and costing the Packers a possible victory. Green Bay fans would shrug it off as “Brett being Brett.” We felt that is what made him the QB that Packer fans fell in love with.

But the divorce wasn’t pretty and eventually Brett wanted to prove to the administration of the team that he parted ways with that he could still play. He did take Green Bay to the NFC Championship game in his last year in Wisconsin just two years ago and he knew there were still many touchdown throws left in that right arm.

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