Baseball

To Kill a Legacy: An Examination of Former Sports Heroes

We’ve seen guys like Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Namath, Emmitt Smith, Michael Jordan, Evander Holyfield, and Mark McGwire either stick around too long or go out on the wrong terms. They all tarnished their legacy in one way or another, allowing us to forget how great they once were, by making us watch how mediocre they had become.

But 2008 has brought us to a whole new level. What Roger Clemens and Brett Favre have teamed up to accomplish in “retirement” is practically as legendary and impressive as their actual careers were.

First Clemens put together the blueprint for how to go from first-ballot Hall of Famer to unwanted scumbag in one single offseason.

This was followed by Favre one-upping him with how his own How-To, showing us how to go from the most popular athlete in the history of Wisconsin — well on your way to the Hall of Fame — to being the guy that will now likely be remembered for the way he chose to leave the game, instead of how he played it.

Clemens was good, but Favre is redefining the role of Went-Out-The-Wrong-Way-Guy. Let’s face it, Clemens was always going to be hated in about 27 Major League Baseball cities, as well as the majority of non-MLB cities. Finding out about his (alleged) banging of the 15-year old, the selling out of his trainer, and the (alleged) drugs and such was not at all shocking, nor did it invoke any type of sympathetic emotions. More than anything, it just reaffirmed what many of us suspected about Clemens.

As for Favre, well that’s a different story. After 17 years in the NFL, Favre had guaranteed himself “legend” status. He could have gotten elected King of Green Bay, and served as such for life. The countdown to the Hall of Fame had begun. Favre could have spent the next 20 years hosting the occasional pregame show, hunting for dinner, and getting by just being “former legendary quarterback, Brett Favre.”

Now, there’s a good chance that Favre is forever remembered, even in Green Bay, as Hall-of-Fame-Asshole. I’ve never seen someone voluntarily kill their legacy so fast, and so drastically, as Mr. Favre.

Here’s the quick version of events.

• Favre has his best season in years, narrowly missing a chance to return to the Super Bowl. Choosing to go out on top (or at least closer to the top than recent years), Favre announces his retirement on March 6.
• For the next months, rumors continue to swirl that he never actually finished all of his retirement paperwork, and was considering playing.
• The Packers move on, proceeding to handle the draft and free-agency on the assumption that Favre would not be returning.
• Favre waits until August before deciding he has “an itch” to keep playing.
• Green Bay is not interested, so Favre wants a release.
• Green Bay will not release him, so Favre wants to play for Green Bay.
• Green Bay still does not want him, so Favre wants to be traded.

Blah, blah, blah…Favre thinks he should be able to be in full control, when it is he who in fact is the one screwing over the Packers, not the other way around.

Here’s the thing, folks. In the NFL, they have this thing called the salary cap. This is how much money your team can spend. When you plan for a season without last year’s highest paid player, you tend to make adjustments in the offseason to get back up to the cap. When you sign free agents, every dollar of that salary cap matters. When you sign your draft picks, every dollar of that salary cap matters. When your highest paid player waits until August to tell you he wants to play again, you’re completely screwed.

Another thing, when your franchise quarterback retires in March, that gives you five months to plan your offense around the new quarterback. Aaron Rodgers has been at camp full-time for the last five months preparing to be the quarterback. Offensive lineman and receivers are learning an offense custom built for Rodgers. So when Mr. Hall of Fame comes back, it wipes out five months of work.

When Favre doesn’t understand why he isn’t welcome, he wants to get traded to a division rival. Is he really as stupid as that? If the Yankees had a say, would they trade Clemens to Boston right now? Hell no. Why would you give this guy a chance to beat you twice a year, directly impacting your ability to reach the postseason?

The bottom line in all of this is that Favre is in the wrong. If he wants to keep playing football, he should have A) informed the Packers much earlier; and B) show up to training camp and practice, all the while work with Green Bay to make a trade happen. The Packers are not going to release him, and they aren’t trading him in the division. They also don’t really want him as a backup quarterback. Favre has no reason to have any leverage here, but he is still trying to call the shots.

When it comes to ruining your going away party, Clemens and Favre have reached a level we’ve never even dreamed of. Clemens had people convinced (wrongly) that he was the best pitcher of his generation, and one of the best of all-time. Now, he has more proof of guilt than Barry Bonds and his entire legacy is either ruined or at least in question. No matter how wrong the anti-steroid conclusion-jumpers are about the actual effects of performance enhancing drugs, the damage has been done. Clemens has ruined an otherwise amazing 20-plus year career.

Favre, on the other hand, was the guy who beat his pain-killer addiction. He stepped up on Monday Night Football when his dad died. He won a Super Bowl after everyone said he wouldn’t. He had one more great year when nobody thought he could. Then he just kept going. He didn’t retire when he retired. He went from being the biggest legend in the Midwest to being the example of what not to do. Favre’s legacy on the field is much safer than Clemens’, but Brett Favre the legend will never be viewed the same.

So let this be a lesson to any professional athlete who has earned their way to the Hall of Fame in their respective sport. Watch what these two men have done in the last eight months, and learn from it. This is no way to end a career.

Who would have thought that in the summer of 2008, Barry Bonds would have a better reputation than Roger Clemens, and the people of Green Bay, Wisconsin would rather sport a green number 12 jersey over a number four?

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