"BETHANY!!!! .... BRETT FAVRE'S DEAD!!!! ....

... I shouted to my daughter, who was in the other room, while I watched the Monday Night Football game between the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings on December 20, 2010. Brett Favre wasn't even supposed to be playing this game, having recently sprained a body part that no one has ever heard of, and which resulted in the fingers on his throwing hand having little or no feeling. However, at the last minute, Favre heroically (or stupidly?) tells the Vikings brass that he is ready to play in their final home game of the 2010 season; a home game being played outdoors in a college football stadium because a recent blizzard tore a hole in the roof of the Metrodome where the Vikings usually play in 70 degree comfort.

Favre is on his game early in the contest, throwing a touchdown pass to put his team ahead of the Bears 7-0. But, a few series later, a fierce Chicago pass rush results in Favre being grabbed and thrown to the ground so violently, that his head bounces off the frozen turf. As Favre lies there motionless, my first thought is that the 41 year old quarterback has played his final play in the NFL. I recall Grandpa Simpson announcing to the Simpson family: "Oh, the dog's dead," when I shout to my indifferent daughter that it appears that Favre's career, and possibly his life, is over. Alas, the young grandfather is the victim of a concussion, but will live to tell his descendants of his exploits on the gridiron. Fortunately, Brett Favre isn't dead, but quite likely Brett Favre, the active NFL quarterback, finally is.