Today I am 18 years and 331 days old. The last time Brett Favre wasn't the Green Bay Packer's quarterback?...I was 3 years and 172 days old. I woke up this morning to hear that Favre had announced his retirement, and in all honesty I wasn't that surprised because of what I saw last week from The Sporting Blog. Last week, there was a headline about Favre retiring, and it was supposedly a mistake, but stuff like that wouldn't happen for no reason on the Packers' official website.

Am I disappointed? Yes, I am; a little part of my stomach feels the twist that is the reality that these Packers will have to keep playing without Favre and his magic. I just cannot believe some of the disrespect I have heard about Favre, on television, from friends, online - everywhere today. One guy went as far as to say that Favre's lasting impression will be the interception he threw in the NFC Championship against the Giants this year, in overtime. Are you kidding me?

Dr. Z from Sports Illustrated needs to go see a doctor, after what he wrote earlier today. His headline reads, "Popularity, skills prevented Favre from true greatness". This guy thinks Brett Favre could have been greater - that is the message he wanted the reader to leave with after reading his article. As one of those ESPN guys said this morning, Brett Favre's career isn't just about his stats and being ranked number one in just about every conceivable category that is important to a quarterback. It is more about all of the great moments he has had: playing for his dad against the Oakland Raiders on MNF, that ridiculous pass to Greg Jennings the first play of overtime against the Broncos this year, and his shovel pass in snowy Lambeau in this year's NFC Divisional playoff game just to name a few.

Once Brett Favre started to play in the NFL, he didn't stop, stacking up 253 consecutive starts. Anyone who is going to tell me that Favre never had to deal with injuries, that's simply not the case. Favre was hurt in the game against the Cowboys, just this past season, sustaining an elbow injury AND separated shoulder, yet was still ready to go for the next game. Now that Favre has announced his retirement from the game, Aaron Rodgers will take over, and as a Packer's fan you can't feel that bad; he's been learning from one of the best for a few years now, and actually played very well when he had to step in against the Dallas Cowboys, completing 18 of 26 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown.

The one thing, to me, about Brett Favre that shines above other NFL quarterbacks, is that he is a personable guy, he made plenty of mistakes; he is human. I don't care what you say about him, Brett Favre will go down as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL of all-time.