MN National Guard, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
I grew up in Wisconsin. One of my first childhood memories is sitting in the living room in front of an eighteen-inch television set watching the 1967 NFL Championship Game, better known as the Ice Bowl. I saw the final play of the game, Bart Starr’s winning quarterback sneak that would eventually be enshrined into the hallowed annals of NFL legend.
The Packers were king in Wisconsin. They still are. Vince Lombardi—sometimes known here as St. Vincent—has been revered as not only as one of the best football coaches in the history of the game but as a guru, a wise man, a leader of men. He is everywhere in Wisconsin culture. During my own bachelor party, a documentary about Lombardi (not a girly movie) was playing on the television. His philosophy of team building produced player-citizens like Bart Starr, Forrest Gregg, Jerry Kramer, and Ray Nitschke, men who understood that Lombardi was not only teaching them how to play the game, but also how to be men—menschen. He taught them honor, sportsmanship, teamwork, and personal integrity were far more important that a simple game.
As I grew up during the Wisconsin football drought of the seventies and eighties (the Packers only went to the playoffs in 1972 and 1982), I remained a Packers fan. I had to—it was in our DNA. Thick and thin. When the going gets tough… All that jazz. We stayed loyal to the team—just as Lombardi would have wanted us to.
And then… a miracle. The Packers hired a GM named Ron Wolf. Mike Holmgren became coach and a big kid with a cannon arm from Mississippi named Favre came in and lit the pro football world on fire. The Packers began winning again. We went to two Super Bowls in the nineties, winning one. We knew Lombardi was smiling down on us from heaven.
But then things started going sour. Our wunderkind quarterback Favre started making noises about retirement, waffling around, saying he would, then he wouldn’t, then back, then forth, until finally, the Packers traded him to the New York Jets, deciding to move ahead with Aaron Rodgers, their new young stud. Favre was apparently miffed. He went on to play two seasons with Packer rival Minnesota, a move that sowed bad feelings between Favre, management, and the fans. It was a petty move that Lombardi probably would have condemned. In a December 1, 2015 article on the CBSSPORTS website, Favre admitted he chose to play for the Vikings in order to get a measure of revenge for being released from the Packers. It was a classless and petty act that Lombardi probably would have condemned. It is hard to imagine Bart Starr making a move like that.
Favre and the Packers eventually did kiss and make up. All was forgiven. Then, according to OnMilwaukee.com, Favre was exposed sending cell phone photos of his private parts to scoreboard hostess Jenn Sterger. The scandal was a sensation for a month or so, and then blew over. Because the NFL stated that since the photos could not be definitively traced to Favre, no charges were filed.
After all, the sports world seemed to say, boys will be boys. Just look at former Packers James Lofton, Darren Sharper, Mossy Cade and Mark Chmura, all accused of varying degrees of sexual misconduct. Some got off, some went to jail, but one thing is certain. None of them would have been playing for Lombardi. But, in the gentler and kinder world of today, Favre was forgiven. In 2015, he entered the Packers Hall of Fame. In 2016, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. All was forgiven until the latest chapter in the Favre saga broke last week.
About two weeks ago, Favre was implicated in a scheme to misappropriate eight million dollars in funds intended for the poor and needy. According to a NewYork Times article, the state of Mississippi is suing Favre and other entities “to recoup money it said was fraudulently diverted from a federal antipoverty program known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.” (NYTimes) Favre reportedly diverted the money for pet projects, including a volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter is a player.
Favre has not been charged with a crime—yet, but two associates in the deal, John Davis, former executive director of Mississippi Department of Human Services and Nancy New, leader of a community nonprofit who misappropriated funds to Favre, have both pled guilty to fraud. Because he is a celebrity and a favorite son, Favre might be able to wiggle off the hook even though he was stealing money meant to help the poor. He was literally taking food from the mouths of hungry children.
Brett Favre may or may not face criminal charges for diverting eight million dollars of public money to himself (even though he earned $140 million dollars during the course of his NFL career). He is being sued by the state of Mississippi to recoup the money he stole, and that may be the end of it. He’s already been sued once for money he received for speaking engagements he never performed. There seems to be a pattern of self-serving greed and hypocrisy here; after all, Favre’s foundation, Favre 4 Hope, is committed to helping children.
If the Green Bay Packers or the NFL have a modicum of integrity left, they need to take more drastic action than this. If Favre will not face criminal charges (and he might not, although any other human being would), he should not remain in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Dozens of people have demanded they do so, but apparently there are no bylaws for removing members once they are inducted. After all, O.J. Simpson is still there.
At the very least, in Green Bay, the land of Lombardi, the heart and soul of what professional football used to (and should) be, Brett Favre should be permanently expelled from the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame. For him to share the same space with Bart Starr, Forrest Gregg, Ray Nitschke, Willie Wood, and Reggie White is execrable. For him to be enshrined in the Temple of St. Vincent is very nearly blasphemous.
Brett Favre was a good football player. Lombardi would have liked that. He was not—and is not—a good man. He is not virtuous, selfless, generous, or strong. He does not put anyone, the team, the community, or even children, above himself. Lombardi would have despised that.
Brett Favre should not be a representative or an honoree of the Green Bay Packer Football Club. Period.