Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Farewell to these titans of the gridiron

Amid this era of performance-enhancing drugs, which is likely more prevalent than anyone outside the world of sports can fully comprehend, fans know that we should feel especially good about two of the all-time greats who did it right.  And now they're (probably) saying goodbye.

As perhaps the NFL's most unlikely success story, just about everyone has heard of Kurt Warner's rise from small college quarterback, to his stellar but largely unnoticed play in the Arena league and Europe, to a nearly minimum wage job stacking grocery shelves, to eventual NFL stardom by which he earned a slew of awards and three trips to the Super Bowl.  Undoubtedly Warner's story is a testament to Faith, perseverance, and the journey off the beaten path that we sometimes must take.

Coming off his best season in at least five years, one could easily doubt the authenticity of Favre's retirement, as ol' #4 has previously un-retired three times.  The 40-year-old pride of Southern Mississippi has made an unbelievable 285 consecutive starts (going back to '92), passing for almost 70,000 yards and nearly 500 touchdowns during his unmatched career -- milestones any competitor would like to top if possible -- so nobody is going to be shocked if "Big Arm Brett" makes yet another comeback.

Neither of these men were ever expected to rise to the pinnacle of their profession, but in the end they became surefire first ballot Hall of Famers and their respective stories should inspire us all.

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