Rob_Haswell's Blog

Favre vs Carson. That's a lop sided battle no matter what arena - comedic or sporting! But it's not my point. I'll get to that in a minute.

First, I have got to say it's amazing how this story exploded and just keeps on blowing up bigger and bigger. I knew it was big but last night when a friend of mine named Kelly, who's not a big football fan herself outside of THE Ohio State University football, blurted out in the middle of a visit, "What's the deal with Favre?!". She was more than curious she was befuddled, confused and I think a little peeved and she's only been in Wisconsin about as long as I have!

I bring it up to illustrate just how far reaching this story is and how almost EVERYONE has an opinion. Yes... even your local weatherman.

Now, I'm not a sports guy and I'll leave the arguing over what Favre has done for the Packers and what the Packers have done for Favre etc. to the TV Jocks on the far side of the building but I do have an opinion based on what I do for a living which is TV and weather.

The weather option isn't really relevant other than to say when we retire a hurricane name it STAYS retired.

However, my TV opinion is a little more thought out and this is where Johnny and Bret come into the picture.

Johnny Carson was one of the all time great TV personalities. Even I, a Letterman fan, feel that Johnny may have been the greatest of all time when it comes to the format of the late night talk show. He did it all from sketch comedy to stand up to desk interviews and nobody was better. Different maybe but never better.

When Carson decided to retire he took his time. He thought it out. He went out at the top of his game with his show still the dominant late night option. And when he took his final bow and handed over the reigns to Jay Leno that was it. He retired. He stood on his amazing record and took a seat in the audience of late night TV.

Now, I am NOT a Jay Leno fan for a variety of reasons, but can you imagine what would have happened and how Johnny would have looked if a few months before Leno's official debut Carson said... maybe I want to come back. Better than that, maybe I want to go over to Fox or ABC and do my show there? It might have been understandable after all, he was on stage night after night for decades and he could have cashed in huge! But it would have taken the shine off his image and many of his fans may not have stuck with him. It would also have been unfair to Jay Leno who, for better for for worse, earned the job as his replacement.

No, Carson retired and no amount of money, or insatiable itch to be on TV would have brought him back.

How much of this applies to Brett Favre?

I don't know.

Did Favre not take enough time to think it through before he retired? Maybe, only he knows that..

Does he want a big pay day? I very much doubt that as he has all the money he'd ever want and could make more retired than he would on the field.

I don't know how much of my Carson story applies other than I am confident that unlike the all time king of late night, Brett Favre isn't as clear on what a return will do to his long time image and standing as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

And in a final thought, I want to make it clear that I do agree he is one of, if not the greatest QB that has ever played. Not just for his skill as a player but for his skill as a motivator and his amazing ability to light a fire in even the least likely football fan like me. Before I moved to Wisconsin I probably watched a game or two every season. Last year, I watched or listened to at least part of them all!

Just remember, the sequel is hardly ever as good as the original.