Just like Labour Day is a football tradition in Canada, Brett Favre "retiring" and eventually returning to training camp has become an annual tradition in the NFL.
Favre is one of the best quarterbacks to ever put the pads on, but why does he continually choose to put the pads on days after his teammates? Conveniently, Favre has missed the start of three training camps in the past three seasons.
The 40-year-old pivot, appears to be back with the Vikings and after a uneventful pre-season debute, Favre doesn't appear quite ready for game action, but hey this he is Brett Favre I'm talking about - what do you need to worry about?
Although training camp isn't exactly designed for veterans like Favre it appears to be a bit of a slap in their faces. How would you like to be the number two and three quarterbacks? Looking around training camp, you don't see one of the best quarterbacks who decided to take your job last year and the guy who sent a text message to say he wouldn't be a training camp - it is your time to shine, your taking the number one snaps and the coaching is spending more time telling you how this is your team your year to lead - wrong.
He is Brett Favre he doesn't need to train or practice, like Allen Iverson said in 2002 at a famous press conference, "We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last, but we're talking about practice man. How silly is that?..."
Right it is silly to have all the players at camp and practice. I mean how would you be able to say that all the players are equal and deserve the same rights and that the idea of the team is more important of the individual, perhaps that is why Favre was forced to ride off into the Green Bay sunset. Favre and Iverson along with Scott Neidermeyer and Peter Forsberg, who also chose the fashionably late arrivals to their teams after contemplating retirement, appear to be bigger than the game. Don't get me wrong those players accomplishments have warranted that respect, but maybe that respect they have earned they should show to their teammates as well.
The funny thing is that four of those players mentioned are not only superstars, but also leaders on their teams.
A leader in my mind is someone who is thinking team all season and even in the off-season, look at Darian Durant during the bye week, he stayed in Regina to watch film and had Prechae Rodriguez run routes, because he wasn't happy with going through the motions heading into a game the Riders should win.
Work ethic is contagious and at this point some superstars appear to be lacking in that category.
I mean it is no surprise in sports that the stars get to stretch the rules, but maybe enough is enough, perhaps the leagues need to put something in place, but who are we kidding Favre puts people in the seats and their would be no way the NFL would suspend him for missing a couple practices and the team would never punish the guy, if they want him bad enough at 40-years-old they will turn the other way when he misses the start of camp.
You'd think the older guys get, the more work they'd need to put in to get back in game shape.
This happens in every league from minor hockey to senior hockey to the pros. A training camp roster is now just a general outline of what the team could look like, when the next impact player finally makes a decision that is when the roster starts to get finalized and players who had spots lose them, due to the trickle down effect.
