Favre Wins PFWA Award (How Couldn't He???)

The Professional Football Writers of America awarded Brett Favre with their annual "Good Guy" award, given to the athlete who, essentially, helps make their job easier.

According to the article:

Favre not only gave detailed, honest answers, but increased his availability to national and out-of-town reporters during his final season with the Green Bay Packers.

Just reflecting on the amusingness of the media and attention that Favre has gotten post-retirement...it is kind of ironic that suddenly, people are coming forward and essentially admitting how Brett Favre made their lives a heckuva lot earlier.

A couple of nights ago, Favre appeared on the David Letterman show, and of course, was asked numerous questions about his retirement and if he'd consider coming back. Favre (who looked about as comfortable as a fly at a frog convention) even looked at Letterman at one point and told him, "You're watchin' too much television." But, Letterman, like everyone else, hammered on and eventually got what he wanted...a detailed, honest answer.

No one tended to comment that Favre probably didn't volunteer to be on the show, offered to come out and talk about retirement. If you ask me, his appearance was likely an obligatory one he had to make in order to promote his face on the cover of Madden 09.

I have never believed, as many do, that Favre was some sort of attention-seeking media whore, who seemed to enjoy torturing fans with his glib remarks and "holding the team hostage". But, it has continued to play out, with reporters fishing and fishing for remarks, and when Favre would respond with whatever he was thinking, unfiltered, it made news in such a way that made Paris Hilton and Britney Spears wonder where all their paparazzi had disappeared to.

The award from the Football Writers is, above all, a personal thank-you to Brett Favre for making their lives a lot easier over the past several seasons. The boring, politically-correct athlete like Tom Brady may be a great teammate and a great player, but is awfully boring for the media, who wants to make sure they have news fodder during the long offseason.

And Favre gave it to them. Some say he hogged the spotlight, but I really believe that any spotlight he garnered was placed upon him by the media, a light he really didn't want a part of.

A couple of seasons ago, Favre made some controversy because it was leaked that he occasionally changed in a separate area of the locker room. The Favre Critics rose, chastising him for everything from being a bad teammate, to thinking he was above everyone else...a prima donna who was slowly poisoning the team.

In reality, Favre ducked into the training staff changing area when the reporters were released into the locker room. Why? Because he knew not only would there be a crowd of 40 people around his locker, he would be late for the obligatory post-game press conference that he had to do after every game.

Favre made offseason storylines pretty easy for the press, and its about time they acknowledged it and said thanks for the headlines.