Minnesota Vikings/ Brett Farve Teach Life Lessons
"I have so much respect for him. The way he played the game. Some guys had to be reminded it is a game and you should have fun playing it. He had fun playing it. He had fun practicing it. He had fun in the locker room, the bus, the airplane."
John Madden
Brett Farve’s official website title is “For the Love of the Game”. It may as well be “For the Love of Life” because this is clearly a person who understands how to get the most out of and enjoy life.
My interest in football has come on slowly over the years but skyrocketed this year with the addition of future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Farve to the home team’s roster. Our Minnesota Vikings have often been a disappointment in the past whether from quirky, ill fated losses on the field or less than stellar extracurricular player activities off the field. New owners have cleaned up the off field behavior problems and spent the necessary money to assemble a very talented group of players. They also managed to lure Brett Farve (www.officialbrettfarve.com) out of retirement in August to lead the team. Nicknamed “The Silver Fox” Farve turned forty years old in October. But he still loves the game and acts like a kid!
After having arguably one of the most successful regular seasons of his career the team lost the NFC championship game yesterday in a heartbreaker in overtime. I watched the entire game and was absolutely amazed at the toughness and determination this man demonstrated. Time after time he was thrown down after making plays and time after time he got up and played on. At one point he injured his ankle and went out of the game to have it wrapped. Obviously in excruciating pain, he nevertheless came back in and continued playing, never letting his goal of winning the game and playing in the Super Bowl out of sight. To the last second he gave his all and never gave up.
Today as the local sports talk radio station hosts dissected and trissected the game and tried to cope with yet another Vikings' loss I realized what a gift Brett Farve had actually given this community and the nation yesterday. He showed a tenacity and toughness that is seldom seen anymore. It was an old fashioned display of honor, integrity and the ‘never give up’ attitude that we associate with other great moments in history. Some may scoff at this notion and say ‘it’s only a game’. To that I answer it’s not just a game, it’s love. For the Love of the Game. For the love of life. This is a man who knows how to live life fully and face it head on and he gifted all of us with a vivid demonstration of that yesterday.
