Unlike most of you young sports fans out there, I'm old enough to remember who the Packers' starting quarterback was before Brett Favre.
His name was Don Majkowski [pronounced ma-kow-ski], but I called him - as many Packer fans in the late '80s and early '90s did - the Maj-ik Man."" He received this dubious distinction for leading the green and gold to several comeback victories during the 1989 season.
As a young Packer-backer, I idolized Majkowski. I watched the 1989 Packer highlight film so many times the tape had gray lines running through the middle of it. I wore his jersey for Halloween. I had my picture taken with him after one 1991 mini-camp practice. I slept with a lock of his flowing blonde mullet beneath my pillow.
Just kidding about that last one.
Imagine my sorrow when my hero injured his leg during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals early in the 1992 season and some quarterback from Southern Mississippi replaced him.
I was crushed, demoralized, disheartened. I felt more heartache than when I learned the Essen Haus had run out of boots before I arrived last Thursday.
As it turned out, Favre would cap a 24-23 comeback victory over the Bengals with a touchdown pass to Ketrick Taylor in the game's final seconds.
Fifteen years have passed since that fateful day, and I don't miss Majkowski much anymore.
Why should I when I've had the privilege of watching arguably the best quarterback in history rewrite the record books?
In a little more than 16 NFL seasons Favre has passed for 417 touchdowns, 57,992 yards, won three MVPs, set a league record for completions and consecutive games started by a quarterback and captured one Super Bowl title.
Yet the statistics don't tell the whole story. The unorthodox throws, receivers' broken fingers and bald spot on former Green Bay coach Mike Holmgren's head measure the true excitement that Favre brings to the game of football.
On Sunday, Favre added one more item to his long list of accomplishments when he passed John Elway to become the winningest quarterback in NFL history.
I usually leave the ""who's the best ever"" debates for the pundits on ESPN to decide. After all, each city with an NFL team could probably make a solid case for one of their current or past signal callers to be named No. 1.
In San Francisco, it's Montana or Young. In Dallas, it's Aikman or Staubach. In Denver, it's Elway. In Chicago, it's Moses Moreno or Shane Matthews or Cade McNown or Rex Grossman.
And who knows how many touchdown passes Y.A. Tittle could have thrown had he run one of today's spread offenses?
Then again, if you look at a wide variety of categories, it's hard not to say Favre's the best ever.
Statistically, he is or will soon be tops in almost every major passing category. Fans will say this list includes wins as a starter, completions and soon touchdown passes, pass attempts and passing yards.
Critics will note how he stands to break George Blanda's record for most interceptions.
Others might argue that Favre's excellence merely resulted from playing so many seasons. I'd argue that it stems from Favre's toughness to battle week in and week out, overcoming pain that would have sidelined lesser competitors. And seriously, who's been more entertaining while throwing those INTs?
Some might say Favre does not represent the picture-perfect NFL ideal because of past personal struggles off the field. To be sure, he's not perfect, but neither were Michael Jordan, Mickey Mantle or Babe Ruth.
Pigskin prognosticators could argue that Favre has only one Super Bowl victory while others have won two, three or even four. I believe it wasn't Favre's fault that Reggie White, Gilbert Brown and company let Terrell Davis run rampant over them in Super Bowl XXXII.
Then there's Favre's go-for-broke, gun-slinger, celebrate-a-two-yard-touchdown-pass-more-than-a-three-year-old-celebrates-Christmas attitude. The guy plays like you used to during recess. How can you not admire that?
It should also be noted that Favre's stellar performance in ""There's Something about Mary"" edges out Marino's role in ""Ace Ventura: Pet Detective"" and Aikman's brief part in ""Jerry Maguire"" for best quarterback cameo.
In all seriousness, forgetting statistics, Super Bowls, past personal issues and movie roles, if you had to take a football team 80 yards for the game winning touchdown, who would you want as your quarterback?
I realize I'm biased, but I'm picking No. 4 every time. Not because before he retires he's probably going to lead the league in touchdown passes, passing attempts or yards thrown, but because he's going to fire a bullet into triple coverage while throwing off of his back foot. And 149 times he's managed to lead his team to victory.
I'd say they should call Favre the ""Magic Man,"" but ""best ever"" sounds pretty good too.
If you think John Elway, Dan Marino or Joe Montana were better quarterbacks than Favre, e-mail Ryan at reszel@dailycardinal.com.
