Brett Favre and his un-retirement

As a Bucs fan, its nice to see Brett Favre not go back to Green Bay. As a football fan, it would be sad to see him leave. In case you haven't heard (and that would mean that you don't care-in which case this little parenthetical and entire sentence would be mute so I'll stop typing), Favre retired back in March, but now is saying that he was 'pressured' for a decision to retire. I guess by pressure, Favre meant that they wouldn't let him wait until training camp to give them a decision! Of course the Packers say something entirely different. Is one side lying? Did one or both parties misunderstand each other? Happens a lot, but I really don't care about it in this case.

Favre is free to un-retire. That's his prerogative. And because of all that he's done for the Packers, they probably ought to release him. But the question of why he is choosing to un-retire is the subject of my thoughts this lovely morning.

I'm no mind or heart reader, so I'll not accuse the lad of anything specific, but rather try to speak in 'generals.' I don't want him talking to Gretta van Susteren-yes he went on her show yesterday-about me.

For anyone who is an athlete, at least a football player, the training is year round. And for someone who is 38 years old, Favre has probably played football for 30 years. Probably close to 16 at the professional level. When you do something that people praise you for, for that long, you will become tempted to be defined by it. It's WHO you are. It's WHO you have been. When you quit, you're not a football player anymore. I think that's why its so hard for some folks to quit. So they often play for a different team at the end of their careers and end up not doing anyone any favors.

But its really kind of sad. Not so much for their legacy, but (again I'm just saying this could be the case for some; after all its the tendency of the human heart) because folks are easily enslaved to this definition. It's their identity. How can I be someone else? Someone who is not a football player?

Now some folks can become coaches, but they will NEVER be able to define themselves anymore by the title of "Football player." And so the search is on for a new definition, a new identity.

It happens with all of us. The mother who has finished raising her kids (and has done well), the man approaching retirement, the athlete forced to retire early due to injury. Few identities will stand the test of time (such as athlete, mother, employee, pastor, etc...) and all fall short as idols. Our only secure identity is that of child of God. We can't be taken out of His hands, so that's a pretty safe one to stick with.