Brett Favre’s Bruise Pictures: What Exactly is the Point?

Everyone who watched the NFC Championship Game knew Brett Favre received an epic pounding at the hands of the Saints.  Now, Favre and his agent Bus Cook have elected to show the world exactly how epic that pounding was, by releasing photos of Favre’s bruised leg and foot.

Though the injuries aren’t nearly as bad as those sustained by, say, many victims of the Haiti earthquake, they are still pretty nasty, and serve as a stark reminder of exactly how violent and potentially damaging football can be.

I have a funny feeling, however, that Brett and Bus weren’t simply motivated by a desire to educate the public about the perils of being an NFL quarterback.  There was a specific public relations purpose behind the release of these photos.

I’m not sure exactly what that purpose might have been, but I suspect it had something to do with answering the people who’ve been hammering Favre for the terrible play he made at the end of the title game, the one that cost the Vikings a chance at going to the Super Bowl.

The criticism of Favre there isn’t just that he threw the interception, but that he appeared to have enough open field in front of him to run for a few yards instead, and give Ryan Longwell a realistic shot at a game-winning field goal. The bruise pictures may, then, be a direct reply to the people who are grumbling because Favre didn’t run.

“See how bad his leg was?” the pictures say.  “Now do you think he still should’ve run?”

Actually, yes, I think he still should’ve run.

Even on a bad leg, he could’ve limped three or four yards and then gone out of bounds.  Maybe that wouldn’t have given the Vikings enough yards to get the field goal, but it still would’ve been better than attempting an impossible throw across his body, one that ended up being intercepted.

The last I looked, a difficult field goal attempt was still preferable to not having the ball at all.

So no Brett, your Tila Tequila-like photo release has not caused me to change my mind or forgive you for your idiot mistake.  Maybe if you’d released a photo showing your skull dented in, I would’ve believed a severe head injury and not your usual cowboy complex was to blame for that moronic attempted pass.

Besides, I’m sure you’ve played games where you were equally banged up, and still made plays.  Hell, you made plenty of plays against the Saints after taking all those hits.  The problem is, when you were called upon to make that one last vital play, you failed miserably, taking the hopes and dreams of Viking fans down with you.

Nice sympathy-grab, but I’m not buying it.