Emotional highs must trump all else

All anybody needs to know about Brett Favre's ambivalence toward retirement is he's a football player.

As soon as a person agrees to play this crazy game, logic is forfeited to the football gene.

That's why Favre was on the field Monday night when the Vikings beat the Packers 30-23 in the Metrodome.

Even more significant, Favre wasn't playing for Green Bay, his longtime love interest, but for Minnesota, his longtime nemesis.

Only football players - or someone who spent decades around them - would understand.

Anyway, more interesting than how Favre played against the Packers is why he still is playing for any team a week short of his 40th birthday.

The last two weeks made it clear after years of Favre not wanting to play and then wanting to play and then not wanting to play.

Football's most compelling competition is between the physical and the emotional. Every player is caught between the two.

The physical is devastating. A fair guess is that a few players enjoy the pounding but not many. Not even the money is worth it.

So what is? The emotional highs are, like the ones Favre experienced the past two games.

First was that desperation touchdown pass to beat the 49ers. Second was this Monday night special.

What else can a man do that approximates simply running through the tunnel onto the field? Certainly riding a tractor on a farm in Mississippi can't.

What's like merely handing off to a running back like Minnesota's Adrian Peterson? What's like throwing a touchdown pass before 60,000 fans in the stadium and millions more watching on TV? What's like bumping airborne butts with a receiver after a TD? What's like dancing around in the pocket to extend a play? What's like beating a younger quarterback who used to be your understudy?

Favre didn't want to put in the work to play but wanted to lead long scoring drives again. He didn't want to be tackled but wanted to play for something important like the NFC North lead again.

Favre's body screamed that he was peering into middle age, but his emotions wanted him to jump around like a kid on the playground.

Much of America's attention was on Monday night's game generally and on Favre specifically. Think about it: The rest of us are fortunate if our families have any idea what we do for a living.

I'm thinking that emotional gratification trumps physical wellness for athletes capable of competing at the highest level.

So often a football player is willing to play despite a history of concussions. So often a he'll risk another spinal injury that could result in permanent paralysis.

So often the sport scrambles sensibilities because the game is addictive. Even brutal body blows can be addictive. Remember, Favre became hooked on painkillers earlier in his career on the way to setting a record for consecutive games played by a quarterback.

So, yes, it's understandable that the physical kept telling Favre to retire but the emotional kept telling him he had to feed the beast.

It's why so many football players have to play until all 32 teams tell them they can't.

mimrem@dailyherald.com