COLUMN: Even Now, Favre Plays Like a Kid

The old man kept going down.

He’d get hit. Fall. Then lay on his back, crumpled up on the bright-green grass, as the sun beamed down uselessly on a cold Sunday afternoon.

But it was early in the game. He’d been through this act before. And the old man had no plan to stay down.

So Brett Favre kept getting back up.

The New York Jets’ 39-year-old quarterback had work to do.

Favre withstood early, hard hits. He hobbled up the field as New York marched. And soon, Favre began to thread, carve and rip through the Tennessee Titans’ high-profile, much-discussed defense as only Favre can.

Favre was a perfect 6 for 6 with 72 passing yards and a touchdown on the Jets’ first drive against the Titans on Sunday.

His short, timing-based throws – slant routes, crossing patterns, outs, screens and more – zipped and hopped through the air.

Soon, the Titans’ hits began to fade.

Soon, Favre was rolling.

By the end of the drive, Favre once again looked untouchable and brand new.

By the end of the game, Favre was 25 of 32 for 224 yards and two touchdowns, and New York had knocked off Tennessee 34-13 in Nashville at LP Field before a crowd of 69,143.

Favre and the Jets had defeated the undefeated.

And the old man – graying beard; part-legend, part-icon; history-filled – looked ageless.

What is left to say about Brett Favre?

Everything.

Somehow, Favre is still doing it.

Somehow, Favre is still making magic.

His tight spirals burned.

And when they burned the brightest, Favre leapt and jumped and skipped like a kid, lifting his arms high and pointing toward a clear, blue sky while smiling wide.

For Favre, age didn’t matter. Big-city expectations didn’t matter. Talk and criticism were meaningless.

Favre had a game to play.

He had work to do.

Work he loves to do.

Work he’d believed in enough to return to the game after another drama-filled offseason loaded with insults, accusations and turmoil.

Work he found enough meaning in to leave behind 16 years’ worth of green-and-yellow wrapped memories, records and Super Bowls while playing QB for the Green Bay Packers.

Now, Favre has a new home.

Same work. Same job. New team.

Now, New York – a four-win squad last season – has knocked off the New England Patriots and the previously undefeated Titans in consecutive weeks during a 10-day period.

Now, Favre and the Jets (8-3) are staring clear-eyed at the NFL playoffs, while rolling off five straight wins in the process.

Favre’s eyes gleamed during the post-game press conference.

He toyed with reporters, teased friends and tossed out jokes when the questions became too serious.

But Favre also got serious.

He knows his new job won’t last forever. And he knows what it means when the game and the roar and the magic feel like they’re going away.

“It feels great. It feels as good, if not better. And I hope my enthusiasm out there showed it – it wasn’t fake,” said Favre, when asked by a reporter to compare winning with the Packers with winning with the Jets.

“My career in Green Bay was awesome. It was better than awesome. Will I have a 16 year-career in New York? I doubt it. But I’m going to try to lump 16 [years] into 1 [year] and see what happens.”

If Favre only has one year left, his move to New York has already been worth it.

The change was worth the journey.

Favre knows he’s got one of the best jobs in the world.

And on Sunday, as Favre shot holes in the Titans’ defense while his new team handed Tennessee its first loss of the 2008 season, the old man still looked like a kid.

btsmith@bristolnews.com|(276) 645-2569