"The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge."
- Montresor in "The Cask of Amontillado"
"Part of me coming back...was sticking it to Ted (Thompson).''
- Brett Favre
Brett Favre, if it's correct that your reported desire to play for the Minnesota Vikings is because of the same motivation that you had last year in playing for the New York Jets, "sticking it to Ted," you have officially joined the dark side.
And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it's the Vikings, in vengeance of the team you gave your mind, heart, body and spirit to for 16 years.
It has to do with your reason why:
• The reason that brought you to the New York Jets in 2008.
• The reason that made Khan seek the death of anyone remotely connected to Captain Kirk in Star Trek II, Mad Max wreak havoc on those who killed his family and best friend, and comes all over the plots of everything from Hamlet to MacBeth to Unforgiven to Kill Bill.
• The reason that causes many of us to inflict unnecessary pain, suffering and hurt in the world when turning the other cheek proves you'd be a better man that he whom you believed has wronged you, Packers general Manager Ted Thompson.
• The reason that gives me pause to believe that your time as a role model - at least when it comes to this particular human character trait - should end until you offer your mea culpas and bury the hatchet instead of inflicting it on Thompson and the Packers.
Revenge.
"Revenge is a dish that is best served cold."
- Ancient proverb
Those words have been uttered time and time again in literature and popular culture.
Literally, Brett, you'd have the chance to prove that phrase right if you join the Minnesota Vikings. Well, maybe not literally, because the Humpty Dump is a dome and it might not be below freezing on November 1st when you'd return to Lambeau Field.
But in doing so, you're choosing to follow the darker aspects of our human nature, the ones that cause us to add to the list of sins that have victimized us and victimize others.
Over the years, Brett, you've had the courage to publicly show us so much of what makes us human:
• Pure, unadulterated child-like joy when you pumped your helmet in the air after the game-winning touchdown pass to beat the Bengals in 1992.
• The scary but very real depths of our ability to let detrimental things and people control us, such as the Vicodin addiction you successfully battled in the 1990's.
• The growth so many of us take from twenty-something adolescent to thirty-something responsible man, as you winged and cried the Packers to victory on game-winning touchdown passes in 1999 while defeating your appetite for alcohol to solidify a wonderful marriage to Deanna.
• The moving, powerful testimony to the love of a father remaining with a son after they pass on, delivered with 399 yards, four touchdowns and millions of tears and prayers among Packers nation in the 2003 Raiders game.
• The answer to the call to loving action you exhibited to your wife when she battled *** cancer in 2004 and to your hometown when was nearly destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Now, you're returning us to see your darker side, the side of human nature that too often shows up in a desire to inflict pain on an offender not to protect, like an animal does when threatened, but to worsen their life to simply make others feel their pain.
Minnesota's own governor calls the vengeful act you're discerning "a wonderful little salt to rub in the eyes of some of our Green Bay Packer friends."
But in truth, would he advocate actions, in general, meant in revenge?
Would he say it's OK to do unto others as they have had done unto you?
The teaching actually is "do unto others as YOU WOULD DO onto unto you."
Otherwise, revenge killings in the streets would be perfectly believed to be OK.
We've all probably done it at some point in our lives: embarrassing an ex-significant other in a public setting after they wronged us, getting our little brother or sister in trouble after they did it to us, etc. etc.
But what does an eye for an eye do?
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
- Mahatma Gandhi
It makes you blind to the example you're giving people, that you should inflict pain upon those who inflict pain upon you.
All because of your anger at the man you want to "stick it to," an anger that has lasted for two years.
It doesn't matter whether it's you're changing colors from green to purple or vice versa.
It's simply the legacy you're leaving in general, not the great quarterback, husband and humanitarian, but the man who teaches that vengeance makes right.
If you turned to your father about this, what would he say? Would he tell you, "son, stick it to the man who butted you out," or would he tell you, "you're a better man than this. Be a better man than the hurt and vengeance you're feeling?"
Brett, you don't need this. Your legacy doesn't need this. The people who are your fans don't need this lesson taught to them.
Be the better man. Just like your old coach, Mike McCarthy, suggested: if you want to play football, play football.
But do it for the right reasons.
• The love of the game that is so immense in you, perhaps more than any other player in NFL history.
• The platform you can set to make a difference and positively impact others with your example, as you have so often done.
End the eye for an eye, Brett Favre, before the eyes of football nation look upon you with scorn instead of love.