Our weekly Q&A with tight end Joey Haynos was short lived. If you haven't heard, Haynos quit his practice squad job with the Green Bay Packers in order to live out his dream of playing professionally on the 53 man roster of the Miami Dolphins. Congrats, Joey and best of luck (except when you play the Packers).
This week we got author of Brett Favre: A Packer Fan's Tribute, Tom Kertscher, to do a little Q&A with us.
RC: If you had to pick one favorite Brett Favre memory, what would it be?
TK: The Monday night game in Oakland the day after his father died. He decided to play after figuring Irv would have told him something like, "Boy, don't worry about me, I'm fine." And then had one of his best-ever performances. Granted, the Packers were playing the lowly Raiders, but some of those pass completions were miraculous. And as proud as you could see Brett was about his performance, the pain in his face was clear. It was his most poignant moment as a Packer.
RC: Has there been a time when you've gotten to sit down and talk with Favre in a one-on-one interview? If so, what was it like?
TK: I didn't get that chance, which makes me like most fans. I was disappointed, of course, figuring I could get at least 15 minutes with him sometime, given that my book is a tribute to him. But the Packers said he doesn't give those kind of interviews unless he essentially co-authors a book. As a fan, I thought some arrangement should have been made. But that's easy for me to say: I don't know what it's like being Brett Favre and how many people are asking him for things.
RC: What will Brett Favre's legacy be? Will it be a positive one remembered for all the games he won with the Packers? Or will it be a
negative one associated with the way he left the Packers?
TK: The memories about his messy departure will fade. The lasting memories will be of the countless times he gave us great joy and excitement. We were so fortunate as fans to have the same starting quarterback for 16 seasons and one who played the game like we like to think we would, going all out on every play, never giving up in a game and having as much fun out there as any kid would.
RC: Will Ted Thompson be remembered as the guy who traded Brett Favre in the same way as the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth?
TK: No, that was quite a bit different. Babe had many years to go when he was traded.
RC: Where does Favre rank in the list of all-time NFL quarterbacks? Who, if anyone, is better?
TK: I can't rank him best, with only one Super Bowl win. But his starting-games streak and all the career records he holds certainly puts him in the class of the greatest QBs of all time.
RC: From all your years of watching Brett Favre, at what did you think, "This guy's good"?
TK: This was more of a team thing, I guess. But when he led the Packers to the playoff victory in San Francisco the season before the Super Bowl win, I knew the team had turned a corner and the Super Bowl truly was within reach. And at that point, of course, Favre was playing some of the best ball of his career.
RC: Favre is the NFL's all-time record holder in interceptions. Does that detract from what he's accomplished in the NFL?
TK: No, that's really just a footnote and a function of how long he played and how many passes he threw. I guess Packer fans will always remember him to somem degree for interceptions, because he had that tendency to throw high-risk passes. But many of those passes were winners, too, and they made him all the more fun to watch.
Brett Favre: A Packer Fan's Tribute is available in bookstores and online at sites such as Amazon. Copies can also be purchased from the author, Tom Kertscher, by e-mailing him at tkerch@yahoo.com. Tom can sign each book and add a personalized message that you request.
For more on the book, see http://www.cumberlandhouse.com/books/Brett-Favre-A-Packer-Fan-s-Tribute-Third-Edition-The-Final-Season.html