@Randem

After 17 amazing years, nine Pro Bowl appearances, two Super Bowls, and rewriting every meaningful record in the book, Brett Favre is hanging up his helmet.

There have been other great quarterbacks and there will be more. There have been amazingly accurate, high-percentage passers, and plenty of guys with more than one ring. But none of them was ever as much fun to root for as Brett Favre.

His absence will be felt on Sundays for a long time. (And what will John Madden talk about now? Just food, I guess.)

After 1,865 kickoffs in their 31 years as a franchise, the Buccaneers finally returned one for a touchdown on the same day that they clinched first place in the NFC South, beating the Atlanta Falcons 37-3.

I wish I could’ve seen it, but at least I got to see Brett Favre set a new all-time passing record, eclipsing Dan Marino. Favre’s name is now attached to every meaningful QB record in the NFL. Way to go, Brett.

No quarterback in NFL history has beaten 31 other teams. Granted that stat is only noteworthy as of the moment that there were 31 teams to beat, which would 1999, when the new Browns took the field.

Nevertheless, the bizarre part is that Brett Favre, Payton Manning, and Tom Brady have all beaten 30… and all three of them are playing their unbeaten opponent this week.

Will the three best quarterbacks in the game today all go into the history books for the same event on the same day?