Minneapolis, Minnesota – Brett Favre, the 40-year-old, strangely-last-named quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings, was elated when he completed four touchdown passes to lead his team to a 34-3 trouncing of the Dallas Cowboys. He certainly had every reason to celebrate. He’s 40. He officially retired in March 2008, only to come back a la Michael Jordan. He’s only given a wedding ring to one woman, and she’s stuck by him, even when he got to pretend-date Cameron Diaz in There’s Something About Mary. And now he’s going to play in the NFC Championship against the New Orleans Saints next Sunday.
"40-year-old dude did WHAT?"
Of course, everyone will still root against him because it is politically correct to support the New Orleans Saints—not only because Brad Pitt brings cute little munchkin Maddox with him to games, but because the city is still struggling after Hurricane Katrina.
Nonetheless, Favre (inexplicably pronounced “fahrv”, for those of you who aren’t football fans) was celebrating like a, well, moron after the game. Footage of the post-game clubhouse scene shows Favre singing the American Idol/YouTube sensation “Pants on the Ground”, an original song written by 62-year-old General Larry Platt. Platt first brought the stinging social commentary to our attention when he performed it for the judges of American Idol in hopes of getting a spot on the show. Simon Cowell informed him that he was slightly over the age limit of 28, but the General was not upset. And since then, his song has become a sensation—from comedian Jimmy Fallon performing it as Neil Young, to an NFL quarterback leading his team in chanting it for some reason.
Dude is 40. He should neither be watching American Idol nor singing anything called “Pants on the Ground”. Yes, he’s still playing professional football, and he’s even made it to the NFC Championship. But he’s still 40. And Southern. It was embarrassing.
Did the young and devastatingly-handsome Jets’ quarterback Mark Sanchez sing “Pants on the Ground”? No, and he could have gotten away with it. He’s 23. And a rookie. In a stunning upset over the San Diego Chargers yesterday, it was, once again, all about the rookies. Sanchez and Shonn Greene were the pivotal players that led the team for the third week in a row. Coach Rex Ryan, who apparently knows nothing about motivating his team, said: “I will say that I’d like to see Peyton Manning not play this week”. Way to stand behind your boys, Rex. Sending out a wish to the cosmos that the Colts’ QB befall some hideous accident between now and next week does not exactly instill confidence in your young team.
On a side note, in the fourth quarter, Sanchez indicated that Thomas Jones go for the first down by using the accepted signal: a fist pump and then pointing his hand forward.
Seems our young QB watches Jersey Shore. Could the fist-pump be coincidence? I’d like to think not.
On another aside, it should be noted that the author, while raised in the northeast, is a Jets fan because her Dad is. For the same reason, she takes great pleasure in mispronounced the name “Favre”.