Favre: Still relevant after all these years

Rick Foy, Director of Strategic Communications

Unless you were camping somewhere deep in wilderness over the past week, with no access to a radio, TV, newspaper, cell phone, the Internet, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or YouTube, you probably know Brett Favre made a triumphant return to the Minnesota Vikings. It took a little convincing from three of his favorite teammates, but the soon-to-be-41-year-old is back for his 20^th season. And why not? Last year he put up some of the best numbers of his record-breaking career and led the Vikings to the NFC championship game, a disappointing loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Saints.

Before you stop reading, let me tell you this isn’t going to be one of those rants about Favre being a prima donna, a diva or a drama queen who expects special treatment because he’s…well…Brett Favre. You’ve heard it all by now, anyway. Many believe Favre orchestrates media attention this time of year, every year, personally promoting the “will he or won’t he” recurring soap opera. Then, there are the Favre backers who say early or late, who cares? Just so long as old #4 is behind center on Thursday, Sept. 9, when Favre and the Vikings try to exact revenge on the Saints – the same Saints that picked off a Favre pass in the closing moments of the NFC title matchup, and whose hits on Favre prompted him to consider retirement – again. Anyway, I’m not going down that path.

Instead, I’m taking a step back to consider Brett Favre as not just a future Hall of Fame quarterback who may or may not be able to replicate last year’s performance in this, his 20^th and “final season” (haven’t we heard that before?). Instead, let’s consider Brett Favre as a brand; a brand that’s been persistently relevant for 20 seasons.

Love him or hate him, you have to admit the Brett Favre brand is resilient. There are plenty of organizations that would love to have the name/brand recognition that Favre enjoys (even though his aw-shucks demeanor belies his embracing the attention). How happy do you think Sears is right now? It was Favre at his indecisive best choosing between two, large-screen TVs in last year’s Sears commercial. Get ready for round two. What about Wrangler? Favre has served as the jean manufacturer’s spokesman for several years – and the campaign is still going strong, thanks to Favre’s longevity – and ongoing relevance. Of course, the most obvious benefactors are the Vikings and the NFL. Not only does Favre still give Minnesota its best shot at winning, but upon Favre’s private jet touching down at Flying Cloud airport, the franchise sold 800 additional season tickets. The NFL? The league’s marketing department has to be smiling. Year after year after year, whether in Packers’ green-and-gold, Jets’ green-and-white or Vikings’ purple-and-gold, Favre merchandise always ranks near the top in sales.

At a time when most of his peers are long-since retired, Favre’s relevance continues, matching his remarkable durability (a record 285 consecutive starts). In a young man’s business, a 40-year-old, grey-haired grandfather continues to be the talk of the town, coast-to-coast. Oh, wait. Favre’s a grandfather? Cue the Toys ‘R Us commercial.