Move over Bonds, there's a new king
Here comes Favre
Sometime this autumn, a record just as great as the one that the not-so-nice baseball player broke a few of weeks ago will be eclipsed and all of America will happily accept it.
I can say "all" because even I will smile - and it's my all-time favorite player's record that will be broken.
With the recent debate over which record in sports history is the most-prestigious being recently tainted, I submit the new most-prestigious sports record: Touchdown passes.
Why not? Football has taken over baseball as king in America.
Heck, I was watching the Dodgers-Mets game Friday night and one of the commentators said he was in a bar in the Chicago airport last week while the Cubs, who are in the middle of the playoff hunt, were playing the St. Louis Cardinals live on TV. That's a huge rivalry, right? But the bar was showing a replay of an NFL preseason game on the NFL Network. A replay! A patron asked to have the channel turned to the baseball game and everybody in the bar said no, to keep the TV on the football PRESEASON replay!
Whoa.
So now I ask: What's the biggest individual record in football? … Rushing yards? Maybe. Here's a test: Who holds the NFL's single-season rushing record?
… Are you second guessing yourself? (Hint: It was set in 1984 for a team in a city that currently has no NFL team).
The answer isn't on the tip of your tongue because there is a more exciting play in football. It's the pass and, more specifically, the touchdown pass.
Don't believe me?
Well, who holds the NFL's single-season touchdown pass record and how many did he have?
Odds are, you came to the answer pretty quick. Even with history on my side in proving this point, because Peyton Manning set the mark at 49 just three years ago, you could probably name the previous record holder.
That would be Dan Marino during that amazing year of 1984 when he not only broke, but annihilated the previous-best mark by 12 with 48 touchdown passes. His yardage for that season still stands as a record: 5,084.
Speaking of Marino, the man who revolutionized the NFL as the most-prolific passer ever; he is about to be dethroned.
Marino retired with 30 NFL passing records, including career touchdown passes (420) and career passing yards (61,361). But those two marks are about to be broken.
Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre needs just six touchdown passes to eclipse Marino as the TD pass king and 3,861 yards to break Marino's all-time yardage mark. Sure, 3,861 yards is a lot. But Favre passed for 3,885 yards last year and 3,881 yards the year before.
I was at the ripe ol' impressionable age of 9 when Marino broke those single-season records as a second-year player. He was my instant-favorite player. I began trying to throw like him and continued doing so through his 17-year career (which, today, has my throwing shoulder in tattered threads). Not only was he great on the field, but he is an awesome human being - funding the Miami Children's Hospital Dan Marino Center, the Dan Marino Foundation, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, United Way, Touchdown for Tots, etc.
Sure I'll be disappointed when Favre breaks his records. But Favre is a worthy king.
What sets Favre apart has little to do with the record book. It's the way he plays and the way he lives. In a time of athletes making absurd amounts of money, Favre has a blue-collar mentality and heart. He works while he's hurt and he's publicly dealt with his father, father-in-law and brother-in-law all dying early and without warning; his wife's cancer; Hurricane Katrina destroying his family home; and his pain killer addiction.
"To be honest with you, I'm almost scared to say, 'Enough's enough,' or, 'What next?' I'm afraid if I say that, something else is going to happen," Favre said. "It's almost like you're asking for it."
Well, Brett, (I can't believe I'm about to write this) good luck. You deserve it.
-----
Carl Hennell is a sports reporter for the Daily Inter Lake. He can be reached be e-mail at chennell@dailyinterlake.com or by calling 758-4446.