After a tough loss, especially when you are 1-3, its tough to think about anything other than preparing for the next week. When that next game is a make it or break it game against the similarly 1-3 Cowboys, things start to get a little desperate. However, something happened last night that has never happened before, something that if the game were baseball, the world would have stopped. Last night, after a bomb to Randy Moss put the first Vikings points on the board, Brett Favre became the first QB in history to throw for 500 TD passes.

Im not sure if you realize how ridiculous of a number that 500 really is. Dan Marino, the previous record holder only managed 420 Touchdowns during his long career, and Brett has beaten him by AT LEAST 80 more. When you consider that the season is only 16 games long, that is like an extra 2-3 hundred home runs in baseball. Although football is less about stats and more about wins, all that ESPN did was put a little graphic on the screen below the action. Personally, I cant even believe he was able to do it, having watched him run and gun for the better part of my life. The guy can just play, and that’s about it.

You wonder why a guy like Favre plays week in and week out, despite having more health issues than my dead grandfather? Its because it all he knows. Remember Brooks from the Shawshank Redemption? Same situation. For Brett Favre, football is everything, and without playing every week, he would end up crazier than he already is. Now that he has managed his 500th TD pass, its tough to argue that he is in fact the greatest quarterback ever to play the game. In football, longevity is often the reason why stats arent as important, mainly because so many players don’t play long enough to even contend. For every guy like Brett Favre, who’s consecutive start streak is even more impressive than Ripken’s in my opinion, there are fifty that have to retire early due to injury. For those of you who are screaming at your computers right now because of what I just said, think about it this way. Brett Favre has played every game for the last 18 seasons, plus the playoffs. With guys like Dwight Freeney, Ray Lewis, and company throwing themselves full speed at him each and every week, that is ridiculously impressive that he hasn’t missed some start along the way. Ripken may have played longer seasons, but he never had to deal with the kind of punishment that Favre has.

In fact, even though he is one of the most hated people in the game, his cards consistently sell for astronomical prices. Because his bust for the hall of fame has already been cast, and is waiting for his eventual retirement, collectors know that his cards are never a bad thing to have. I remember what I had to go through just to get my hands on a Vikings autograph of his, and I can only imagine what Packer fans have dealt with over the last 15 years. Yet, because football cards function completely independent of any statistical dominence, Favre’s cards still fall behind many of the league’s young stars, including some that have yet to make an impact. If he did, in fact, dominate baseball in the way he has dominated football, his cards would be worth so much that even Mickey Mantle would have to shake his hand. Lets face it, records and statistics are that much more imporant in Baseball. The problem with his status in football is that despite his decades of dominence, he only has 1 ring to show for it. If he had five, we may be having a different conversation here.

Yeah, recently we have found out that Favre is a huge douche off the field. Most of us knew that before the texting stuff came out. The problem is, he has done so much during his long career that even a terrible season, a scandal, and most likely a suspension, wont have much effect on his tremendous legacy. Hate him all you want, the guy is NFL royalty for the rest of his life. He has done things that will NEVER happen again, and that is exactly why its weird that there isnt more focus on his recent crazy accomplishment. Just like there will most likely never be another 300 game winner because of the way rotations happen now, Brett Favre’s records will most likely never fall for similar reasons. Savor the moment of watching history, because unless Peyton Manning has a few more seasons like he did a few years ago, he wont even come close to what Favre has done.