How Do You Pronounce "Favre"?

Brett Favre's retirement in March earned him the Madden cover spot. Should his unretirement earn him a kick in the pants?

Hold the phones!  Stop the presses! Apparently Brett Favre has not retired! But wait a second. He said he was retiring in March.

According to Favre, he was "forced" into retiring by Packers management. He still has the desire to play, even though he was crying and saying he had given the Packers everything he had in his retirement announcement.

Unfortunately, the biggest dilemma isn't who is right and wrong in the Brett Favre versus Packers organization conflict, but what do we do with the Madden '09 cover. The team at EA Sports' Madden NFL division named Brett Favre the cover-boy after his spring retirement news.  This decision was made to honor Favre as a legend in professional football, and because the Madden series is in its 20th year. Brett Favre had a good season in 2008-09; one of the best he's had in a while. But he was far from the best player of the year. That honor could have gone to any of the perennial pro-bowlers who have not yet graced the cover of the Madden video game.

But now that Favre says he wants to play again, he shouldn't still deserve the cover.  That was an honor EA wanted to bestow upon someone who they viewed as a legend in his exit from the game.  If Favre returns to football he mocks EA Sports for choosing him as cover-boy; he disgraces the NFL and other players who are far more deserving of that title; and he insults the fans who thought he was leaving as a talented, legendary man of his word.