A Fan's Thoughts

Yesterday brought the news that my favorite football team's quarterback, and my favorite NFL Player, Brett Favre, is retiring after 17 seasons in the NFL. His records are longer than my arm to say the least, and no matter the scandal, there's never been any doubts as to his genuine ability to play the game better than almost anyone ever has. He is one of the best quarterbacks ever to play, and even his adversaries admit that. Even people who can't stand the team almost always readily admit that he's a legendary quarterback, even well before his announced retirement yesterday.
Funny enough, he got his first game in the NFL against Mr. Cat's favorite team (and my 2nd fave), the Cincinnati Bengals, when Brett had to replace the starting quarterback and he led the team to a unfathomable come-from-behind victory. His career - and his status as a living legend - started that day. Since his first start, he has never missed a game, starting every one, and at least taking the first snap. There were games he couldn't play much beyond that first snap, but he played every game to the best of his abilities. He played with concussions, broken fingers on his throwing hand, and through personal struggles that most people wouldn't even get out of bed after.
One of his best games ever (even more so than the Super Bowl he led the Packers to win) was a game marred by personal tragedy unlike any other. His father passed the day before the game, and as his father taught him the very game he now breathed and sweated for, it hit doubly close to his heart, and to that of every one of his teammates. There has never been such a show of teamwork in football history, nor of a quarterback who could do no wrong. He threw passes into double and triple coverage, and his receivers came down with the ball every time. Even the broadcasters who spend their lives watching and commenting on games were astounded and amazed by the incredible feats performed by the team and by the quarterback with a broken heart on such short notice. Many expected him to take the first snap (for record's sake) and then walk out, but he kept playing, not to hide the pain, but out of pride and respect for his father, mentor, and coach.
His records will last forever. But even more so, his reputation as being a kind, gentle, but yet strong and unbelievably talented player will only blossom into a bigger and bigger legend as the years go on. He will surely be in the hall of fame the first time he's eligible, and no one will ever question whether he took drugs to get where he got. He was very open early in his career, at the top of his game, that he had gotten hooked on prescription pain killers, and received treatment to break the addiction. But what many fans of the game - and the man - will remember most is the man's ability to triumph through tragedy and conditions most of us wouldn't function well through much less triumph. Whether it be weather that would kill most people (yet he thrived), the loss of his dad, or his wife's struggle with cancer (which I believe she's in remission), he has not only continued to struggle on, he hasn't. He hasn't merely survived despite the tragedy, he has triumphed through tragedy and grown through it.
So what about you? Are there things that have you drudging along? Are you feeling like you're at the end of your rope, with nothing left to live for? I ask of you to remember that someone not too far from you has it much harder than you, no matter how hard you have it. There is nothing that comes our way that we cannot just live through but triumph! Do not give up, do not just collapse into a wallowing pit of misery, as much as it seems impossible to do otherwise. There is always someone who has it worse, and even more importantly, someone near to you that cares about you.