Sources today have reported that Brett Favre is on his way to Minnesota to join the Vikings for the 2009 season. The saga of will-he-or-won't-he has played out for months, with Favre announcing three weeks ago that he would not return to football. Many fans believe that Favre has tarnished his legacy as a sure Hall of Famer because of his inability to let go of the game. I think Favre's behavior is a great example of how addictions aren't just to substances like alcohol and drugs.
Every pleasurable feeling we experience is really just a chemical reaction in our brains. Imagine what it must be like to experience the stimulation that an NFL quarterback feels when he walk onto a field in front of 50,000 people. Now imagine what it's like to be one of the most popular and successful quarterbacks in NFL history. If you're Brett Favre, you've been getting that rush for 253 consecutive regular season games, more than any quarterback in NFL history. 275 games if you count the playoffs he's been in. How do you walk away from that?
And it's not just the roar of the crowd that can be addictive. The adrenaline of being in the moment of play must be a powerful stimulant, as well. When your whole life has been largely centered in competition, that rush of being in the moment of play must be incredibly hard to be without. Few of us understand what it's like to be in that kind of situation on that kind of scale.
I don't like the way that Favre has handled his retirement situation, but I can try to empathize with him. He really faces a kind of addiction, one that must be incredibly difficult to break free from for athletes like him. If you need a little hypnosis, Brett, my door is always open.
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