Jared Allen gave Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre some solid advice to enjoy his life and retire prior to his final season in 2010. Obviously, Favre didn’t listen, as he returned for one final hurrah with the Minnesota Vikings.
Allen joined A.J. Hawk on his podcast, and explained how it all went down:
“I was the one guy who told him, ‘Stay retired.’ Hutch and Longwell put the pressure on him. I was like, ‘Listen, dude. It looks like you got it pretty good down here.’ His place is amazing. I’m like, ‘I’m going to be real honest with ya. If I’m you, I stay retired.’ But I’m like, ‘Don’t come back thinking you gotta prove something. If you want to come back and have fun with us and try to win some football games, do it. If not, I might retire and move down here.'”
After looking at the results of the 2010 season when Favre had the worst season of his career outside of his rookie year, it’s tough to disagree with the advice that Allen gave him. Add in that Favre was 40 years old at the time, it really makes zero sense as to why Favre would have wanted to come back outside of potentially winning another Super bowl.
Given how flawed that 2010 Vikings roster was, it’s not suprising they only earned a record of 6-10. They had holes all over the offense, with old, over-the-hill offensive linemen, receivers best geared towards the slot and a defense that was solid, but unspectacular.
The 2010 Vikings had potential after going to the NFC title game the previous season, but they never lived up to it.
By the time December rolled around, it was clear Favre was more than willing to retire due to the awful showing the Vikings had put on for the first three months of the season.
He would have been better off listening to his good buddy Allen. He could have been sitting on the docks in Mississippi, fishing with his time rather than putting his body through a 20th season of abuse.