Coverboy

Does any media on the planet do a better job covering old news than Sports Illustrated? Having just finished reading the cover story on the latest issue, I think not.

Making his third cover since December (!!!), Brett Favre's retirement received the kind of coverage I've come to expect from SI -- emotional, passionate, generous, raw, real. In my lifetime, Favre's retirement press conference only compares with Magic Johnson's, only this time I cried. I'm not ashamed to admit it.

SI: Favre's farewell was the last in a long series of memorable performances. Emotional, passionate, generous, raw, real -- Favre said goodbye the same way he played the game.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Better than anyone, Alan Shipnuck summarized the self-fulfilling prophecy that led to the exit of the longtime face of the Green Bay Packers, if not the NFL.

SI: There is plenty left in Favre's rocket right arm, but the expectations of the sport's most passionate fan base exhausted him, and he was weary of the preparation required to summon his best.

A masseuse table in the basement of the Favre home was evidence of his burden. There, Deanna regularly tried to rub away her husband's stress.

SI: Why not hire a pro? "Brett is a little weird about strangers touching his body," Deanna said with a laugh.

He wouldn't cut it as a politician, not that it would ever be a consideration.

SI: While the Mississippi twang and aw-shucks charm conjured comparisons to Huck Finn, last week Favre felt more like Tom Sawyer attending his own funeral.

And: Favre's detachment from his own celebrity has always been his most winning trait.

Shipnuck's concluding paragraph summed it up perfectly while helping this Packer fan come to grips with it all.

SI: In fact, Favre has always had an unerring sense of timing. So many athletes stick around too long, displaying diminished skills and a depressing mortality, but he is leaving at exactly the right moment. How can we be sure? Because it hurts to say goodbye.