by Thom Amundsen

Created on: August 23, 2009   Last Updated: August 28, 2009

Dear Brett,

OK, so how the heck are ya man? I mean, you're a regular guy, so I can speak to you like a friend right? Man to man right? Share a beer, watch a game, throw back some peanuts, maybe go hunting in the winter-time, somewhere around northern Wisconsin, maybe Minnesota, or ah, New Jersey, I know there's a lot of woodlands there too.

Speaking of being in the woods, what the hell are you doing to me man? I mean, I am a Packer fan, and everyone around me thinks that of me, so how in the world do you expect me to react to your pulling on a purple jersey and playing for the team I have publicly 'hated' since my childhood. Of course, hate is an awfully powerful and misused word. Years of therapy have helped me understand that, but I'm getting away from the issue at hand. Oh, how's your therapist these days? Man, I gotta tell you, my vision of you and your therapist is like a session of "Monk" on the USA channel. You owe that person a lifetime of gratitude for all the twists and turns you bring to his office on an annual basis. Of course, that is what they get the big bucks for right Brett. I hear ya laughing, yeah, I know that money thing, another issue we need to talk about.

Damn, Brett, can you understand my confusion? There are so many agendas, paths, avenues you have opened with this decision of yours. And all of them lining up right here tonight in the Teflon dome (that's a name my brother gave the metrodome when the Twins schooled the Braves in the World Series a few years ago)when you stroll out in a purple number four.

A purple number four. That phrase is a little difficult to comprehend. I mean, after seventeen years on the other side of the St. Croix? You have to appreciate the frustration, the disheartening taste that remains in the mouths of those truly 'loyal' fans in Wisconsin. They're hurt Brett - plain and simple hurt. At least its more defined for them. But back to me now, because after all, it is all about me. Wait, that applies to ... ah, damn.

Brett, secretly I have always been a Viking fan of sorts. There, its out of the bag with a disclaimer. See, when I was a kid, I had relatives in Minneapolis, and they were huge Viking fans - y'know in the days of Page, Marshall, Cox, Brown, Eller, even Tarkenton, hah, there's another turncoat, eh? Anyway, when the Packers went into the tank a few games into the season, I was rooting for the Vikings, even when Jan Steneruud hopped across the river. Truth be told though, I've never accepted the Darren Sharper or Ryan Longwell era, their careers were well in the bag when they left Lambeau.

So how are you different? I guess it is passion Brett. I'm not a media guy, so I'm not party to the interviews, the press releases, the constant barrage of questions that your 'fortress' took during your ten or eleven retirement periods, but I do know this Brett, you love to play football. So when all the glitz is completed, when the bytes of analysis are filed, and the gun goes off, I'll watch you stroll onto the field and play the game I've loved all my life, the game I've watched you play for nearly a third of my life, and as always, I will watch you play with admiration and zeal. You are the game of football Brett, and I appreciate and admire you for that.

So there it is then Brett, I still haven't figured it out, but I am going to watch you play the game, and I'm going to enjoy your prowess on the field, once again. I do hope for two things. I do hope you have a successful year. And I do hope the Packers kick your ass. Twice.

Oh, gotta go, game time. Give my love to the family,

T

P.S. I still do and always will bleed green and gold come labor day weekend through the new year

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