It only took Brett Favre three games in purple to pull it all off.
Three games to win over the locker room. Three games to win over Vikings fans. Three games to inspire Adrian Peterson to utter the words, "That's what makes you who you are."
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Peterson's comment couldn't have been more accurate when describing Favre's 32-yard winning touchdown pass, or his quarterback's entire game against the 49ers.
Favre's 24-of-46, 301-yard performance wasn't a surgical masterpiece, a la Drew Brees or Peyton Manning, but Favre isn't a precision player. He is instinctual and spontaneous. He is brave with the ball and his body. He pours his soul into every game.
Favre displayed all of those qualities last Sunday and packaged them all into the final play.
The Vikings faced a third-and-3 from the 32-yard line, with 12 seconds left. They had enough time to complete a 20-yard pass toward the sideline, if the receiver got out of bounds. That would have made the final play more manageable.
Favre had that very option. Down the field 17 yards to his right, a receiver was wide open near the sideline. That's where Brees or Manning would have gone with the ball ... and that's what makes them who they are. It was the smart play.
To put it nicely, Favre doesn't always make the smart play. He makes the instinctual, spontaneous, brave and soulful plays. He makes the plays that are etched in your memory forever because they are unique, outside-the-box, and undeniably NOT SMART.
We love it when someone does something crazy on the football field. Favre delivered crazy on Sunday, as he has almost every week for the last 19 years. He chose the guy streaking along the back of the end zone, 50 yards away, over the stationary target, standing wide open, 20 yards away.
It required a pump to the left, a half-roll to the right, an agile side-step of a stunting defensive tackle, a once-in-a-lifetime heave and an absolutely ridiculous catch.
The play was amazing. The play was crazy. The play never would have been made by Brees or Manning, or anyone else for that matter. A.P. said it best -- a play like that is what makes Favre who he is.
