Small business stuff doesn't mean too much today. Brett Favre has retired.

I can't even write those words and believe it. You see, I am a lifelong Packers' fan. A born and bred Cheesehead. A Bear hating, Green & Gold wearing, Lombardi-loving Packer Backer. My memories of the Packers span from the Phil Bengston (no, you shouldn't remember him) post-Lombardi, post-dominant team of the late 60's and early 70's through the Bart Starr coached teams (how can such a great player be such a poor coach?), the Forrest Gregg teams (OK, quit hiring former Packers already!). I was a Packer fan in the 80's when we got the snot beat out of us by the Bears routinely (I see Ditka and my blood pressure still goes up).

Then we traded for #4. It brought nearly 2 decades of fun, pleasure, success and joy to a nation of Packer fans that had suffered for a long time. A Super Bowl win and another visit, countless great games in the Dome in Minnesota, Soldier's Field and every other venue in the NFL. Favre has become an icon in the very best sort of way in Wisconsin. We love him, no matter what. No matter the silly interceptions ("That's just Brett being Brett - you can't make him stop doing that or you'll kill him"), the partying in his younger days ("Guess who I saw downtown last night?!"), the drug issues - it just doesn't matter. Like any other son/brother/cousin who you love, Wisconsinites embrace Bret and his family. He became Brett from Green Bay, not a superstar professional athlete who was unapproachable. His wife and her struggle with breast cancer and his standing by her made Brett and his family even more human. All the Wisconsin moms wanted to give both of them a hug and tell them it was going to be alright and all the men actually thought about how breast cancer might affect their own lives.

But the night that still brings a catch to my throat is that Monday night game the day after his father died. You see, we all knew how close Brett and his father were. And old Irvin could have come straight out of the dairy farms of Wisconsin, not backwoods Mississsippi, so he was loved as well. I think the fear that Brett would flop on national TV due to his grief was in the back of everyone's mind and we were almost afraid to watch. But he didn't. Boy, he didn't. It was the single most impressive statistical game of his career but an amazing 3 hours for all his fans, and anyone else who was watching. It was tremendous, inspiring, sad and joyous, all in differing measures. It was Brett.

But here's how I want to remember #4's career. This video says more about why Wisconsin loves him than anything.