John Madden's Grief Has Forced Him Into Retirement

The prospect of moving forward without his favorite man crush was too much for John Madden to contemplate or bear and he decided that a football world without Brett Favre is a world he would rather not be a part of as he announced his retirement today.

Speculation had run rampant this off-season as to which QB would become Madden’s newest fan-boy obsession, but it’s clear that Madden was unable to find anyone to take up the mantle and instead decided to park his bus and live out his life at home with his Favre shrine to keep him company.

There have been other possible heirs-apparent that have entered the league in recent seasons, but no one else has put the twinkle in Madden’s eye like Brett Favre did.

Brady Quinn looked to be an early favorite in the race to become the newest crush in Madden’s arsenal. But despite his looks and charm, having played at Notre Dame, Quinn lacked the rags-to-riches, aw-shucks backstory that Favre had coming out of Southern Miss.

Last year’s rookies Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco carried the out-of-nowhere star aspect, but their instant fame lacked the drama of Favre’s trade to Green Bay.

This year’s crop of rookie quarterbacks includes a possible successor in Georgia’s Matt Stafford. His country background and closet full of Wranglers make him a strong candidate, but Madden is getting on in years and does not have the luxury of waiting to see if Stafford will follow in Favre’s footsteps.