By Stephen Cooney

The legend of Brett Favre was pronounced dead at the tender age of 17 on August 7, 2008. Like many legends before and so many more that will come after, the facts and truth of his death are still unclear and no one has yet to determine the cause.

Some have blamed the forward-looking staff of the Green Bay Packers, while others have come to find blame in the legend’s ego, pointing to his desire to continue and also perhaps delusions of grandeur and invincibility.

On March 4, 2008, Teary eyed and heartbroken, the legend announced his departure from the game, disappearing into the sunset never to be seen again.

An outlaw arose from Mississippi carrying the name of the legend on July 14, 2008. Grey stubble covering his face and silver hair poking out of his white baseball cap, the man was given the key to New York City.

Like so many other gunslingers that have gone before, the old outlaw has chosen to slink to a new town and go out with his guns blazing instead of living his life in peace.

Favre the man claims to be “guilty of retiring early,” but it appears more likely that he is guilty of killing a legend.

The man has placed blame and pointed the finger at the organization that built a legend out of the fiery competitor and has carried his name into the lore of football.

Many men have rallied behind the force of the outlaw especially those in his new city who see hope in his rusted gun and in the legacy that he claims to carry.

On Sunday his rusted gun fired off 22 rounds. Fifteen of them were on target, and two of them hit their mark for kills against the over-matched rival. Those who have boarded his train are pointing to these actions as a strong point of the return of the legend.

The outlaw has all ready proven himself not to be the legend. The lost legend that everyone is looking for was a forthright, honest and tough competitor. He was a man of his word and true to those that supported him.

The outlaw, however, has forgotten his roots and strayed away from everything the legend built as a powerful force that lead a franchise to great success and a man to be viewed as the pinnacle of a competitor and the outline of an honest man.

Still the tragic loss of an icon is troubling and many football fans are still looking for ways to view the ever-evaporating legacy.

Some have chosen to look to the outlaw Brett Favre covered in a Gang Green jersey with a ghostly white ‘4’ haunting his chest.