Brett Favre's milestone birthdays occupy a strange place in my mind. The former Vikings and Packers great was, of course, here during his first season when he turned 40 on Oct. 10, 2009.
The Vikings went 12-4, and Favre had the best statistical season of his career by many measures. It seemed at the time like Favre could play forever, and based on how many times he had flirted with retirement or actually retired, only to come back, I became convinced of a strange thing: I would not believe Favre was done playing until he turned 50.
But Thursday was Favre's 50th birthday.
As of now, I will no longer believe that a playoff contender that is dealt a devastating injury to its quarterback midyear will be reaching out to Favre.
My instincts will no longer be to double-check Favre's Wikipedia page to see just how old he is.
Happy birthday, Brett. You can finally enjoy retirement.
MICHAEL RAND
