Football Fever: Diagnosis and case number one

I'm sick -- and I'm not just talking about the cold I've had for a week(The one that attacked me in the night with enough ferocity to kill a lesser man and slightly harm Chuck Norris).
I'm talking about Football Fever.
Football Fever is a condition I have suffered from since childhood.
It's main symptom is an uncontrollable desire for any and all information relating to football, and it usually lasts from the time recruiting information starts pouring in in January until toe meets leather sometime in late August or early September.
At the moment I sit here typing this post, there happens to be 16 days, eight hours and 12 minutes until Alabama kicks off its 2009 season against Virginia Tech in the Georgia Dome.
I've got it bad.
I've got such a bad case this year I've started keeping up with the NFL preseason to pass the time until the college season starts, which leads me to my first issue.
Brett is back.
It's gotten so out of hand I'm pretty sure that's all I need to say, but, in case it isn't, I'll explain what I mean.
Brett Favre is one of the greatest quarterbacks ever.
He's tough as nails, and the fact he has started 269 consecutive games proves it.
He is the league's all-time leader in touchdown passes, and he has one Super Bowl victory to his credit.
Favre turns 40 this year, though, and is coming off one of the toughest injuries of his career -- a torn bicep in his throwing arm -- which he had repaired in the off-season.
He also has been known to develop football fever.
Unlike me, Favre can actually do something about it, and he has -- twice.
He played 17 years in the NFL -- 16 for the Green Bay Packers -- before retiring.
Then the fever struck, and, after a tumultuous off season, Favre piloted the New York Jets last year before retiring again.
Then, while helping high school players in his home state of Mississippi, the fever struck once more.
Now Favre is a Viking, and everyone from Chris Carter to Fran Tarkenton has an opinion about it.
I have an opinion, too.
Let the man play, and stop complaining about it.
The only people who have semi-legitimate gripes with Favre wearing purple this season are the two quarterbacks he pushed farther down the depth chart when he stepped on the practice field.
Obviously both Favre and the Vikings feel he can compete, or he wouldn't be there.
Minnesota has a good chance to go far this season.
They have a good defense, a solid offensive line that will keep Favre on his feet for the most part while opening gaping holes for a guy named Adrian Peterson, and we all know what that means.
Favre has the luxury of a good running game to take the pressure off of his arm, and the Vikings have the luxury of a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer under center.
They won with Tavaris Jackson last year, and they'll do it again this year with Favre.
Then we'll see who's complaining.
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