Polls Don’t Lie: Fans Favor Favre » Brats & Beer

June 12, 2006
posted under: Brett Favre

And the survey says, Brett Favre is still one of the most popular athletes in America. The Harris Poll released their survey of the top sports stars last week, and No. 4 came in third behind Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. I came across this item while reading Deadspin over the weekend, but they seem rather dubious of the results of this poll in part because Favre was ranked so high. I’m not sure why it should be surprising, though, given that he’s been the third or fourth most popular sports figure for nearly a decade now. Sure, he had a bad season last year, and to be sure we all take issue with the amount of press coverage devoted to every sneeze and non sequitur, but as for the man what is there to not make him popular among the general public? He’s practically the face of the NFL these days, the last of an old guard still battling despite the odds.

Not that this poll doesn’t reveal some oddities of American society. Kobe Bryant is back in the top 10 after being left out last year. I guess you get a one-year suspension in popularity for (alleged) rape. Meanwhile, Barry Bonds cracks into the top 10 for the first time, which does make you wonder if this poll is measuring the famous or the infamous. And the poll does offer hard evidence, as if we needed hard evidence, of just how fickle fame can be: Falling out of the top 10 this year were Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Donovan McNabb, and Ben Rothlisberger.