What To Do With A Locker » Brats & Beer

Rookie camp opened in Green Bay today, our first chance to see what Ted Thompson netted in the NFL Draft and from the pool of rookie free agents. So what did we learn? Not a whole lot, except that Mike McCarthy is a happy guy: He’s “happy with our draft picks,” “happy with everyone,” and “very happy with the group we have.”

But with new players showing up for the first time in the locker room, there’s also the question of what to do with Brett Favre’s locker. It’s just as No. 4 left it at the end of last season and everyone wants to know what will the Packers do with it. Where else was a quarterback so important to a team, and the team so important to a community, that this would even be a question on anyone’s mind?

Some have suggested that the Packers should seal the locker in a glass case and leave it unoccupied for all time. Obviously no would feel worthy of taking over that piece of real estate, so they should just make it a tribute, a shrine, to the legend that is Favre. But rather than a museum piece, I think they should make it a living tribute to the man’s legacy.

To me, the greatness of Favre isn’t the records, isn’t the three league MVP awards, isn’t the Super Bowl ring and the NFC Championships. To me Favre’s greatness stems from the fact that he achieved all that as such an unheralded player coming into the league. Unlike Peyton Manning, Marino, or Elway, Favre was largely overlooked in the NFL Draft, barley made third string on the Falcons, and his trade to the Packers raised eyebrows because Ron Wolf gave up so much to get a player no one thought would succeed in the NFL.

So to pay perfect tribute to a living legend, why not assign his locker to the low man on the totem pole? It would certainly be a huge honor and an incredible source of motivation for that player to give it their all while inhabiting that space in that locker room. Then if it works out that he makes an impact and comes back the next year, the locker would pass to the next guy to get that last spot on the squad.

No one in Green & Gold will ever wear #4 again, and no one will ever fill those shoes, but a tradition like this would keep Favre’s spirit alive in that locker room, inspiring players for years to come.

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