Okay, Trolls:

 

I'm a Brett Favre fan, even when I recognize his bonehead plays, and even as I plead with him from afar to take fewer dumb chances when passing over the middle.

 

Some of the knock on Favre, especially the last few years, has been his interceptions – Colin Cowherd referred to him as an "interception machine." As a Favre fan, I find this irksome.

 

So I am steeling myself for the hoopla when he breaks the record for career INTs (he’s currently at 275, the record is 277).

 

But then I pulled out some Cold, Hard Football Facts, and I am ready to boldly claim that, lo and behold, Favre's INTs are insignificant to his total body of work.

 

I pulled up TD-INT ratios, which are generally recognized as a good thing when up, and a bad thing when down. I also figured that, relative to total passing attempts, fewer INTs as a percentage of passing attempts would also be a good thing. Then I figured that, since Favre's name is tossed around with Elway's and Marino's – his closest contemporaries or "prime of career" greats, I would use their statistics and check all this out.

 

Et voila! (Ed. Note: sorry Ann, but we don’t speak Russian around here.)

 

In alphabetical order:

 

	Att.	TD	INT	TD:INT ratio	TD%	INT%	Comp%
Elway	7,250	300	226	1.32:1	4.138%	3.117%	56.9%
Favre	8,393	422	275	1.53:1	5.028%	3.277%	61.2%
Marino	8,358	420	252	1:66:1	5.025%	3.015%	59.4%

 

Favre’s TD to INT ratio is better than Elway's – and closer to Marino's.

 

Favre has thrown a highest percentage of INTs relative to pass attempts, but the differences between the three are not significant. With 10 fewer INTs over the course of his 17-year career, Favre would have the lowest INT rate of the three legends.

 

Favre also has the highest completion percentage and the highest percentage of TD passes among these three Hall of Famers.

 

So Favre’s INTs are not as significant as they would appear – as a percentage factor in overall performance, its impact is almost negligable.

 

And even with the high number of INTs, Favre's TD-INT ratio is better than Elway's, as is his pass completion percentage. Statistically, the total INTs reflects Favre's longevity and high volume of passes more than it does his recklessness.

 

So the arguments that the INTs are, in a sense, the paler reflection of his great plays has some statistical warrant.

 

Okay!

 

***

By the way, while we're loving Brett Favre, here's a cheesy little dedication to the Green Bay legend, sung to the tune of Toby Keith's "I Love this Bar." Best line: "We like our brats! We like our beer! ... and we love Brett Favre."

 

 

***

The Cold, Hard Football Facts respond:

 

Hey Ann, great stuff. You're right. In the big picture, against two great Hall of Fame performers, Favre hardly looks like an INT machine.

 

The issue has not necessarily been his production throughout his career. It's been the horrible spate of INTs in recent years. From 2004 to 2006, Favre threw a horrendous 64 INTs in 48 games. Clearly, he's righted the ship here in 2007, but that's a pretty bad stretch by any measure and, unfortunately, tends to statistically mask those unmatched years of productivity he had in the mid 1990s.

 

To put those 64 INTs in perspective, Elway threw 52 INTs in his worst three-year stretch, his first three years in the league. Marino threw 61 INTs in his worst three-year stretch, his second through fourth years in the league. He also tossed 118 TDs in those three years, so the INTs were really overshadowed.

 

But, you're right, in the big picture, Favre stacks up as well or as better than any of these guys and certainly doesn't look like an INT machine. And, right now, he leads one of the only undefeated teams in football and just set the all-time TD record.

 

There's nothing to do right now but celebrate the legend.