In a span of about 15 seconds, Brett Favre threw a pass, won a football game and spoiled what could have been a perfectly good rant.

After watching the first 60 minutes of the Packers-Broncos game on "Monday Night Football," which for one night seemingly was transformed into "Cops: The Atari Bigby Episode," we were all set to join the small, growing and very vocal chorus of sports fans who have simply had enough of Farvemania.

It wasn't anything that the quarterback did, of course.

Favre just plays football. He plays hard. He plays at a high level. He plays pretty much the same way he has for about 17 (or is it 71?) years.

We don't have any problems with Brett Favre. In fact, if he still indulged in the occasional adult beverage we'd buy him a frosty one to thank him for all the excitement he's brought to a generation of Wisconsin sports fans.

Someday, when the grandkids gather at our knee and ask, "Who was the best / toughest football player you ever saw?" we plan to answer "Brett Favre" without hesitation.

Nope, we don't have any problem with No. 4.

Our problem is with the TV directors, producers and particularly the announcers who insist on gushing over the guy to ridiculous extremes.

Al Michaels does it. Mike Tirico, too. Ron "Jaws" Jaworski dips his toe in that pool on occasion, but Terry Bradshaw does cannonballs. John Madden is so effusive in his Favre-love that former UW-Milwaukee mass communication student Frank Caliendo worked it into a 15-minute comedy routine.

"MNF" analyst Tony Kornheiser, a personal favorite in both the writing and radio disciplines, poured the syrup on so thick last night with his Favre-Michael Jordan-Tiger Woods analogy that we actually thought about turning up the radio broadcast of the game. (With all due respect to Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren, the cable / high-def delay makes such a maneuver impossible these days).

ESPN's pregame voiceover tribute from Deanna Favre to her husband was touching, if a bit saccharine. Deanna said last week that she became very emotional while reading it. It caused Jaws and Tony K. teary. For fans of other teams, particularly the ones in the Great Lakes Region, it caused nausea.

When ESPN replayed the clip leading into the second half, you could almost hear fans from Chicago howling in protest. (It's come to this: we're sympathizing with Bears fans!)

If Favre had announced his retirement after this season, which seems about as likely as DeShawn Wynn winning an Ironman Award, we could understand the adulation saturation.

But, Favre isn't going anywhere.

The way the Packers are playing in the weak National Football Conference, where several teams appear less talented than the guys Favre faces in the Wrangler commercial, the quarterback might stick around until the mandatory retirement age, which we hear is going to increase every year so that Bob Harlan can keep running the show in perpetuity.

By that time, we may have adjusted our Favre-o-meter. We might finally be at peace with the hype and hysteria. We might be able to fathom how three announcers can be so intent on finding out about Brett Favre's emotions on a night a few years ago in Oakland that they lose track of the game on the field. (Props to Deanna for watching the game more closely than the guys getting paid to do so).

One thing we'll never tire of is watching the guy run the offense, particularly on the big stage, where he has consistently produced incredible highs and stupefying lows.

Fess up: At some point between the overtime coin toss and the point where Greg Jennings crossed the end zone, you thought about 4th and 26, didn't you?

We thought about that for a fleeting moment Monday night.

Then, the guy whose arm strength was being questioned in a press conference just last week unleashed a walk-off Howitzer that will make the first 60 seconds of his Hall of Fame induction movie.

At that moment, our frustration over the network's Favre fetish finally dissipated.

We now believe the guy deserves every accolade, stat graphic, montage and super slow-motion extreme closeup that the networks can pump out. Why the Favre flip-flop? We've come to realize that the only way the announcers will stop gushing is when Favre stops playing.

When that day arrives, we're not sure if the games will be worth watching.