Writing that Green Bay’s venerable QB “has become an embarrassment both to himself and to his team, which, because of his stubbornness and selfishness,” The New York Sun’s Allen Barra declares Brett Farve to be “the most washed-up quarterback in the NFL.”

Why, exactly, is Brett Favre, at age 37, still in the National Football League? Certainly not because there’s any money in it for his team, as the Packers sell out all their home games anyway. Given Favre’s paychecks this year will cost the Packers more than $10 million against the salary cap, it’s arguable that he is the biggest financial handicap in the league. It certainly isn’t because the Packers think there’s a chance they can win with Favre. The only reason that he appears to still be in uniform is because Green Bay’s fan base, spurred on by much of the sports world, wants to keep Favre around for what seem to be purely sentimental reasons. Here’s a sample from SI.com’s Bill Syken on April 6:

“No one should be pushing Favre out the door. The reasons are:

1. He only lives once.

2. If he feels like playing and he’s able to do it, he should do it. “

Note that neither one of Syken’s reasons have anything to do with winning of football games. “He has the same right,” Syken writes further,”as Sean Landeta and Julio Franco and other less celebrated athletes to play for as long as he wants, as long as someone will let him.” That, of course, is no right at all ” the right is all on the side of the team, and the team’s decision should be based on the best interests of the team.