For a few seconds on Sunday night, it looked like Brett Favre put all his struggles behind him and started to resemble the quarterback he was a short year ago. With 48 seconds left, Favre, the Minnesota Vikings quarterback playing for the third time against his former team, the Green Bay Packers, heaved up a desperation throw to wide receiver Percy Harvin in the back of the end zone. Harvin caught it for a touchdown. For a fleeting moment, it looked like that old Favre magic was back and the quarterback, who we later found out was playing with two fractures in his left ankle, was jumping around like an oversized kid— the same oversized kid football fans have seen celebrate like this many times before.

It wasn’t meant to be.

Replays showed that Harvin failed to get the required two feet in bounds for the play to count as a catch. Three incomplete passes later the Packers got to bask in the glory of their victory, their first one against the former Green Bay legend since he left the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field in 2008.

After the game, Packer fans, many of whom likely have Favre jerseys in their closets, booed the embattled quarterback off the field. Brad Childress, the Vikings’ head coach, criticized No. 4 in the post-game press conference, saying, “It still goes back to taking care of the football. You can’t turn it over to them. You’ve got to play within the confines of our system. Sometimes you have to just protect the football. You can’t have seven points going the other way. Not in a game like this.”

Favre didn’t even have a welcome home to go back to””his reported infidelities have put a strain on his relationship with his family, with his wife Deanna explaining that faith “will get me through this.”

Brett Favre has been one of the best and most beloved quarterbacks of the last two decades. He has won three Most Valuable Player awards, one Super Bowl championship and holds NFL records for career touchdown passes, career passing yards, career wins as a starting quarterback and consecutive games started. It is undeniable that he is an historic player, one of the all-time greats, and is a heroic figure for some.

The problem is, he is a hero of the tragic type.

In a Greek tragedy, there is a hero who has a tragic flaw that does the person in. In this case,

Brett Favre’s ego has ruined his career, his reputation and, perhaps, his personal life.

On March 4, 2008, after tiring the Green Bay organization with a yearly dalliance with retirement, Favre finally announced his decision to quit playing in a tearful press conference. His reputation was at perhaps its highest point. He had just finished a 2007 campaign in which Favre proved he still had talent, being selected to the Pro Bowl for the first time since 2003. That year he led the Packers to the brink of another championship, losing to the New York Giants, who were the eventual champions, in a hard-fought game.

Alas, Favre’s ego got in the way. He told the Packers, who’d already committed to Aaron Rodgers, that he was coming back whether they liked it or not. They traded him to the New York Jets. After one subpar season, he “retired” again, only to resurface as the Minnesota Vikings quarterback, Green Bay’s hated rivals.

And now we have Favre’s voicemail and “sexting” scandal. God only knows what really happened. But the damage with public opinion has been done.

The story of Brett Favre is a truly sad one. It didn’t have to be this way. If he had simply stayed in retirement, Wisconsin residents and football fans in general would worship him as a deity. He would have never been in New York and met Jenn Sterger. He would have never played for the Minnesota Vikings and ruined his status with the organization where he made his name famous.

But he didn’t. And now this tragic hero must trudge on, not knowing his future in the NFL or in his personal life.