In his Monday Morning Quarterback column today, SI’s Peter King says: “I think [Favre]’s the most charismatic and interesting player I’ve covered.” I think he’s right. Favre doesn’t really seem to have it in press conferences interviews, but if you watch footage of him in the locker room or on the sidelines, you can still see it come through.

This charisma also probably explains why Favre has often been excused by sportswriters, fans and even coaches and GMs for the various disasters he has been responsible for on the field. There was less of it this time, but when Favre threw the game away to the Giants in the NFC Championship game two years ago, the general feeling wasn’t “He let his team down” but rather “Oh, what a terrible way to end his career.” (Everyone foolishly figured it was the end of his career.)

Charisma is, obviously, an important quality for a quarterback, just like it is for any leader. Sadly, unlike elections, football games cannot be won solely by the presence of a charismatic leader. If they could, Eli Manning’s team would never have beaten Tom Brady’s team.