Cal Ripken, Jr's Streak Has No Equal

by Clay Travis

Filed under: Orioles, MLB Hall of Fame

OMG! Did you know that Brett Favre's consecutive games started streak just ended at 297?

That's four whole games short of where it would have ended if Favre had completed the season and retired. Or four games short of where it might have ended if Jenn Sterger's crew had forced Favre off the field for sexual harassment. No matter where you lived or how little you care about sports, you heard about Favre's streak coming to a close. A streak, mind you, that began before Miley Cyrus was even born. (Can we go back to then for a week, just to forget about Miley?)

ESPN, for the billionth time, morphed into the Favre Network to breathlessly update us on the quarterback's consecutive games streak coming to a close. It was all Favre all the time. In the process, the network's Favre hosannas served to minimize what remains the most impressive endurance feat in team sports history: Cal Ripken, Jr's consecutive games streak in Major League Baseball.

That one lasted 2,632 games and stretched from 1982-98. You might have forgotten about it seeing as how back in the quaint year of 1998 the media onslaught wasn't as all-consuming as it is today. My misguided colleague David Whitley is arguing that Favre's streak is more impressive, but he's as off-kilter as Tom Brady's hairstyle.

See, teams design their entire game plans around protecting pocket passers today. Don't believe me? Who are the best quarterbacks in the game today? Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Tom Brady, and Philip Rivers would be a good collection, right?

Well, every single one of these quarterbacks has a consecutive games streak that ranks in the top 15 all-time in NFL history. Every. Single. One. Peyton Manning, at 204 games, has started every game of his NFL career and one day could break Favre's record. But each of these men is their respective team's franchise and all five of these quarterbacks ranks in the top 15 all-time in consecutive games played.

 

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Source: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/12/14/cal-ripken-jrs-streak-has-no-equal/

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